I'm an Illustrator

Sorry I have not been posting very regularly... Life has thrown me for a loop and I it rarely even occurs to me to update the blog!

One of the major reasons I have recently fallen off the face of the blog world has been my increased work load combined with a raw immune system among 250+ germ-y elementary students.  When I haven't been sick or racking my brain for lesson ideas, I've been drawing and working on the design jobs that have been coming in.  In January I spent the majority of my time in bed or with these floral illustrations (one of the series posted below).

While the work was difficult (mostly because of the short deadline and the sickies), I really enjoyed getting to draw again—before this my freelance work was largely digital, though now I am asked to illustrate more frequently, which is great.

It was also cool to research the event that the illustrations were displayed—the National Floral Show in Philadelphia.  This is the largest flower show in America and my work was seen by about 300,000 people!  Talk about exciting!  Below is an image from the specific exhibit that my work was in (you can see my drawings on the posters in the back).

Photo stolen from here

Anyway, that's what I've been doing, or at least one of the major reasons I have not been posting very often.  When I finally get some free time, I find that I would rather spend it annoying my husband.  I'm not sorry.

Coded Love Notes

S-H-M-I-L-Y
A simple, seemingly meaningless phrase that means more a piece of chocolate to me.

Okay, maybe not quite THAT far, but it means a whole lot to me after reading this story together and having 2 months of marriage to live it out.  After reading that story, we both threw ourselves into the creativity of hidden codes with admirable gusto.  Both of us, as later confessed, were wondering if the new trend would last very long.  Because this hits at a particular love language of mine, I knew that I would probably continue to add the code to the end of little notes or to the mirror via dry-erase markers after a hard week—but I did not have a large expectation for it continuing from the side of my husband as much.

Apparently, I have underestimated the powers of Superman!  Below I have attached some of the SHMILY notes (that I remembered to take a photo of) that I have found in various places over the past two months.

 

 A good SHMILY makes even the sock drawer exciting :)

 Dry-erase markers have become an important aspect of our marriage...

I found this one this morning during my shower—completely made my day

See How Much He Loves Me? :)

It's great!  A way to show that you were not only thinking of the other, but that you took the time to find a good hiding place for the code to sit until discovery.  (and the nice thing about it being "in code" means that I can hid it all over his classroom in little ways without worrying about his hormonal students finding one—because if they do, it doesn't really matter, does it? :) )

"Kissimmee" Honeymoon

Our honeymoon was spent in a condo in Kissimmee, Florida

The honeymoon was the perfect balance between scheduled fun (Epcot for a day, ocean visit, ect.) and hanging out at the condo and in the pool.  I loved it.  Really, the first day as Man & Wife was wonderful, and the next day was even better, and the next? Better still!  Not every day or moment has been visited by cloud nine, but I still enjoy his company more.  Even little things, like racing to get chocolate from the fridge for example :)

 
Some things that we have learned together:
—Todd hasn't cried in... well, years.  I make up for that in full.
—A sense of humor is very important
—Katrina has a lot of clothes.  Todd has more.
—I now miss Todd at meals if we don't pray together
—Nerf gun wars are a good way to take a break from school work / "thank you" note writing
—Chocolate and desserts come to those who are newly married (woo-hoo!)
—Fighting about if you're fighting or not is... well, fighting (we haven't done this, but I've acted out the scenario with a friend and it was hilarious)
—We both spread out in piles as we work
—Creamy peanut butter is best, but Todd loves crunchy.  We have both.
—Prayer is powerful and extra good after / during a misunderstanding
—Katrina is messy in the kitchen, aprons are worn daily
—Pizza is best recovered with a giant spatula (in my opinion)
—Weekends book quickly unless we are extremely careful... we're still learning to be careful
—I love him more every day
—A surprise SHMILY note means more to me than I ever would have guessed (more on that later)

See? Giant spatula = win

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Newly Married—How Does It Feel?

Almost everyone that I have come into contact with the past 3.5 weeks have asked me a few questions that are becoming as familiar to me as my nose:  "What it is like being married"? or "how does it 'feel' to be married"?

It's so hard to answer this question—my life was transformed, in a sense, within a few hours—but in so many other ways it is still the same.  I love being married and being with Superman as much as I could ask for.  I still love being with our families and being at camp, and I am still on the job hunt (formally starting soon).

I have moved once again (still largely in the process or exiting my parent's abode, thankfully they are both helpful and patient) and am just now adjusting to my new living situation.  We were at camp the first two weeks after our honeymoon, which was a lot of fun, but that means that we're only now figuring out what it will be like to be "home" together (and still not while working full time).  I love being home.

I love that this is my house (that Todd corrects me when I say "his" apartment) and that Todd allows me to re-organize and make it more my own.  I love that I am more comfortable here every day.  I love it when we just laugh together, when we're praying together and even riding quietly in the car together.  I love making dinner with him and going for bike rides and teasing him and being teased.  I just love being married to Todd.  And I'm not going to tag "so far" on the end of that statement and just kill it—it won't always be easy, but we're working towards keeping it strong, and with God's help I trust that I will continue to love my husband more and more each day.

"My Husband"... still tastes a little weird coming out of my mouth, but I'm pretty fond of the title.

So how does it feel?  It feels great!  Still strange at times, and I am feeling very tired still after all of the activity of this year, but it really has been great.  And we're learning along the way, but with God's grace, grace from each other and a sense of humor, the learning periods are good too :)

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