camping..like hardcore camping

for the last couple of months, we have been planning a camping trip with landon's parents and a couple friends to Arkansas. landon went back in October and wanted all of us to experience it!

When i say we went camping, i don't mean like we had a picnic table and a little grill to cook hamburgers and hot dogs and we just pitched a tent and then took showers in the bathroom building a few yards away. No, this was real camping, like hiking through a mountain while carrying huge packs on our backs, we pitch a tent in the first clearing we see after hiking 3 and a half miles, and eat peanut butter and crackers, beef jerky, and freeze dried food with water from the river.

anyways, i was excited to be able to do something with landon that he is so passionate about and get to hang out with his family for the weekend, but i wasn't too sure about not taking a shower all weekend, not eating a real meal all weekend, going to the bathroom outside all weekend, and sleeping on the ground all weekend. but i have to admit, it was a LOT more fun than i thought it would be! i will definitely do it again, and landon and i talked about how it will be fun to take our kids to do stuff like that one day. it was just nice because there were no distractions, our phones didn't have service, it was just us and the bears.

we hiked a total of 9.6 miles up and down and around the mountain, and as sore as i was when we got done and the next day, i have to say that it was a very nice relaxing weekend.

the whole group

landon and his uncle Chris. they like to match. and i think landon looks hott!

our fire man doing his thing

God is so creative

the girls!

me and Amy

look how big my pack is!

me and Tami

for women only

Women of all kinds, married, dating, engaged, or just wanting to be a good wife to your husband someday, please please please read this book!

I am always looking for a new good book to ready, but i more enjoy fiction rather than "self help" kind of books. I was walking through Barnes and Noble one day just getting ideas of different books to look for at the library. I picked up this book to scan the pages and I instantly wanted/needed to know more.

I am continually learning how to be a good wife, how my husband thinks, and how I can better serve him. This book is written by a christian woman, Shaunti Feldhahn, who did random surveys of men (christian church goers, married, single, etc) and wrote this eye opening book for us women. It's a quick/easy read but it is extremely helpful in the life of a woman who is still trying to figure out the opposite sex.

I told Landon that I was going to try to read this book once a month. He asked me if he was "that" bad. Let me clear up that this book is not at all about bashing men! It is a book of explaining God's creation, how he created them, and how we can better understand them. Reading it once a month will continually remind me of things I may forget or get frustrated about.

I'm excited to continue learning to understand my husband. It's an exciting adventure:)

Guys, there is a book for you too, For Men Only! :)

Easter weekend

I saw a friends facebook status post that said this:

Sometimes I find the Easter story too familar to understand it at the appropriate depth

I can't help but feel the same way. I've heard the Easter story for as long as I can remember. It's such an awesome story of grace, redemption, and love, but I don't think I fully understand what that really means. I'm so thankful that I have grown up in a Christian home and have experienced the love of Christ from an early age, but sometimes I feel that it's the new Christians that truly understand and appreciate the Easter story and what all it means.

This Easter weekend, I have tried to really focus on what this weekend is all about. I saw another friend's facebook status yesterday with the chorus of a song that I hadn't heard in a while. After I listened to it, I decided it is one of my new favorite songs. It tells the story of Christ's love for us, what he did on the cross, and how he made a way for us to be in a complete loving relationship with him. It's such an awesome song, and it tells the depth of what this weekend is about.