For Gramma, and Grandma, with Love.

Confession: I've been avoiding the blog. I had all these grand plans to blog about what all I was thankful for on Thanksgiving, but, life changed quickly. Because so much has happened in the last few weeks, I didn't know where to even begin. What to share, and what not to share about what we've been going through. But, writing has always been therapeutic for me, specifically prayer-writing. So, I've been relying on the old ink and paper more so than keyboard and internet. 

But, I think my prayer from Saturday morning sums up all of my family's feelings pretty well. Where we are right now. So, rather than try and figure out what else to write, I'm just going to give you an excerpt of my prayer. Maybe you could pray it along with us!

Lord, what a week. I thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Especially this morning. Yesterday was the end of our longest week. It's the first morning of peace - not having to anticipate a death, or prepare for a funeral. It is finished. Both Grandmas are laid to rest, and happily rejoicing with you, and reunited with their husbands. We praise you for their life and for their death even. I praise you for their salvation. I praise you for both beautiful services. I praise you for Dr. Dillon's clear preaching of the gospel yesterday - I pray it planted a seed in any unbelievers that were there. I praise you for the gift of worship you've given David and I - and the strength you gave us to sing it over my Grandmothers. I praise you for your promise that you will never leave us nor forsake us. I know you never left us this week. I could feel you in every minute, every action, every decision. I praise you, that I and my family can truly say - we felt your peace. That peace that passes all understanding. Despite our overwhelming sadness, there were times anyone would expect us to be crying, but we weren't. I know that was Your hope. Your joy. Your peace that you gave us to walk through this fire. I praise you, Jesus, for how much of Grandma Young fills my home. I praise you for the special time I got to tell Gramma Fraylick I love her, and got to say goodbye to her. And after this tough week, I praise you for my salvation, without which, I would never be able to offer this prayer of praise and gladness to you. 

The rest of the prayer is more personal, so I'll just leave you with that. We will miss our grandmothers tremendously, but we're really doing ok! The overwhelming support, prayer and love we've been given have been incredible! We have definitely felt the body of Christ surrounding us through the whole Journey. Thank YOU to those who have reached out and loved on us... it's kept us going! :)

Some of my favorite and most recent pictures of my Grandma's are below. Enjoy!

Gramma Fraylick a few Christmases ago. She LOVED Christmas!

At Church on Easter Sunday- in her Favorite Pink outfit!

Didn't get a picture with her on our wedding day, but I'm SO thankful my friend Kim got this shot of her and David.

Grandma Young LOVED to dance. This was at my cousin Julie's wedding a few years ago.

This is Grandma Young's sister and brother in Law Winnie and Cecil, who are both also in Heaven with her!

And this - the grand finale - is the side of Grandma Young that friends rarely saw, but we saw all the time!

With full and thankful hearts,

C + D

Master Gardener

This past weekend David transformed our front flower bed! I'm so excited. My only regret is that we didn't get a "before" picture! It needed some TLC badly!

He bought mulch and landscaping paper and put all that down, then we went flower shopping! $100 later, we had mums, tulip bulbs (plant now, bloom this spring), some pretty little blue and yellow flowers, some pretty little pink and white flowers, and some green leafy things. Oh, and my favorite, a tall purple thing where all the flowers form a sort of ball. Forgot what it's called. (Can you tell I'm not a gardener?!) And he transplanted one of our palms from the wedding into the front bed as well. 

Our friends Adam and Jenn came over to help too! While Adam and David were outside planting and getting dirty, Jenn and I scrapbooked and drank wine inside. Sounds fair, right? :)

All in all, a great day, and our front yard looks Beautiful! I can't wait to see it all bloom!

Thankful Thursday

Almost forgot! It's....

We're both thankful for the cooler weather we've had this week! David's been getting off at reasonable times in the afternoons, and I got to wear a scarf and leggings on Tuesday! :) 

We also got to take the dogs on a walk around the neighborhood last night. It was SO nice!

David's thankful for "the ability to worship freely, and the ability and opportunity to lead others in worship. I'm thankful for my musical talent, the ability to sing and play the guitar. And the passion that Jesus has put in me to do it". (Can I get an amen!? Needless to say, I'm thankful for a husband with a passion for Jesus!) 

On the coattails of David's gratitude... We're both thankful for the quality time we've spent together in worship, in our home this week. How rare is it that God gives you a mate with the same spiritual gifts and passions? Beyond divine intervention - Perfect Divine Planning!

We're both thankful for having the means to travel! Clemson last weekend, Camping next month, and our honeymoon in March is paid for! Woo hoo! We have enough in our savings - now we just have to pick the place. Taking suggestions for somewhere tropical :)

We're both thankful for 7 months of wedded bliss - as of today!

Short list this week, but they're all really great things :)

c + d

Go Tigers!

Married Life Adventure #3 - Clemson!

Last weekend, we {finally} got to go back to God's Country - Clemson! 
Last year, I'm ashamed to admit we didn't make it up there for a single game because we were saving for the wedding. But this year, it had to be a priority! 

It was a perfect weekend! Huge thanks to Lauren and Emily for letting us crash in their apartment for the night! Being back in a college apartment brought back so many memories. The whole weekend really. After stopping for a photo op of an empty stadium Friday night, we braved the college bar scene for a quick drink, and while the people watching was fun, and a cold beer was good, we were reminded that's just not our cup of tea!

Saturday was a day to remember! It was one of those days that everything got done that we wanted to do! I told David on the ride home, usually you leave a place thinking "Man, I wish we could have done so and so...but we just didn't have time", but this trip, we did everything we wanted! Got to visit Pot Belly Deli for breakfast (a staple), Got Moses a football jersey (it's a little tight), Got me a hoodie (it's a little big), a coffee mug (it was on sale b/c of a tiny little chip!), and David a new Clemson hat (it's camo). Then, we got to go to a couple tailgates, and pick up our tickets...again, HUGE thanks to Lauren for scoring us student tix!

The game itself was awesome too! After a hot 1st quarter, the sun went behind some clouds and the rest of the afternoon was beautiful! Our tickets were in front of the band, but I really wanted David to experience "The Hill" - so we snuck under the railing and on to the hill. I made sure we entered early enough to inch our way to the front lines where the players run down. We inched...and inched... and finally made it! We got to watch Dabo run, high five the players and be under a cloud of orange balloons as they made their way down the hill. David got an awesome video on his phone! I was so excited for him to experience all that. Now, I KNOW he's got a little orange in his blood :)

Enough talk - here's some pics from the weekend!

making our way to the center of the hill...

getting closer...

and closer...

we made it!

front line! no better spot in the whole stadium!

My handsome hubby :)

and me (disregard random guy in the back...maybe should have cropped this one)

the sea of orange!

and the other side

No place like Death Valley!

About to score!

HUGE props to hubby for catching this TD shot!!

the gorgeous sky over Death Valley!

hot, tired and happy for a Tiger Victory!

Great Victory = Rushing the field!

GO TIGERS!

c + d

Thankful Thursday, er, Friday

"Distracted by one wrong thing, I missed out on seeing many right things. I think this is a tactic the evil one uses against me. The devil loves to get us to focus on the little that's wrong so we miss the big picture of all that's right." -Lysa Terkeurst

True for me this week. I've been sick this week, so it's thrown my whole mood out of whack! I've been distracted by being sick, so I haven't had the patience to look for all the "right" things. Thus, I missed thankful thursday, so this week, we get a thankful Friday. Call me silly, but it really helps to vocalize all that we're thankful for...especially when we've been in a "funk". 

We're thankful for little Jonah Gochnauer! Thankful that the Lord has blessed our dear friends Adam & Jenny with a second beautiful boy, born on Wednesday afternoon. Thankful that he's healthy, and beautiful, and will undoubtedly bring infinite joy to the Gochnauer household! Congratulations Gochnauers, we love you! (And can't wait to meet little man!)

I'm thankful for this WEATHER! Still a little warm, but cool enough for me to enjoy my lunch hours in the park again! Been over to Brittlebank park twice this week, laid out my towel (still in the shade), and read my book. It's been heavenly! And, I get to enjoy this view of the Ashley River! So, I must say also, I'm thankful I live in Charleston!

I'm thankful for rest! I've not been sleeping well this week, and last night was the first night I slept through the night! 

I'm thankful for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. 'Nuff said :)

We're both thankful for our quality friendships. Though I believe it led to me being sick all week, We had a great sushi double date with the Berrys the other night! We always have such a great time when we're together. Excited for our flea market adventure with them tomorrow!

I'm thankful for my sisters, who are both far away from me right now! Caroline's away at college, and Kristen's in Guatemala on a mission trip. Love them both, and miss them both this week!

and saving the best for last...

We're thankful for Becca and Josh, our little sister and brother that both celebrated birthdays this week!! You two are definitely blessings to all those who surround you! Blessings in your new schools, Blessings to your friends, and definitely blessings to us! We're so proud of you BOTH!

Thankful Thursday

We're both thankful for the heavenly weather we've had in Charleston this week! 

(And perhaps a bit un-thankful we've been stuck at work instead of out enjoying it!) :)

I'm thankful for David's ol' faithful blue truck - My jeep has decided it doesn't like to idle, so it just cuts off. So I'm thankful David has a work van, so that I can drive his truck, until he has time to fix my car!

We're both thankful for 6 months of wedded bliss! That's right, this tuesday was our 6-month anniversary :) I know all of you that have been married for years think "that's nothin'!" but to us it's a milestone! If the rest of our lives go like these past 6 months have been, it's going to be a really great life!

I'm thankful for a new phone that was F R E E ! I was due for a new contract/upgrade, and accidentally left my little pink phone out in the rain...on that Isaac monsoon day we had...talk about an "Oops"! 

We're both thankful for getting to record our LifeSongs in a REAL studio (thanks to Joey Cox and Jeff Hodges at Charleston Sound)! So much fun, to feel like celebrities for a minute, all the while recording WORSHIP songs that mean so much to us! Something both of us checked off our bucket lists.. and we got to do it together! Will let you know when the recording comes out. Our friend Jenny is putting together an album for something, but is keeping the purpose of it all a surprise! 

I'm thankful it's FOOTBALL SEASON! In our house, it's a bit backwards. It's the wife in this relationship who's the football freak. David's coming around too - he puts up with my Clemson football obsession, and He even gets into the games now and has added lots of orange to his wardrobe! 

David's thankful for two families. I have to agree with him, it IS great having two families. And, we may be a little biased, but we both have super awesome, Godly families who love us and teach us a lot. I love that both of our families are "family people" - so often families only see each other on holidays or special occasions, but with our families, we love to all spend normal days together! We really do life together, and David and I are so thankful!

David's thankful for his new "Zombie and Angry Wife Protection" (his exact words). Aka, his new rifle. He went to the gun show this past weekend and got this new big scary looking thing. He's going up to a friend's property this weekend to shoot things. Boys and their toys. :)

Oops...been a while!

I posted a while back about how busy August was going to be. Turns out, it was!
So rather than writing a TON about everything, I'll just post a couple pictures from all our our August Adventures that I have neglected to blog about!

Morgan and Peter's Wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Stone - such a special couple to us!

Mrs. Irvin and Mrs. Stone!

 The College Kids

Our Josh is now a real life Knob! Go Citadel!

And Caroline is off at Carolina!

Court's Birthday

Silly David at my birthday party...didn't want to get out of the pool even though it was raining!

Me and Caroline at my birthday party!

Afternoon Sailing

Bought a Groupon for an afternoon Catamaran sail!

Enjoying the afternoon on the water

And hubby was in charge of the cooler :)

Beth Moore Living Proof Live

At the Beth Moore Conference...our seats were SO close!

Awesome Worship time with my mom and sister!

Those are the highlights as of late...will try to be better about posting this month!

xoxo

the Irvins