HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY CARLY!!
I can’t believe little Carly is 19 years old today!! I remember when she was a little blond haired, blue eyed cutie who would smile at everyone with her big blue eyes… and now she is a beautiful young woman in college! ahh! I love you very much Carly and am so blessed to have you as my sister 
It’s been 7 months since our honeymoon…. and I’m thinking it should become a worldwide ritual to honeymoon every 7 months. I am so ready for sun and tropical islands again. hmph….
God continues to bless Jeremy wil great opportunites to minister to others through his music. Jeremy is headed to Chicago for the weekend to drum for the Chicago Metro Conference, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ. I elected not to go (they sleep in bunk beds with bugs, yuck) but will be cheering him on from afar.
If you are in the Indy area this weekend, check out his usual band playing Saturday night at Fionn MacCool’s in Fishers and Sunday night in Broadripple for “Pub Theology.” Pub Theology is a concept used by a megachurch in Indy (E91- actually the first church we tried out when we moved here) that has gained quite a bit of attenion. It has grown so much that the E91 band plays at one venue and My Yellow Rickshaw is playing at another. Check out the article regarding Pub Theology here: http://www.indystar.com/article/20090927/LIVING09/909270384/1111/LIVING09/Pub+Theology+conveys+Christian+message+in+Broad+Ripple
The first 7 months of marriage have been absolutely wonderful- it is so fun to go on new adventures together as we navigate our new town and the cities surrounding it… We’re also extremely thankful to have close family and friends still within 2 hours to spend time with as well Some things we have been up to lately….
visiting my sister @ BSU…
[typical pose for these two ]
I can’t believe you are already in college! I love you!
Every Gray family visit includes a Starbucks run in it… This time was no different! (Carly and her boyfriend, Eric)
After BSU, we were off to Hartford City to celebrate Justin (Jeremy’s brother… I’m sure you couldn’t tell that from the pictures ) and Jennifer’s Engagement!
The happy future Bride and Groom!
My future sister in law!!
The Lee men doing what they do best…hillbilly golf.
This was the highlight of my year, well other than getting married I LOVE trampolines!!!
I even stole my hubby away for a bit to jump with me
My favorite moments of marriage… our “creative” dates
We had some issues learning how to start our grill (and be “we” I completely mean Jeremy) so it took oh, about 1 hour and 40 minutes to grill 3 hamburgers
Thankfull our backyard has beautiful scenery to kill time while we learned how to grill 
This past weekend we had more family time with my parents up north and ended the weekend with the Newsboys concert! The Newsboys teamed up with Global Tribe to help spread the Gospel and feed the many homeless families of Fort Wayne. In order to attend the concert, you had to bring canned food and everyone brought in over 5 tons of food!
Their drummer is really good! He is the only remaining original member of the Newsboys, and the only member still from Australia, which is where the original band is from.
I don’t think you can see this very well but they had an “altar call” for anyone who wanted to renew their relationship with the Lord or start a relationship for the first time. It was crazy how many people went to the middle to meet with local pastors to do so! Praise God!
I LOVED THIS! The new singer, Michael Tate, is the original singer of DCTalk.. anyone remember them? I feel old now that I can actually say “anyone remember them?” about a band Anyways, they went out to the middle of the room and did Newsboys and DCTalk throwback songs from the 90s…Who remembers “Shine” “We’re Colored People” etc… I remember dancing in my room to these!
Hope everyone has a wonderful end of your week!
A verse that has been ringing through our household this past week:
Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart
-Psam 37:4
I remember after we were engaged and I would walk through Target (which I walk through just about every day ) and see all the decorations for different holidays and get SO excited to have our own place where I could decorate. Well, that time has come and trust me, I was ready for Halloween decorations, even though I think Halloween is kind of lame. I headed straight over to our Target (which is conveniently located across the street ) and excitedly bought my first holiday decor as a wife:
I have a ton more pictures but no one really cares how I decorated our apartment other than my mom and she’ll be here in a few weeks to see it all anyways.
Another part of fall I was really looking forward to was pumpkin carving! Jeremy apparently was not and thought the idea sounded dumb. Well because he knows that a happy wife=happy life, we carved pumpkins and guess what, he had a lot of fun! I had to compromise because I reaaaaaally wanted to go to a pumpkin patch but I knew not to press my luck so we went to Target.
Jeremy’s side:
My side (the letter “L” for my new last name):
Happy Fall!!
For those of you who have not yet heard the saddening news, we lost a dear member of our family- Dixie, my ‘95 red, sexy Honda Civic. I love her dearly but really the only sad part about this is now we will have a monthly car payment as we get ready to buy a new car.
