Summer Time Update

Well, I think it is officially summer here in Spokane!  We have had a string of really nice days - in the high 80's - which is a nice break from the snow and the drought.  As we approach our first summer together as a married couple it is weird to think about everything that was going on a year ago.  It was nice weather, sunny days and crisp evenings, but I remember I didn't get to really enjoy any of them because my life was consumed with wedding planning.  But boy how I year in time flies!  We love Spokane, we love our friends and our church!  And our work, eh, it could be better!  But the flexibility to take time off is amazing!  This summer we have already made it home for my sister's graduation party and traveled to Oregon for a wedding.  This month we will be taking off the weekend of our anniversary to head to Crescent Bar, and in August a family camping trip with the church and another trip home for his cousin's wedding.  Craig has picked up full-time work for the next couple months, which is an incredible blessing.  So he has been waking up at 5am to be at work by 6am.  I am so blessed to have a husband wiling to commit to that much work during his summer break.  I am still working my three jobs.  So other than my schedules being quite shaken and stirred it's the same old grind all summer long.  Craig and I do find time together, mainly in the evenings.  Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday are our days together.  This past Monday we decided to go old school with our desserts and made Banana Boats on the grill - thank you girl scouts.  They were delicious!!!

Just take a banana, slice it down the middle not cutting all the way through, stuff it with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, wrap it in foil, and grill it or bake it @ 300 degrees for 5 minutes!  Easy!

I then proceeded to be creamed at a game of Scrabble.  My adorable and most gracious husband decides not to be so adorable and gracious when we play board games.  He has our score posted on one of our kitchen cabinets to remind himself daily of the win.

But despite any game I've lost in Scrabble I enjoy every minute with him.  He makes me laugh -- and let's be honest -- he makes me cry a lot too!  But he is mine, all mine!

To Bliss & Back

Traveling 900 miles in 4 days is draining but what made up for it was getting to spend 4 days with my best friend, preparing and encouraging her as her wedding day approached.  The wedding came and gone in no time at all.  We all curled our hair, smiled for some photos, fluffed her dress, sent her down the aisle, stuffed our faces, and wished them goodbye!  It reminded me of my wedding day – a day of many wonderful memories that led into one awkwardly beautiful night!    This weekend I wanted to cry out of happiness because I am so excited for their journey that they just begun yesterday and I am grateful to be a part of it.  God is tremendously amazing!  He molds two different people so perfectly to fit together…a bond that no one should be able to break apart.  My Dad told me today that marriage is like a pair of scissors.  They are two different units attached to each other at the center that work together for one goal, in this case to cut something.  The units separate and come back together, separate and come back together, time and time again.  But when they come back together….watch out because if you try to get in between them it sure does hurt!  It has been a blessing to watch my best friend engage in such a healthy and dynamic relationship that is pleasing to God.  Their wedding was at the church that he had grown up in.  How neat to surrender and allow their special day to be at his church rather than hers.  Now, they both attend together. 

I was the matron of honor because I am married :]  Yes, that is how I begun my toast at the reception.  I just wanted people to know!  But I told them that I didn’t have any advice for them because I, myself, have been married only a year.  What is a year out of 75 years?  It is a blink of time in the grand scheme of things.  But I could tell them that marriage is fun, exciting, and a challenge daily!  Just grab hold and hang on tight.  Kiss each other even when you don’t feel like it.  Regularly say, “I Love You.”  And appreciate the little things – don’t always expect big things to happen.  But when you are following the road of Christ, God will allow big things to happen every once in a while to remind you of His goodness and grace, but most importantly that He is the number one fan of your marriage! 


A clip I created to show at the end of my speech:

And, as I sit hear in the car, almost 3 hours into our 7 hour drive back, I asked my husband what more I should say and he recommended that I write about him, so here it goes…

Why I Love My Husband: Craig J Haskins

1.       Most importantly, he loves the Lord

2.       Second importantly, he loves me in all my glory and goodness!

3.       He laughs with me, not at me….most of the time

4.       He supports my workout addiction and healthy eating

5.       He always is looking at that dang bright side of things

6.       He makes friends wherever he goes

7.       He is extremely flexible

8.       He doesn’t snore every night

9.       He gets along with my family and friends and calls them his own

 He made me write all this about him on our blog :] 

Nieces & Nephews

I come from a small, but rather large extended family.  My Momma is the youngest of six children, my Dad is an only child.  Each of my Mom's siblings had children and now my cousins are beginning to have children.  As large as my family is it feels small because none of them live nearby.  So, as I have married in to one of the world's largest families, I feel that loneliness no longer!  And to top it off I instantly became "auntie megan!"  So, until I have little ones of my own I treat these precious angels as if they were my own!

Connor

Emma & Me

Emma, Lincoln, & Great Grandma

Emma Hepburn

Emma, Connor, & Grandma Marian

Lincoln & Me

Aria

Emma & Ben

Joey & Jillian

The Joey & Jillian Team at its best...

Joey Tribbiani: a struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey is a womanizer with many girlfriends throughout the series, and develops a crush on his friend Rachel in season eight.  If I could write the Wikipedia definition of this character I would put in parenthesis (Craig Haskins; minus the muli-women womanizer characteristic).  Instead, I would submit the characteristic: a one-woman womanizer for women named Megan Haskins.  Craig is humorous is all aspects and can look on the bright side of any situation, especially when he has a meat sandwich in his hand.  As well, he can be serious and is a very loyal friend and husband.  He laughs at himself, laughs at me, and enjoys life in every way possible. 

Then there is the Jillian Michaels half of this team, that's me!!!  Though I am not a personal trainer on the popular show The Biggest Loser, and am not ripped like a washboard, I like to think I entail a lot of her inner strength, stubbornness, and hardcore mentality.  I challenge almost everything people say to me, constantly asking, "Why...give me reasons?"  As well, I have gained confidence in who I am and like to encourage others to do the same!  My blonde hair and blonde moments might throw you for a loop but, heck, I embrace them.  I think I say some pretty dumb and stupid things at times so why not laugh.  Oh, and thanks to a friend pointing this out...I don't have a dude voice like Jillian either.  But there is some inner-dude in me at times.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you [James 1:2-6]