a gentle answer.

a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.. the soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:1&4

I've never seen anything confirm these scriptures like parenthood. I know she needs to hear the word no sometimes, but when it's out of my own fear or anger, 'no' is never helpful.

she seeks nurture. it breaks my heart to know so many babies are deprived of that.

I'm convinced you learn the most in your life when you're raising a toddler. I'm sure I'll continue to say that through each stage, but for now.. toddler.

this bird is so brave and this year is going to be quite an adventure, I'm sure.

hello 2016.

love.

merry christmas and happy new year.

from us and our joy baby in Michigan!

I never really prayed that for her like I wanted to before she was born. but I've recently been praying that strength and dignity would be her clothing and that kindness would be on her lips. that she would laugh at the days to come. (proverbs 31, I'm sure you know it well)

and she is just that. so much joy. so I am thankful for the joy I don't even ask for and continue to pray over this beautiful girl. I also pray this holiday season is a special one for each of you. love you all!

here's to another great year.

beautiful cards : artifact uprising | beautiful photo : Trevor Mark Photography

love..

so, mid-April, yeah? haven't written since February? slacking over here. sorry 'bout it.

since we're in the ninth month of this pregnancy, it's probably pretty clear what we've been up to and that we've been busy. I know I never finished updating you all about Michigan at Christmastime, so here it is (a short version), if anyone is even remotely interested anymore..

^when the belly and I felt so big and now I realize we were hardly big at all. (;

there was a lot of ice and below zero temps. beautiful, like I said before, though freeeeeezing. then we both stood in an absolutely beautiful wedding in Ann Arbor. the one where our good friends promised each other life long love and both thanked one another for marrying them at the end of their hand written vows (the sweetest thing). still so honored to have been a part of that day. 

then there was this blizzard on the way home from the wedding, we couldn't see any lanes on the highway, and it was so late and tired out. heavenly protection is the only way we can explain getting back safe (that, and my husband is a champ). and I don't say blizzard lightly. almost two feet of snow. that whole polar vortex and what not. so pretty the next day though!

the days following got very cold again but lastly, we decided to brave that ice and snow and drive back to New Orleans. most stressful drive adding hours to our travels (that last photo is us stopped in traffic for an hour because of an icy accident) but again, Jesus protects and he was faithful in that.

so there you have it. I'll be back tomorrow. I mean it this time.

love..

watch: Saving Mr. Banks (I knew I'd probably like this since Mary Poppins is a favorite, but I loooved this so much! I want to buy you all a copy). // also just finished Twin Peaks. what even?!

listen: Satellite | Dave Matthews Band (mostly because my belly dances when that one plays).

read: Igniting Faith in Forty Days | Steve and Wendy Backlund // a negativity fast/positivity feast I've been doing for Lent. not necessarily succeeding every day, but it has been encouraging and motivating and is more than worth a read.

"Abundant gratefulness: a flourishing soul. Even if circumstances haven't changed, thankfulness will alter perspective from doubt to faith."

on getting bigger and trying to not compare.

the last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. the really nice thing is that I was able to go to Michigan twice; once unexpectedly for a funeral, but the family time was something I won't take for granted. we will miss grandma Sally, but will continue celebrate her life and the fact that she is no longer suffering.

welp, I jumped into the second trimester and all of the sudden my body decided I could handle this whole pregnancy thing. such a breath of fresh air. I still have queasy moments here and there and obviously life is much different, but I'm feeling better and feel like I can enjoy this time more. I wanted to love being pregnant so bad, so it has been nice the last couple weeks.

anywho. some of you have mentioned that you want to see more photos of the little one making me pack on the pounds. (; I have a hard time willingly posting this kind of thing (you know, photos and such vulnerable info of myself), so thanks for the push. I will try to update more often. here are a few.. twelve weeks, somewhere in between fourteen and fifteen weeks, and then sixteen weeks. little on is growing.

