year one.

This year has been the most fun, adventurous, fast, loving, beautiful, imperfect, perfect year of my life. A year ago today I married my best friend and I can honestly say that I love that man so much more today than I did a year ago.

I've learned so much about who I am as a women, and as a child of God through my marriage. I have seen good sides of myself and I have seen really, really ugly sides. I've experienced more grace and forgiveness than I deserve. 

My marriage pushes me to Jesus, and really, what more could I ask for? It isn't always pretty, actually it rarely is, but it is sanctifying and it is real and it's more than I could have ever imagined. 

I've grown to love this role I am in. I love getting to cook dinner and make a home that my husband loves to return to. I love that I am the one that gets to encourage Brian and remind him that he has what it takes. I love that I get to stand beside him through this journey that we are on. I love getting to play the supporting role. 

I cannot wait to see what year 2 holds for us. A new country, a new job, a new community. I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. 

Pictures by Jenna Thomas

weekend.

This weekend was a good one. 

One thing we LOVE about living near DC is that people love to come visit and stay with us. And really, there is nothing we love more than hosting people in our home. 

On this particular weekend we had my cousin Adam and his sweet girlfriend Liz stay with us. We had a ton of fun and laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time. 

We also took a roadtrip to Brian's Alma Mater, the Virginia Military Institute, for an engagement party of some good friends of ours. It was a beautiful day to roadtrip, and there was nothing but rolling mountains and fields for days on either side of us. Backroads, windows down, music loud: the best kind of drive.

It was so sweet to be back at this place that holds so many memories, good and bad, for Brian and I.

Like driving that 3 1/2 hour drive more times than I can count throughout college.

Like dreading Sunday afternoons when we would have to part ways for the next 2 weeks, 2 months, however long it might be. 

Like making trips to the next town over so Brian could take off his uniform and hold my hand. 

And mostly Lexington Coffee Shop, where I simultaneously fell in love with my husband and with coffee. 

(this totally looks like a recruitment ad.. Brian calls this "the power stance")

We loved getting to be in Lexington to celebrate our sweet friends that are getting married. We are big fans of marriage over here.

the graduate

Brian graduated yesterday from the Basic School, the 6 month long officer course that brought us to Virginia. I could not be more proud of how hard and diligently this man works to be the best he can be and bring God glory in all that he does. His work ethic and determination challenge me to be better. 

We were so blessed to have BOTH sets of our parents here to celebrate with us along with Brian's oldest brother, Evan. We all got a glimpse into Brian's crazy days of TBS during family day.

 

After shooting guns and being awesome all day, we got all spiffied up for graduation. And let's just be honest with ourselves, there is nothing better than a man in uniform.

So proud of you Brian. You are going to do huge things for God's glory during your time in the Marine Corps. It's an honor to be your wife and stand beside you through this journey. You are the real deal.

23.

22 was a big year for me y'all. Well, more specifically May 2011 was a big month for me. In one month I turned 22, graduated college, and married the love of my life. Pretty much every big milestone within 2 weeks. So 23 has a lot to live up to. But, considering we will be moving across the world to start a new life together-- I think 23 will do just fine for itself.

I really love birthdays, like a lot. I love celebrating people, being with the ones I love most, and mostly I just love eating cake. I didn't have huge expectations for this birthday considering Brian had an overnight and couldn't come home that night, and many of my friends are packing up to move away. But y'all, my husband and my friends are awesome. They went all out and made me feel so special, loved, and honored. I am really blessed.

I woke up to the sweetest card from Brian with a gift card to treat myself to some glorious iced Starbees. My friend Kate brought me lunch and took my to my favorite coffee shop to get my favorite iced latte (see a trend here? The way to my heart, people..). I had a relaxing afternoon watching Netflix and eating strawberries with whipped cream.  Then dinner with some of my fave ladies followed by cake and fun times back at another friends house. The night ended with a good ole slumber party since all of our husbands were gone for the night and everyone knows I hate sleeping alone :)

I love these ladies A LOT. 

They even made me my FAVE, funfetti!

I got to celebrate with my man the day after my birthday when I ate my weight in sushi in honor of our big Japanese move coming up. I felt good about that. 

Thank you for all the phone calls, texts, cards, FB messages, tweets, instagrams, dutch ovens (thanks ERIN!), etc. etc. You guys rule and I'm just so blessed that I get to live the life I live. 

Here's to 23! Yee-haw!

our instagrammed weekend.

I adore a sweet little photo app called Instagram. It's a dangerous thing though. See, I have this nice, pretty camera that takes wonderful pictures. But the iphone is so convenient and then I have all these fun filters to play with. I'm trying to be better at using my real camera. But I am thankful for all these snapshots of our life that I have from my phone.

So I give you... our weekend in Instagrams.

Indian Night with some friends. Seriously, I LOVE indian food. And our friends made all of this from scratch. Chicken Pecoras, mint chutney, yogurt sauce, spiced fruit salad, basmati rice. This is the way to my heart.

