ten years strong

Ten years married...

Ten years of new dreams taking root in our hearts and old dreams dying.

Ten years of new relationships growing and others fading away.
Ten years of choosing to love each other and liking each other mostly, too.
Ten years of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Ten years of saying yes to the Lord and sometimes Him saying no.
Ten years of holding on to each other and sometimes pushing away.
Ten years of meals shared, dishes dirtied, laundry washed and the everyday mundane.
Ten years of Friday nights on the couch and the just being us.
Ten years of trips and travels to different corners of the world.
Ten years of family and who He's growing us to be.
Ten years of weekends and laughter and being the best of friends.
Ten years of waking up next to and kissing goodnight.


I love you, CHZ. I am overcome when I consider the faithfulness of God in my life and that He gave me you to share it with. You will always be my best one.

Love will be enough. We are stronger than we know.

Nine years...

Nine years of saying yes to you.

That yes has taken me places I never could have imagined as we followed Him together.

Where will the next nine years of yes, to each other and Him, take us?

I have no choice/I'd still choose you

Source: None via Kate on Pinterest

Loving

Some days love comes easy. It's simple, carefree and fun. Those days are few and far between of late. But those aren't the days that define us anyway. It's the hard ones; when we choose to love and it costs us something, that tell me who we really are...who we will be.

Eight years of love come easy.

Eight years of choosing to love.

I'll always choose us.

Weekends should be longer

I spent my weekend here. Rough, I know. But someone had to do it. And this is just one small room of the beautiful Thistletop Inn. Saturday night we had the run of the place and strangely, felt completely at home and loved every minute of it. Great food, wonderful people and a beautiful setting all with my favorite guy to celebrate -8-.

Why'd we have to leave?!

Golden tickets

My weekend is full to the brim of goodness. Which sounds especially good to me after a challenging week. The wonderful mix of time with friends, serving our community and time alone with my man await me. And come tomorrow....tomorrow, I'll be here.

Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the Steelers home opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Cale's 30th birthday present sure does feel like a present to me! I can't wait!

thirty

Today, there is much celebrating at our house. It's Cale's 30th birthday! Last week we were discussing his birthday and how old he feels and he commented that I've been a part of his life for the last decade, a third of his life. (And of course I had to add that it was the BEST third!)

That conversation got me thinking about our life and the evolution of our relationship. We first met at a college retreat in the spring of 1999. I had traveled with my roommate 6 hours to be at this retreat and we arrived late that evening. Everyone was gathered in the main room of the lodge and my brother was running me around the room introducing me to new people. It was in that rush that I met Cale and for the life of me couldn't remember his name. I knew that both his names were kind of different and so in my mind he became the boy with the strange name. I never thought he'd make me the girl with the strange name, too!

Cale circa 2001

We've come a long way since then. Our friendship grew and developed over the next few years, even going with me to Benin, West Africa where I'd get a random email from him once in a while. When I returned to Cleveland our friendship escalated and before we knew it, we were dating. A blink of an eye later (literally- it was 3 months later!) we were engaged!

Newly engaged at college graduation May 2002

And before we knew, we were married, had moved to a new city and Cale had started his first full time job. It was a crazy year!

Newly married- on our honeymoon at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada

Now we've been around the world and had all sorts of adventures. Life has not been slow or dull over the last decade. I've had the best person in the world by my side.

Cape Town, South Africa January 2005 (pardon my crazy, wind-blown hair!)

We've grown up a lot and I've witnessed first hand Cale becoming the man God intended. I watched him throw himself whole heartedly into being the best dad he possibly could be and loving his children more then anything.

New family February 2006

Together we've had more fun then should be allowed. We've laughed until we've cried and have a slew of inside jokes and nicknames that would certainly reveal our ridiculousness if ever shared with another. But to us, they're golden.

Chatauqua Lake, NY October 2007

We've also walked through lots of hard things, just like any other couple. We've had to choose to love and hold tight to the promises we made. It isn't always easy, but it is certainly worth it.

Heinz Field November 2008

We've stood hand-in-hand and watched God do things that we never dreamed possible. He's led us places we could have never imagined and Cale has followed hard after those things, sometimes pulling me along. We are overwhelmed with blessings.

Our growing family July 2009 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Thirty years old today and a humble, kind, servant-hearted man. And I get to claim you as mine. How lucky am I?

See, Cale? It's been quite the decade, don't you think? And I've got a feeling we're just getting started!