one thing I have been learning about is that all of the sudden comparison sneaks in again. it's something I feel most women deal with in all seasons of life. but once you seem to grasp that you're who you are for a reason and comparing yourself is a big waste of the peace you could be experiencing, you start something new and wonder if what you're doing is right. does that make sense at all? I'll have thoughts that are obviously not productive and then wonder why all of the sudden I care so much. things like, 'she is farther along than I am and I'm way bigger than her already' or 'she is so much more prepared than I am'. getting used to having this belly is interesting and finding clothes I feel good in is a grand task. don't get me wrong, I love it so much and I wouldn't wish it away for anything. and obviously every woman is different and will carry differently, but I think identity can be a struggle no matter where you are in life and comparing myself to other mommies-to-be (which there seem to be a ton of right now, congratulations ladies!) is something to be watching out for.

and then God is like, 'okay, but look down.' and I see my belly for real. and I remember the greatness of what is happening inside of me. that there is a HUMAN in there. a real life baby. and for as long as I'm living on this earth, it is my real life baby and even once it is no longer inside of me I get to keep it.  and it gets to have Chad as a daddy. beautiful.

so the handy little phone app says the babe is about the size of an avocado this week and can start hearing my voice, among many other miraculous things, which has been so crazy for me to think about. I guess that means we need to start being more vocal. but how neat is it that our voices will be recognizable and soothing once he or she is here? that's pretty neat in my book.

love..

dreams.

[this photo has nothing to do with the following post, I just thought it was a good one. (: took my first yoga class with a couple friends and it was soo nice. I went again the next week. I added a little filter-love here, but the real credit goes to this lovely lady.]

ever have that dream where you're back in high school and it always seems to not go right and be a bit stressful. yes, that was me this morning. and also, ew.

whenever I have that dream (not so often, but it has happened multiple times. at least I feel like it has), I always seem to have forgotten about my math class. I get really stressed that I haven't attended the class in forever and I have all of this homework I didn't even start, but when I finally go to said math class, it's like my teacher never noticed. I'm not in trouble and my grade hasn't suffered at all. and then I'm a little bit stressed about that whole situation because it doesn't make any sense.

every. single. time I dream about high school, I've forgotten about my math class. and I don't understand.

later, the song 'Ugly Day' by Five Iron Frenzy was stuck in my head. which is very random; I can't remember the last time I listened to that band. but it did take me back to the high school days again, when Chad introduced me to the song. one minute I'm dancing in my head and the next I'm being super grateful I'm still with Chad and even more grateful the high school days are behind me. (I'm most thankful for Chad, I just wanted to accentuate the fact that I love not being in high school anymore.) (;

why, after not writing for so long, am I writing about this? I dont know.

I haven't felt like I had anything to write about lately and thought, you know what? I'll just say hi to my family by telling them about my morning. ha. sorry, I'm sure you would rather hear about New Orleans and whatevs. today, you just get Ali's dream.

[I wrote this a few days ago, but then I decided it would be a good (terrible) idea to catch a stomach virus that has been floating around down here. I don't think I had enough strength to even look at my computer, let alone pick it up.]

so if anyone likes to interpret dreams and wants to give the recurring situation a go, I'm all ears. (;

listen: Ugly Day | Five Iron Frenzy

watch: this video. it was all over the internet yesterday, so you've probably already seen it but the longer I think about it since I watched, the more and more beautiful a revelation it is to see.

read: (or look) also has been all over the internet for a bit now, but come on. this guy? he wins.
ooh and this.. got a vsco grid, yo. did that make me sound cool? whatever.

oh yeah, and see you tomorrow, Michigan!

love..

vampires anyone?

(the "moving" crew. and somehow Chad mysteriously added a foot to his height for this photo.)

