We were married on September 22nd, 2007 at Scofield Memorial Church by Caleb’s grandfather. My Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth were among the many, many wonderful friends and family in attendance.

We took our first trip to Hawaii for the honeymoon. Maui was beautiful!

Laura’s car was towed while we were away. We narrowly avoided having it sold at auction, and it cost $435 to get back (which was merciful, as it was originally going to cost $765).

Half a week later, Laura’s car was totalled on her way to a friend’s house. Everyone was okay, and it wasn’t her fault, and insurance took care of everything. At this point, we became a single-car family and haven’t looked back since. Get this: after I added Laura to my auto insurance policy, even with a recent no-fault accident on her record, our premiums went down and GEICO actually gave me money back.

In mid-October, Caleb got mono. Actually, I was diagnosed with mono, but other than a killer case of tonsilitis, I never came down with any of the symptoms.

Caleb turned 25! No more underage car rental fees.

Laura testified in court regarding the car accident from earlier. She was nervous but testified like the bestified.

We had our first Thanksgiving! Laura and I cooked our first turkey together. Despite putting it in the fridge to thaw on Monday, it was still frozen when we got it out on Thanksgiving morning. Laura’s quick thinking (and quick Googling) turned up a method for cooking a still-frozen turkey, so disaster was averted. We had five single guys over to join us for dinner and still had tons of leftovers. It was a good time.

First snow! The first of December really was covered with snow.

Laura threw her first baby shower for our friend, Lisa. She baked a teddy bear cake complete with a pink bow made out of bubble gum tape!

We found out that we’re having a baby! Laura had been sick and tired-feeling for a few days, and I was afraid that she’d caught the mono that I’d had. But she hadn’t! Baby Bell is due around August 11th.

We had our first Christmas together! We split a week and a half with both families down in Texas. It was a fun and relaxing time to reconnect with family.

The power was out to half our condo for a week. I didn’t learn until three days into it that a fridge can plug into a normal outlet.

Laura had her first OB visit, and we saw our baby’s heart beating at eight weeks old. It was, frankly, among the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Laura turned 26! Yup, she’s rocking the cradle.

… and many, many, many other things, some of which we realize, some I’m sure we don’t.  The Lord Jesus has blessed us far beyond our ability to understand, far beyond our appreciation for Him, far beyond what we could even imagine.  We deserve nothing but judgement, yet he has set his love on us, died for us, and saved us.  What can we ask beyond this?  What wondrous love is this!

Laura: … or we could have half a sandwich!

Caleb: Or we could have chocolate!

Laura:  But… I don’t want chocolate… I want mustard!

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Sarah-Jean: Hey Caleb

I’ve started to litter train the guinea pigs

Good News:  Moses visits the litter box regularly and sometimes poops in it

Bad News:  He visits the litter box more often to eat poop

Sent at 3:13 PM on Monday

On my way to take Laura home that evening, we started talking about healthy alternatives to popular snacks that would horrify our guests. One thing lead to another, and we imagined the following scene played out when some friends came to visit:

LOCATION SHOT: CALEB and LAURA’S APARTMENT

JEFF and PAULA enter the apartment, visiting for the first time. CALEB greets them and takes their raincoats. LAURA offers them a seat and takes drink requests. JEFF and PAULA have a seat on the COUCH. LAURA returns with drinks and a bowl of finger foods.

LAURA: Would you guys like some snacks?

JEFF: I would love a snack!

JEFF tastes the OFFERED SNACK. It is SWEET and SQUISHY. It is NOT WHAT HE EXPECTED.

JEFF: What is this!? This is sweet and squishy! This is not what I expected!

LAURA, GLEEFULLY: It’s a squash tot!

Okay, so I’m no playwright, but I just saw a recipe for Potato Croutons on 101Cookbooks. Can our dream of tasty, baked, squash snack be far behind?

With broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Thy pard’ning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me!

I smite upon my troubled breast,
With deep and conscious guilt oppressed,
Christ and His cross my only plea:
O God, be merciful to me!

Far off I stand with tearful eyes,
Nor dare uplift them to the skies;
But Thou dost all my anguish see:
O God, be merciful to me!

Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee:
O God, be merciful to me!

And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
O God, be merciful to me!

Text by Cornelius Elven (1791-1873); here’s a recording as performed by The Northern Conspiracy at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

My current home in suburban Kirkland scores 29, good old Hart Hall on the campus of Texas A&M University is a 58, and Mars Hill Church in the nearly-industrial neighborhood of Ballard in Seattle hits a pretty nice 75.  It’s not perfect for a number of reasons (for example, the 95th Court Apartments in Redmond are a respectable 65, but due to the fact that the apartments are on a hill, it’s actually a lot less desirable to walk than it would be otherwise), but still a pretty neat app.