Happy Birthday, my love!

ps-25/30

the makings of a good night

me + him

road trip + dinner

music + atmosphere

kids + overnighter

=

best date night ever

Ask me again (again)

I wrote this post three years ago today and it's still all true. So here's my first ever re-post...

Ask me again

Five years ago this very day, Cale asked me to walk alongside him and become his wife. It took me all of 1/10 of a second to yell, "YES!"

I have such a vivid memory of that precise moment in time; the warm air on my face as evening set in...the smell of spring and newness and fresh cut grass...the feel of that ring sliding on to my finger...and the look in Cale's eye knowing he was the one my heart wanted for always.

And there hasn't been a single moment I have ever regretted my answer (questioned my sanity a time or two, but regretted, never!).

I love you, Cale!

a thousand moments

for my true love...

your love is freely given, so pure and easy i sometimes can't look it in the eye for fear of being swallowed whole. no games, no expectations, just strong and steady and always available.

our love has been thrown into the fire, tested, but came out intact. there are scars from the burns we suffered, but they fade with each passing year.

you've been made to choose and what a privilege that you keep choosing me. i don't deserve it. your love always feels so big and selfless; it is bright and clear. my attempts at returning always seemed tinged with selfishness, motives, diluted. you deserve better then that, but i know you dismiss these thoughts as ridiculous.

you are still delusional about the greatness of me. and i love you for it. it makes me want to be great, to be who you see when you look at me.

your love is safe and solid and home. it's the sharing of a thousand moments of inconsequence, except to you and me. it's in the knowing of our oneness and the mystery that ensues.

it's you and it's me. and it's us.

and it is very, very good.

#193

Reason #193 why my husband is the best...every night while I'm washing my face and brushing my teeth he crawls into my side of the bed and warms it up. Perhaps it's because he hates to hear the inevitable teeth chattering that will begin if I get into a cold bed. Or maybe it's the complaining that usually accompanies it.

But I think it's just because he loves me.

Seven

seven years of married bliss.

happy day, my love!

*photo by amber wing*

Surprise

Cale doesn't try to surprise me very often, but when he does, it's almost always a huge winner! That was definitely the case last week when he came home from work with a box from the post office. Return address: Lisa Leonard! Well over a year ago I had shown Cale this necklace that I loved. But at that time we didn't know about Mati so it seemed silly to me to get one without our future child included on it. Well, fast forward to a few weeks ago when Cale went ahead and ordered one for me. I absolutely love it! I have worn it every single day and have received several compliments on it. I was going to take a picture of mine, but copy and pasting this one was much easier. (Obviously mine has a lower case m and h on it!) Thanks, Cale; you're the best!

Weekends just aren't long enough

We travelled to Cleveland with a dual purpose this weekend: celebrate our nephew's second birthday and go away overnight to celebrate our anniversary. We accomplished both in great fashion, but forgot our camera at home so have little proof to offer. Cale took off from work early Friday afternoon so we could get an earlier start which enabled us to meet Jess and Curtis for dinner. Since the rest of our weekend was pretty jam packed, it was so good to squeeze in some extra time with them.


Saturday we went to soccer games, ate Elmo birthday cake and then hit the road for our 20 hours of freedom. We did some shopping here and watched this movie (which we liked). We ate far too much good food at dinner here (a long-time favorite of ours and a place we love to get to whenever we're in Cleveland). We also squeezed in a drive around some of our favorite places and wished for our camera. The fall deliciousness of gorgeous trees, bright blue skies and fond memories is hard to beat.

Sunday morning we took our good old time getting ready and packing up. That in and of itself is a luxury! We stopped to get a shake from Tommy's and then took ourselves on a walking tour around the Case campus. It was fun to talk about various memories that we have of that place and realize how different they are. Mine are all as a visitor, on the fringes and involve my brother as a student or the slew of friends I made through him. Cale was a student there for four years and has tons of everyday life kinds of memories. We remember the same places and some of the same people, but our worlds didn't intersect very much until the fall of 2001.

And in the fall of 2002, our worlds became one and the same. It only seemed appropriate to revisit the spot where we made our vows to one another on the 6th anniversary of that day. So here we are in the one and only picture we took (on Cale's phone) on the steps of Amasa Stone Chapel at Case.

It was beyond good for us to remember and reflect about our six years of marriage in the city where it all started. Old memories, deeply buried, resurfaced as we drove down the streets where we lived and our love began.