 

I had been planning on posting some photos yesterday for a Wednesday Without Words of our time in Michigan. also planned to tell you earlier this week about an episode of The Vampire Diaries that Chad worked on and airs tonight (Thursday). neither of those happened. but it's not too late!

if you watch The Vampire Diaries (anyone? I never have.) pay close attention to this one. I guess it gives you a look at a spin-off that will be happening in the near future. you should be able to see some places in the French Quarter, so that's fun.

hope everyone is having a great week. love and miss everyone in Michigan already. stay warm. ;)

we're just waiting on our things to get here via U-Box and then we'll be on the move! it's getting pretty exciting over here.

love..

friends, I could use your prayer! every single time we travel to Michigan, one of us (but usually both) gets sick. I tried very hard to strengthen our immune systems this time around but I guess that wasn't enough because yesterday I started getting the scratchy throat and today feel a little more crummy. it just makes it harder to enjoy family time and takes a toll on me emotionally since it happens every time. this is home.. it's hard to have it be a place I always get sick. so healing for me but mostly protection over Chad, that he would stay healthy.

but these two were around a bunch and this happened so, you know, life is still good anyway.

love..

wednesday without words: snow.

 

love..

michigrams.

hey, fam. it's been a while. I've missed you.

I just wanted to share a few of our instagram photos from our trip home. we were able to do as much as we could with both of us being sickly the entire time. always happens when we go to Michigan, ha. but one neat thing that happened.. we went to my parents church-which is always nice, for me at least-and during worship someone prayed for us and she was spot on. it was so refreshing seeing a stranger stepping out in obedience to pray and speak clarity and direction over our lives and not feeling like I question it. I love the way they let Holy Spirit lead them in that special place.

it's always a little bit of a whirlwind going up north. we were able to see many of you, and there are always lots of others we wish we had time to see. we have to be sooo intentional and it is soo hard. so I'm sorry if we missed you. but we were all wrapped up in family and I kind of love that. (plus I do have a phone; you can get a hold of me any time you'd like. :) )

I'll be back soon to update more, but for now here's some photos. oh, and if you're into creepy films, Chad worked on one of those a while back and the trailer is officially out. no pressure if you really don't want to watch it, but it is called, The Last Exorcism Part II. just google it and you'll find the trailer. I'm not a fan of exorcism movies usually, but when I saw it as one of the previews before seeing Lincoln in the theatre the other day, I couldn't help but be so proud of all that he is accomplishing. I've started planning a library of everything he's worked on big or small (paid or not paid ;) ). can't wait. he's pretty great. (the photo below of the tv screen.. we were searching for his name in the credits of Baytown Outlaws. (: totally found it.)

love..

flashback to Michigan.

some of our phone photos from our time in Michigan before Romania, and some from sisterlove's phone too.

+

those little moments.

a special moment with this little girl, just the two of us. as I slipped away from the family to look at the sunglasses real quick, she ran so fast to catch up. I felt her grab my hand, and softly say, "I wanna go!" on the way back from the sunglasses (and then browsing all of the jewelry-especially the ones with feathers), we stopped to try on some hats and giggled all the while. it was such a sweet few minutes. I feel so grateful to be her aunt.

daydreamer in michigan.

this is the sweetest thing ever. so beautiful. can't wait to be a mom.

don't get excited, it's not happening right now. just daydreaming of that someday happiness.

then I had a Dove dark chocolate from my gram's house and the wrapper said, 'daydreaming is free'. appropriate.

twenty-five sounds weird. but today, that's what I am. so I'm just going to go daydream some more. have a lovely night, wonderful people.

wednesday without words.

okay, maybe a few words..

We got to spend the last weekend with our Taylor parents and we were SPOILED! They came for Lisamom's birthday but it almost felt like it was our birthday. Or like we went on vacation. We have been so blessed by parents this past month.

So here is a little of our trip in photos.

{city park sculpture gardens}

{the sculpture on the right was made by the same person responsible for the huge bean in Chicago.. you know the one. if you look close, you can see a face in the middle. sort of creepy, maybe.}

{nice view of the mississippi river}

{isn't that an amazing window they had in their hotel?? the view was beautiful. I felt like I could sit there for hours.}

{crawfish, po-boys}

{Emeril's Delmonico for a fancy birthday dinner.}

{happy pi day! New Orleans has these annoyingly tasty pies, so I picked a few up for a special treat today.}

{also, received this wonderful package in the mail today from my aunt. those oils made my week. really. I had no idea they were coming. I was giddy. but no one was here to see. :) }