Yep, Friday nights always end like this.

Lazy Saturday morning with my husband was much needed. And we FINALLY got to watch our home church's Easter service. It was truly amazing and the the most creative depiction of the Gospel I have ever seen. I am amazed at the heart of our Pastor and lengths the creative team will go to to present the Gospel to the lost world. You should watch this.

We've been trying to pick up tennis as of lately. We make a pretty solid team, us Hardings. And if you know my husband, you know losing is simply not an option. You don't want to cross us on the court. I mean, just look at those faces.

Saturday night we saw one our favorite bands, NeedtoBreathe. Those guys always put on a great show. And we are such dedicated fans, we stood in the rain for an hour to get in. And yes, it was worth it.

Well, that's all folks.

the ultimate girls weekend

The weeks are LONG when Brian is gone. Yes, I probably have mentioned that before. See, I just hate being by myself. I hate quiet houses. I hate cooking for one. I just prefer to be with people. So, I dread the weeks that he is gone. But, not this one! I had been looking forward to this field week for a couple months because 5, yes 5, of my favorite people in the world were coming to visit me.

You guys know how small my apartment is (although, we prefer to use the word cozy) and so some might think, "Wow, why would she ever want to have 5 extra people in that small amount of square footage?" Well, let me tell you, if I had to pick 5 people to be squished into a 1 bedroom apartment with, I would choose Kelly and her girls.

A little back story on my friendship with Kelly: I was an awkward high school teenager when I started going to Elevation. I met Kelly and was immediately attracted to her personality (does that sound creepy? It's not.). She was cute, fun, personable, wise, and had three little girls with another on the way. So obviously, being the awkward teen that I was, I decide to buy her love with a gift for the new baby. I stalked her at church, handed her a gift, and ran away. She tells me now that she honestly didn't even know my name when I gave her the gift. But hey, it worked! Kelly became a wonderful friend and mentor to me throughout high school, college, and into my married life. I spent many Saturday nights on her couch eating sour patch kids, laughing my head off, and picking her brain on life, marriage, and friendships. Kelly was this crazy busy pastor's wife, (cool) homeschool mom, small group leader, etc. but she took time out of her life to know me and ask me questions and show me Jesus. Larry and Kelly were a huge part of our wedding prep as they led us through marriage counseling and Larry preformed our ceremony. These people hold a special place deep, deep in our hearts and will always be like family to Brian and I.

Anyways, with both of our husbands out of town, Kelly and I decided that an adventure was in store. So we hopped on the Metro to DC with no real idea of where we were going and set out to make some memories. And that is exactly what we did. I loved every second of it and yes, I cried when they left.

6 girls in a one bedroom, I love it! I love the craziness, the chaos, & the loudness.

All four girls curled up in my bed.

Such city girls.

Kelly: thank you so much for packing up four kids and driving six hours to come see me. It means more than I can say. Thank you for how you and Larry have invested in Brian and I and how you continually bless us over and over again. Your life, your marriage, your relationships-- they minister to me and push me towards Jesus. I am beyond thankful for your friendship in my life.

konnichiwa

Well, here we go. When we got married we asked the Lord for an adventure and He answered. Big time.

Back Story: Tuesday morning Brian called me and said he had gotten web orders online for our next duty station. After the previous shock of receiving Ground Supply, we were really hoping and praying for an awesome duty station. Brian's first words to me were, "it's God's will," and my heart sank. I knew "it's God's will" meant North Carolina. See, we got to rank our duty stations and we ranked East Coast last. Now, before all our lovely east coast friends and family get angry about this you should know this-- we did this because we are pretty sure that one day we will settle back down in North Carolina. For the time being we just wanted to GO. EXPLORE. Figure out life and marriage and adventure.

So we spent about 24 hours thinking we were going to be back in NC for the next three years. We weren't angry, but we weren't excited. We were just trying hard to believe that it was what God had for us.

So that brings us to Wednesday night. I'm walking through Target to get QTips and garbage bags (obviously really important to the story) and Brian calls with a super excited voice. He's all, "BABE, I HAVE GOOD NEWS!" And I'm all, "FINALLY!" He continued on to tell me that his web orders were wrong and we would no longer be moving to NC.

So here is our news: We are moving to..... OKINAWA, Japan! Japan ya'll, JAPAN! Three years; more specifically 36 months. And you should come visit. Cause it's a tropical island. And beautiful.

We will be here in Virginia until the middle of June, and then will move to North Carolina for 8 weeks while Brian in in supply school. After supply school we will be off to the land of sushi and cherry blossoms (seriously, this is all I know about Japan). We are so excited and are ready for the adventure that will come! We covet your prayers as there is so much to be done before we leave. Pray that God would go before us and prepare the way. That he would provide strong community and relationships for us and that our marriage would grow exponentially as we learn to lean on one another. And that He would continually calm our hearts and remind us that this truly is His plan.

And please. Come visit.

And because I have no other pictures to share of this momentous occasion: here is why you should come visit...