Pinterest and I

So, I joined Pinterest!

I am still not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing...we'll see.
So far, I am still trying to figure out how it works, but I managed to crate a few boards and started pinning away.

Also, I created a 'Pin It' button for my blog posts - just in case you find something inspiring here!
My photography blog posts are also pinable.

Let me know if you are on Pinterest. I would love to collect new ideas!

Making Dinner Together

This is what John and I made to celebrate our 5th dating anniversary!

(Salad, Scalloped Potatoes, Steak)

Five Years on an Amazing Rollercoaster Ride!

Five years ago John asked me to be his girlfriend – a decision that forever changed our lives!

As you may have guessed, I said “yes”…we dated for a while…he proposed to me, I said “yes” again…and we have been married for a bit over three years.

I love John more today than I could have imagined five years ago, and every life experience we have faced together has brought us closer to each other.

Our relationship is far from perfect; by the grace of God we continue to learn to love, forgive, admit our faults and strive to grow as a result of new challenges.

We presently face the challenge of living in a city without the community we were used to. Our day to day routine is simple and we miss seeing friends on a regular basis, game nights, dinners and church. For the past few months, we have been a community of two – and at times, our frustrations have led to humbling moments in our marriage.

This morning John sent me a blog post that pretty much summarizes the story of our relationship. The post comes from the blog: The Generous Husband.

“Marriage is like this: You are so excited, you get married, and when you open the box that contains your new marriage, you find a thousand pieces and a note that says “Some assembly required”. Even worse, the instructions are not in a language you even recognize, and the pictures are so poor you are not sure they show parts in your box. Okay, go out there and live happily ever after!

If your parents have a great marriage, her parents have a great marriage, and you are in a church full of supportive folks with great marriages, you can probably figure out how to assemble the parts. For the other 99% of us, that box of marriage parts is more scary than exciting.

Unfortunately, most couples are too shy or too embarrassed to seek help, figuring they can muddle through and put together a reasonable marriage on their own. The longer they do it on their own, the less willing they are to admit they need help. They build mistakes on mistakes, creating a marriage that cannot work right, and that becomes more and more difficult to manage.

There is no shame in not having a clue, especially given the fact we live in a society that is generally clueless about marriage. If your problems are small, get help now before they become big. If the problems are already big, get help before they destroy the marriage. If things are not too bad, spending time with a couple with a good sound marriage may be all you need. If you need more help than that, PLEASE find a way. I hear repeatedly from couples who say they can’t afford counseling. Here’s the real truth – it won’t cost as much as a divorce, and it won’t mess your kids up. If your marriage is worth it, you will find a way.

One other warning – you may have to change much of what you have already done. If you had worked on an “assembly required” project and made a mistake early on, the only way to assemble it correctly would be to undo back to the mistake; marriage is much the same. Don’t cut corners, do what it takes to have a great marriage.”


Like many people, John and I made promises we didn’t understand when we got married. In some ways we are still learning what those promises meant. We have been gifted with parents that honor their marriage and for the past five years we were surrounded with a community of individuals that poured love and wisdom into our lives.

The past five years have been an amazing rollercoaster ride and it would not have been as great without those who have invested in our lives.

I pray that God will once again bless us with the community we need to face the challenges that shall come in the next five years!

John Nobile, thank you for asking me to be your girlfriend five years ago! I would say “yes” all over again in a heartbeat.  

n•a•p® Massaging Bed Rest

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I introduce you to the n•a•p® Massaging Bed Rest!

Yesterday John told me he found the coolest bed seat ever and it totally made him think of me.

So, I asked him to show it to me...and this is what he showed me.

Image from Brookstone

My Response?

Really?!?! This bed seat made you think of me? But why?

He said I am always complaining that our bed pillows are not good 'leaning pillows' - and he is right. I do often complain about our bed pillows. However, since yesterday I decided that our bed pillows work great and I never want the n•a•p® Massaging Bed Rest unless I have some kind of surgery and have to stay in bed 24/7.

John, I love that you always think of me!

Today I...

• Drove John to work because we only have one car, and gave him a good kiss before I left.
• Got a flu shot - and my arm hurts.
• Did a lot of research on starting/running a business and got discouraged with the amount of work and time it all takes...I have a lot to learn. Does anyone want to help me?
• Went outside, which doesn't happen everyday.
• Wrote a long email to a friend about everything that is in my head. I hope she still likes me even after vomiting all my thoughts in an email.
• Wore a wool sweater that made me itch all the time.
• Thought about straightening my hair - but I don't have a straightener.
• Wished the sun wouldn't set so early.
• Wanted to make this chocolate cake.
• Enjoyed the Autumn colors on the trees.
• Wanted to go to a pumpkin patch.
• Really wished we had a home church.

Is Christianity Hard or Easy?

I recently wrote about how I have failed at spending time with God on a daily basis - and as a result, my heart has not been filled with joy.

John and I committed to doing a devotional together. We are going through the Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups. This devotional is made of chapters written by different authors such as C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Jonathan Edwards, Francis de Sales, etc.

Yesterday, we read about Giving All to Jesus.

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis says this about the question: How much of Myself Must I Give?

"If you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough let over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hampered and worried at every turn, will get angrier and angrier.

In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, "live for others" but always in a discontented, grumbling way - always wondering why the others do not  notice it more and always making a martyr of yourself. And once you have become that you will be a far greater pest to anyone who has to live with you than you would have been if you had remained frankly selfish."

The pursuit of personal happiness by being morally good, says Lewis, ends in frustration.

This is such a great reminder that I cannot give part of myself to Christ and expect life to go on smoothly. Christ says, "Give me all" - and when I obey I can do all things through Him. If I try to live on my own, being morally good, I will only end up frustrated.

Once again I will say: I need more of Jesus!

The Joy Giver

For the past few weeks, maybe months, I have struggled in my commitment to spend time with God on a daily basis.  As a daughter to the King, I believe that there is nothing more soothing than spending time with the Lord…yet, I am so bad at setting time aside to be with my Father. I get busy with laundry, dishes, phone calls, editing photos, cleaning the bathroom and before I know it the day is over and I never even acknowledged God’s presence in my life. I act as if a friend had come to visit, but I am too busy to spend time with the friend and do my own thing as if I were alone.

Just confessing this makes my heart sad.

My spirit misses His words, His love, His joy.

This past week John mentioned that I have been very negative, moody and easily irritable lately. He said I am not full of joy the way I normally am. John’s remarks made me so sad…and yet he was right. I realized I am not full of joy because I have not been spending time with the joy giver.

Friends, I want the Lord’s joy back in my heart!

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12

Jehovah Jireh...

…The Lord will provide.

What a blessing it is to know that the Lord is my provider. He has provided for all my needs throughout life and He continues to amaze me.

John and I spent some time looking through our finances this past weekend and as we talked about our goals and dreams I felt so thankful for the ways God has orchestrated our lives!

Like a three year old, I began to sing:

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do.”

It is true! There is nothing My God cannot do, and He has done great things for me.

***A few weeks from now I will be sharing a little bit about how the Lord has been our provider. Stay tuned!

A Spontaneous Date up North

John and I had a very wonderful weekend in our new hometown. We went for a walk late at night and discovered what the night life is like (nothing too exciting), slept in, hiked with friends, visited a brewery, played games, visited a church, drove around and saw new neighborhoods, went on another walk (during the day), snuggled and felt inspired to go out on a date!

At about 8:30pm last night John and I were going to make smoothies – which sounded like a good idea until I said: “I really want to eat a juicy piece of steak right now.”

John got excited and told me to get dressed for a date (which means get dressed in cute clothes).

I told him it was late and everything would be closing by now (a sad reality when you live in a small town). He proceeded to get dressed as well and before we knew it we wore driving toward town. It turned out that all the restaurants were either closed or closing.

I told John we could go back home and make the smoothies we were going to make. John replied: “But I REALLY want steak too!”

So, we stopped at the grocery store – looking cute for our date night – and bought steaks.

We ate the yummy steak with red wine (surrounded by candles) at 10:00pm! It was wonderful.

Also, I must mention that we couldn’t go to sleep for a long time because we were too full. We were too full to sleep but we were absolutely glad we ate the steak late at night and all.

Mr. John Nobile, I love being married to you and having spontaneous late night dates that include steak, wine and candles!!!

A Simple Idea Makes a Big Difference

Stream of Consciousness

• I love sleeping with the window open, but I always wake up cold.
• I have had no inspiration to cook...nothing seems exciting.
• Once upon a time, I could not go to sleep if there were dirty dishes in the sink. Now days I hardly do the dishes before going to bed. I am not sure this is a good or bad thing.
• Sometimes I spend all day sitting in front of the computer (editing photos) and I forget to eat.
• I want to eat lava cake so BAD! I need a gluten-free recipe.
• Speaking of gluten-free...I really wanted to eat pasta yesterday. I have not eaten normal pasta (the gluten-full kind) in more than 5 months and for some reason it was all I wanted yesterday.
• I already miss the sun and its warmth.
• I have a very long "To Do" list.
• I can't believe October is here. Wasn't it just June last week?

...I have a lot more things to say, but I think this is a good list for now!

Soon to be Mrs. Wilson

Friend, I am so excited for you and Dan to get married!