The only real problem is that it was just too short of a time. We had to be back to my brother's house around 1pm so we could watch some football and visit with other friends and family that were coming over to see us. The afternoon flew by with a flurry of delicious food, a LOT of small children and the Steelers crushing the Bengals. It was delightful! Haven was so worn out from the weekend that she was asleep a block from my brother's house. We had a long drive home and an unfortunate trip to Sonic, but we eventually made it.

It was a jam packed weekend and I can't imagine that it could have been any better. Well, one thing...longer!

Mr and Mrs: Six Years Married

your arms in mine

any time

wouldn't trade anything

you're still my everything

don't worry i'll catch you

don't worry i'll catch you

don't ever worry

-the get up kids-

October

October and I have a love/hate relationship. It is a month ripe with memories; the best of the best and the worst of the worst. It's a month of reflection and remembering. Remembering the joy and the hope as I said, "I do" to Cale and the pain and the heartbreak of saying goodbye to my dad. The two most defining moments of my life all wrapped up in the same month...it makes for an emotional me.

As I was thinking about it today I realized how both of those moments were absolutely saturated in God's grace. They are experiences that reside at completely opposite ends of the spectrum, but are not separate. They are both pieces of me, my story.

A story of a loving God with plans so far beyond what I could ever imagine. He's the one who gave me a dad that showed me how much I was worth and taught me to never settle for anything less then God's best. God's the one who gave me a dad that walked by faith in ways I am still experiencing and gave me a passion for learning and understanding and growing.

And He's the same God who brought Cale into my life and everyday is the best there could ever be for me. He gave me a husband who daily works out this life of faith by my side and encourages me to think and grow and try new things. He gave me a husband who's belief in me is unwavering.

So today I'm sad, but God's grace is no less sufficient. My mind is full of memories and I will myself to recall new ones that I haven't yet remembered. Somthing else of my dad to hold on to, even for just a moment.

This weekend, I will be hopeful as I rejoice with Cale at what God has done in six years of our marriage. And God's grace will surround us in that joy, too. We will recount God's faithfulness to us and look to the future with great expectation.

There is much more to this story...but the theme will never change.

"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." John 1:16 (ESV)

Today's his day

Cale is 28 today. We've been celebrating for the last two days and aren't ready to stop just yet. Tonight there will be another special dinner and more cake and presents. He is certainly worth celebrating so we will get as much bang for the buck as we can out of the day he was born.

I was doing a bit of reflecting earlier and remembered back to the first birthday of his that we celebrated together. It was the big 2-1 and it was a night to remember. A big dinner with friends, cake at my apartment, running into my house with my car, getting carded at the grocery store and smashing an expensive bottle of red wine on my brother's white tiled kitchen floor (and then mopping and scrubbing that floor!). (I just re-read this and it sounds like I was quite intoxicated, I can assure you that was not the case!)

It was back in the days when we were "just friends" who spent a lot of time together and thinking about that night makes me smile and be thankful for how far we've come; how much we've changed, but are still the same. He's still the goofy boy with the weird last name that makes me laugh. It's just that now I'm the girl with the weird last name, too, and I'm still laughing.

Tonight we'll be celebrating as a family of three with hope in our hearts that next year we'll be a family of four. It will be a night of celebrating who Cale is, who he was and who he has yet to become. Happy Birthday, Cale!

Merry Christmas to me: Part 2

We have had an insanely busy week. Haven and I have had a crazy amount of running around that was necessary this week and it's left us both a bit out of sorts and my house neglected. But the craziness is subsiding and I'm looking forward to a long holiday weekend. Much of the busyness has been good stuff, including where I went last night. I had my second cooking class as part of my Christmas present from Cale.

Last nights class was Pies and Tarts and it was a great time. Unlike my first class, this one was part demonstration and part participation. Everyone got a chance to help make part of the recipes (I made a chocolate ganache for the tart). We made a Triple Berry Pie with a Granola Crust (my favorite!), a Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Caramel Tart and a Meringue Topped Banana Cream Pie. The instructor was great and the whole class was really relaxed and fun. I'm not sure that I will make the tart or banana cream pie anytime soon, but I'm planning on trying the (no-bake) berry pie this weekend. It was so good- different and easy!

Sadly, I've used up my Christmas gift at this point, but I am hooked on these classes. I am sure that I'm going to have more in my future. Too bad Christmas is sooo far away!

Checkpoint

Today my nephew, E, turns six years old. Since he was only a few months old at our wedding, his birthday always makes me reflect about the growth of our marriage. Looking at E and seeing how much he's grown and changed in the previous year; what he's learned, what's important to him and how he likes to spend his time. In my mind, there is a perfect parallel to mine and Cale's marriage.

-Have we grown (together and individually) in the last year?
-How have we changed and is it for the good or not so good?
-Are we helping each other "to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18)?
-What have we learned and how are we putting it into practice?
-What's important to us these days? Has it changed from last year? If it's changed, why?
-How are we spending our time- as a family, as a couple, individual pursuits? Are they worthy things or just busyness?

Cale and I try to talk through questions like these around our anniversary, but I'm thankful for E's birthday to remind me to stop and do some evaluating of my most important earthly relationship.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, E! Thanks for reminding us of important things today!

Merry Christmas to me!

Last night I finally used one of my Christmas presents from Cale. He got me cooking classes from a local gourmet market and I took my first class. The class was Cooking with fresh herbs and it was wonderful! The chef who taught the class was very personable and liked to interact with the group a lot. I was kind of nervous going it that there might be some food snobs in our midst (including the person teaching!), but my fears were put to rest early on when the instructor made light of the idea. She loves simple, fresh food that is allowed to do what it's supposed to do.

We got to eat everything that was prepared. It wasn't a participation class (although they do offer those), it was a demonstration class. We learned how to prepare and enjoyed eating the following: Lemon and Thyme Roast Chicken, Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter with Sage, Fresh Herb and Garlic Pasta, Summer Vegetable Ratatouille with Oregano and Mixed Berries with Vanilla Bean and Mint Simple Syrup. Everything was absolutely delicious and I was shocked to learn that I love sugar snap peas! I am not a pea fan in general, but decided to be a good sport and try them. Delicious! The greatest thing about the class is that it wasn't just about the recipes, but about methods. The techniques weren't new to be, but I had never thought about putting together some of the ideas that were presented. One of the biggest reasons why I was interested in taking the class is because I love using fresh herbs in my cooking but find that I use the 1/4 cup needed for one recipe and then waste the rest because I don't know what to do with it. No longer! I've got a ton of ideas and can't wait to try them out. So be warned- if you get invited to my house this summer for dinner there will be a bounty of fresh from my garden herbs in whatever I serve!

The only downer in the whole evening was the 25 minutes we spent locked in the store's bakery. Now at face value I realize the idea of being locked in a bakery doesn't sound all that bad (can you say Killer Brownies?!!!), but the reason we were in there is because there was a tornado warning. It had been pouring down rain the whole time we were in class, but didn't know how bad it was until a manager from the store came in and told us to evacuate. Very exciting! So we all huddled in the bakery together, listening to the radio. I got stressed because they were saying the storm was heading in the general direction of our house. Knowing Cale, he wouldn't even be aware because he is not really a tv watcher. My guess, which was right, is that he was working on something on the computer and wouldn't know what was going on. After trying unsuccessfully for 15 minutes to get a signal, I stepped back out into an area that a few people had had success getting calls through in. I had to literally lay up against a door, but was able to tell Cale what was going on so he could check the news. Then I relaxed!

We were given the all clear a few minutes later and then had to decide to stay or go. It was still raining VERY hard, but we had two more courses to serve. They were quick ones and I didn't want to miss a thing so I decided to stick it out. I'm glad I did because the dessert was delicious and such a great, simple idea for the summer. The drive home was treacherous because of the pouring rain and the lightening. I have never seen lightening like that in my life and it was so bright and frequent it was hard to see. My gas tank was also on empty and I had to go to the bathroom so it was a looooong drive home. My little white house never looked so welcoming!

I had a fantastic time at this class and can't wait to put to use what I learned. And I'm even more excited about my second class next month! Cale, you're a genius!

Kate is Great

This post is in honor of my beautiful, excellent, loving wife on her 29th birthday. (This is her husband posting, by the way.) I consider myself blessed beyond measure. Those who have gotten to know her through this blog have seen a glimpse of her sweet, gentle, funny, and passionate nature; those who know her personally will tell you that she is so much more. I thank God each day that he has partnered me with such an amazing woman! I've learned so much from her about life, godliness, love, grace, and compassion - she has (directly and indirectly) spurred me on more and more to be the man that God desires me to be. She is a phenomenal mom, wife, daughter, and friend. I love to be near her as often as I can be (unfortunately I have to work 40 hours a week) because she is such a joy. Here's to another year of living life with my best friend and seeing what God has in store for us. I love you, baby!