RIP Dixie (this isn’t my actually car as you can tell because we live nowhere near mountains, plus my antenna is hanging off the side and the back wheels have rust all over them):
We are still in the test-drive/research stage but think we have narrowed down to the 2009 Honda Civic or 2009 Toyota Corolla. And, maybe an ‘09 Ford or Mazda-3 something just because my dad wants me to look at 3-4 different types of cars [there's a shout out to you dad ]… so, help us out- which one do you like better?
PS- If we pick yours, you get to help us with the monthly payments
THE CONTENDERS:
‘09 Honda Civic:
‘09 Toyota Corolla:
THE PRETENDERS:
‘09 Ford Focus:
‘09 Mazda-3
Cast your vote! And we know there are lots of you who read this blog (we don’t know why but you do ) because we can see the daily stats so show your face in the comment section and give your opinion
One of my favorite parts about being a wife is learning to cook new things. It is much more fun to cook for two people and see the other person’s reactions to the receipe rather than cooking a lot of food for just one person (ie- college life). Plus, Jeremy loves tasting new foods so it is fun to surprise him for lunch and dinner. As I am learning to cook more than just pasta, I have become very conscious of using organic produce and meat from local farmers. I think living in Bloomington helped me gain this appreciation as I went to the local organic store, Bloomingfoods, all the time and met the local farmers who were there to restock their fruits, grains, etc. When we moved to Fishers I started going to the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings and had a blast meeting the people who spend their lives growing food that is healthy and good for our bodies, as opposed to fruit flown in from all over with pesticides and bruises on it. I guess you could say I am starting to become rather passionate about it.
So imagine my surprise and happiness when I walked into the Whole Foods Market today in Carmel. I had no idea what it was but I had heard that it supported the local community… oh my gosh I am obsessed. I bought my lunch there and am going back to buy our groceries there tonight. (check out their website: www.wholefoods.com)
If you are like Jeremy, you are probablly asking why is it important to buy organic foods. Well, let me pull out my notes from my sustainability course @ IU and tell you:
1. Reduce The Toxic Load: Keep Chemicals Out of the Air, Water, Soil and our Bodies
Buying organic food promotes a less toxic environment for all living things. With only 0.5 percent of crop and pasture land in organic, according to USDA that leaves 99.5 percent of farm acres in the U.S. at risk of exposure to noxious agricultural chemicals.
Our bodies are the environment so supporting organic agriculture doesn’t just benefit your family, it helps all families live less toxically.
2. Reduce if Not Eliminate Off Farm Pollution
Industrial agriculture doesn’t singularly pollute farmland and farm workers; it also wreaks havoc on the environment downstream. Pesticide drift affects non-farm communities with odorless and invisible poisons. Synthetic fertilizer drifting downstream is the main culprit for dead zones in delicate ocean environments, such as the Gulf of Mexico, where its dead zone is now larger than 22,000 square kilometers, an area larger than New Jersey, according to Science magazine, August, 2002.
3. Protect Future Generations
Before a mother first nurses her newborn, the toxic risk from pesticides has already begun. Studies show that infants are exposed to hundreds of harmful chemicals in utero. In fact, our nation is now reaping the results of four generations of exposure to agricultural and industrial chemicals, whose safety was deemed on adult tolerance levels, not on children’s. According to the National Academy of Science, “neurologic and behavioral effects may result from low-level exposure to pesticides.” Numerous studies show that pesticides can adversely affect the nervous system, increase the risk of cancer, and decrease fertility.
4. Build Healthy Soil
Mono-cropping and chemical fertilizer dependency has taken a toll with a loss of top soil estimated at a cost of $40 billion per year in the U.S., according to David Pimental of Cornell University. Add to this an equally disturbing loss of micro nutrients and minerals in fruits and vegetables. Feeding the soil with organic matter instead of ammonia and other synthetic fertilizers has proven to increase nutrients in produce, with higher levels of vitamins and minerals found in organic food, according to the 2005 study, “Elevating Antioxidant levels in food through organic farming and food processing,” Organic Center State of Science Review (1.05)
5. Taste Better and Truer Flavor
Scientists now know what we eaters have known all along: organic food often tastes better. It makes sense that strawberries taste yummier when raised in harmony with nature, but researchers at Washington State University just proved this as fact in lab taste trials where the organic berries were consistently judged as sweeter. Plus, new research verifies that some organic produce is often lower in nitrates and higher in antioxidants than conventional food. Let the organic feasting begin!
6. Assist Family Farmers of all Sizes
According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, as of 2006 there are approximately 10,000 certified organic producers in the U.S. compared to 2500 to 3,000 tracked in 1994. Measured against the two million farms estimated in the U.S. today, organic is still tiny. Family farms that are certified organic farms have a double economic benefit: they are profitable and they farm in harmony with their surrounding environment. Whether the farm is a 4-acre orchard or a 4,000-acre wheat farm, organic is a beneficial practice that is genuinely family-friendly.
7. Avoid Hasty and Poor Science in Your Food
Cloned food. GMOs and rBGH. Oh my! Interesting how swiftly these food technologies were rushed to market, when organic fought for 13 years to become federal law. Eleven years ago, genetically modified food was not part of our food supply; today an astounding 30 percent of our cropland is planted in GMOs. Organic is the only de facto seal of reassurance against these and other modern, lab-produced additions to our food supply, and the only food term with built in inspections and federal regulatory teeth.
8. Eating with a Sense of Place
Whether it is local fruit, imported coffee or artisan cheese, organic can demonstrate a reverence for the land and its people. No matter the zip code, organic has proven to use less energy (on average, about 30 percent less), is beneficial to soil, water and local habitat, and is safer for the people who harvest our food. Eat more seasonably by supporting your local farmers market while also supporting a global organic economy year round. It will make your taste buds happy.
9. Promote Biodiversity
Visit an organic farm and you’ll notice something: a buzz of animal, bird and insect activity. These organic oases are thriving, diverse habitats. Native plants, birds and hawks return usually after the first season of organic practices; beneficial insects allow for a greater balance, and indigenous animals find these farms a safe haven. As best said by Aldo Leopold, “A good farm must be one where the native flora and fauna have lost acreage without losing their existence.” An organic farm is the equivalent of reforestation. Industrial farms are the equivalent of clear cutting of native habitat with a focus on high farm yields.
10. Celebrate the Culture of Agriculture
Food is a ‘language’ spoken in every culture. Making this language organic allows for an important cultural revolution whereby diversity and biodiversity are embraced and chemical toxins and environmental harm are radically reduced, if not eliminated. The simple act of saving one heirloom seed from extinction, for example, is an act of biological and cultural conservation. Organic is not necessarily the most efficient farming system in the short run. It is slower, harder, more complex and more labor-intensive. But for the sake of culture everywhere, from permaculture to human culture, organic should be celebrated at every table.
Yesterday was a rough day for me- hard day at work and I had to come home to an empty apartment as Jeremy had to work late and practice with the band even longer. I decided to review what we had gone over in Bible study and found such relief in this passage…. I hope you can too
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Luke 12:22-34
I never realized how much I would look forward to days like Labor Day until I graduated and no longer have summer, Christmas, and random other vacations (along with no work vacation days until February). I guess you could say Jeremy and I were counting down to this day for about 2 months Our friends, Jon and Ashley, invited us up to her parent’s lake cottage for the weekend and we had an absolute blast. The weather was a tad chilly and I definitely did not get a sun tan but it was so fun to spend time away from our apartment and enjoy fellowship with wonderful friends
disclaimer: I know this is definitely not a good picture of us, we both look half dead, but it’s the only one I had from that weekend…
Jeremy and Jon decided to brave the cold water and hit the tubes… (isn’t he cute?)
…and the boat wouldn’t start so Ashley’s brother had come all the way to the other side of the lake and tow us back with the pontoon. That was a looong ride back
poor guys..
I wish I had more pictures from that weekend but I left the camera inside for most of the time… we felt so grateful and blessed for such a sweet time of laughter and relaxation.
Funny story: When I was 8 years old I thought it would be cool to stick a bead up my nose. You know, one of the plastic beads that little girls make bracelets with. I have no idea why I decided to do that so don’t ask me but the important part of the story is that I can no longer breathe clearly out of the left side of my nose. It’s horrible and lately I have been sleeping sitting up because I can’t breathe. poor Jeremy My parents suggested I try the neti pot to try to clear my nasal system so for $14.92 I bought one at Target and am now obsessed. Every night, I do the neti, inhale nasal spray, and then use a breathing strip- let me tell you, it is an attractive site Anyways, for anyone who has sinus headaches, stuffy nose, or allergies, you really need to make the $14 investment on a neti pot. Use the pot two times a day and you really will start to feel relief. Plus, it is definitely a funny site to watch everything come out of your nostril
I would never put pictures of myself using the device so here are some google images:
