A Peek Into Our Lives

Dad and Aub :), Christmas Eve (the only picture I took at Christmastime, haha)

Andrew's Fun

And Mine

2 People, have LOTS of laundry

We are in a good habit of doing the dishes after every meal ,but sometimes they pile up

Andrew and his homework had some quality time this day

So did me and my homework

Sometimes, I forget about the mess and stress and relax with a girly show or movie. One of my favorite hobbies :)

 

 

 

We are truly blessed and I look forward to each day with my husband. Whether ordinary, or not. I am bad at taking pictures, but I am trying to get better at it. SO if you have any suggestions, let me know please!

Sin's Baited Hook

William Shakespeare. Sonnet CXXIX
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

 How many times have I given in to temptation only to have it entrap me. Once you let a sin into 

your life, it is a weed that sucks the life out of you, It only gets bigger and bigger until you cut it off 

and kill it. Sin tempts us only to ruin us. It is fun at first but it always takes us further than we want

to go. In one of my classes we've been discussing sin and its affect on us. We are reading books 

like Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Realizing that we all have a monstrous side 

 that threatens to take control of us. We must always be on our guard against temptation. No matter

how difficult it is. I think this sonnet my professor had us read explains this perfectly. Now, I don't 

 understand Shakespeare too well, but I really enjoy this sonnet. 

Pig Snouts and Finding God's love

Its a humbling and enlightening experience to have a semi-silly movie attempt to teach a lesson you have been trying to learn your whole life. The premise of the movie is the story of a girl named Penelope. She was born with a pig's snout. The only way to rid herself of this curse is by being loved by one of her own kind (high class/blue blood). Her mother brings in potential suitor after suitor, only to have them run from her once they catch a glimpse. Typically screaming along the way. Finally Penelope has enough, she runs from her sheltered life and finds her own way. She hides under a scarf, until one day, she is revealed to the public. To her surprise they love her! But she is only sen as the girl with the Pig's snout. She is proposed to by "one of her own", who also happens to be an arrogant jerk. She decides to not go through with the wedding, because she likes the way she is. At last, the curse is broken, and she can live a happy, normal life.

Okay, like I said, kinda silly movie, but I loved it. I have never been happy with how I look. Since I can remember, I have wanted to change myself. Too short, too fat, don't like my hair, and the list goes on. I have a countless number of things I would change about myself. Particularly physical, but not always. I have never had hope for victory in this area, ever. But I have realized that this is truly a lack of faith. God is greater than this. He can claim victory in all areas of my life. Now, it will not be a quick and easy road, I know that this is going to be probably one the hardest things I ever do,and I know its going to be quite a journey to get there.

But it begins, now. So any verses, words of encouragement, or stories of victory, would be much appreciated. Love to all.


Victory is my word for 2011, not sure of a verse as of yet, but one of these three is probable.

Psalm 20:6
Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.


Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

Hopes, Dreams, and Wishes for the New year...and Blessings from the Last

Blessings in 2010:
*Marriage- July 31st..What a journey it is to discover so much about the one you love, and yourself. Andrew has been such an amazing part of my life and continues to be a healing presence in my life. It has taught both of us so much in the short time we've been married. In 5 months, God can show you so much and grow you in so many areas.
 *Family- Without them, I don't know how Andrew and I could do this. Marriage, school, and work, super insane, but we are so blessed to have wonderfully supportive and amazing families! Not to mention the new family I gained this year. What wonderful people to have surround us with support and love.
*Friends- We would not be where we are without the wonderful people we are blessed to call friends. My girlfriends specifically have just been an amazing blessing in my life. I love you all and appreciate each of our friendships I know Andrew appreciates that I can be completely girly with you guys, so I don't overwhelm him with my giddiness and love of Chick-Flicks/Disney Movies. Not to mention, I am a verbal processor, and one husband can only handle so much :)
*Our Jobs- I am extremely blessed to work for the Berger family. They are some of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met. Being away from my family is hard, but it helps to feel like i am a part of their family. The girls bring so much joy in my life and remind me what simple faith looks like and what true joy does as well.
Andrew and I will both praise the day that he no longer has to work at Jimmy Johns, but we are extremely thankful for it now. Andrew has been blessed to be a shift manager and has also been trusted enough to be the main shift manager at night. He is a hard worker and is very trustworthy, and his boss knows it, which is a ture blessing.
*Our Home- We live in a little apartment Downtown Chicago, and absolutely LOVE it. It's small, but so are we, so it fits us just right. It feels like home. We have so enjoyed just getting to spend time with each other relaxing at our own place. No money spending, no walking in crazy Chicago weather. What a blessing to have a couch to cozy up on and movies to watch. :)
*Ministry-We are working with the Harvest Baptist Youth Group, and its wonderful. It is a weekly reminder of why we are doing what we're doing and that it will all be worth it. The main girls I work with have been growing so much this last year, and I am so proud of them. The whole youth group has seen a lot of growth and change and it is so neat to see God work.

There have been many other little blessings, and God has been so faithful to us in 2010. He is an amazing provider, and it is such a blessing to trust in His sovereignty.

Hopes, Dreams, and Wishes for 2011:
* Graduate: I will, Lord willing, graduate in May, and Andrew will graduate in December. 4 years of college has tested our limits, our faith, and our minds, and has been a great blessing in our lives. With this being said, when I walk across that stage, and get my diploma, I am going to celebrate like I never have. :)
*My Internship- This summer I will be doing my internship that is required for graduation. I am very excited about it! It will be a peek into what my future could hold. As of now, I will most likely be doing this at New Life, and it will be such a great opportunity!
*Grow- In my relationship to the Lord, my marriage, and even my cooking skills. I know the Lord will lead me where he wants me, and that also means some hard times that force growth and change, but i also know that He will be there through everything. Our marriage is new and we have far to go, and its a journey, and it will be an exciting journey ahead. Cooking will come with time and work. I will praise the day when frozen pizza and Mac N' Cheese are no longer staples in our home. Here's to hoping that when I actually have the time, I use it and work hard to expand my cooking skills.

We have no idea where we will be and what we will be doing a year from now. That is scary and exciting. We trust the Lord to lead us, and it will be fun to see where we end up. Thank you all for your support and prayers. We love you!!

P.S. I am going to think and pray these next few days for a verse and a word for 2011. I've seen a lot of people do this, and I think it is a challenging and encouraging thing to do. I'll keep you posted.

Alyssa

Dreams, and Desires for Life after Moody

1. No More Mac N' Cheese, Frozen Pizza, and Chicken Nuggets/Fries as complete staple foods. We have had our fill

2. Learn to Sew

3.Read for Fun (I really love to read and miss doing it for fun)

4. More time, for everything (friends, family,etc.)

5. No More HOMEWORK!!!!!!!! (papers, studying, etc.)

6. No more twitching eye! (when at my most stressed my eye twitches, bleh, no fun)

7. Get really connected to a church (small group, bible study, etc)

Now I will get a taste of some of these things in 13 days, 12 hours and 38 minutes for winter break which will be fabulous!

I really appreciate Moody and the wonderful times, but I am looking forward to the next stage in life

A Week in the Life of a Wife, Student, Nanny

Friday:
Romans Class 11-11:50.Then home to make and have lunch with my hubby. Decided to take a cut in my two afternoon classes to relax and spend time with Andrew before we had to work. I left at 3:15...then a 45 minute bus ride, complete with an I-Pod, and some reading material. I got to work right on time to spend the evening with my favorite girly girls Alicia and Allison. We pumpkin-carved and got ready for the weekend's Halloween activities. When I got home at about 10, I occupied myself by hanging out in Stars Hallow with Lorelei and Rory Gilmore, while Andrew was having some "man-time" on his old floor.

Saturday:
I got up, hung out, made some lunch and then Andrew had to leave for work. I then showered, cleaned up and left for work myself. The plan: trick or treating!! Alicia was Fleicity (the American Girl character not TV show), and Allison was a Candy corn. Too fun! Their parents were gone for most of the night. So what did we do? First, put on Mary Poppins and made dinner. Pot Roast (from the freezer), mashed potatoes (from a box), stuffing (from a box), broccoli and cranberry sauce, YUM! We then had a tea party and watched Cinderella, (which I loved as much as the girls).

Sunday:
Andrew had to work, so no church for us. We did get to have a quick 3 month anniversary date at Chili's, (YUM!!!)We got back in time for Andrew to change and run to work. After he left, I got changed and hunkered down to homework.  After working for a few more hours, I wanted to die. Terribly long, confusing paper. I heated leftovers for dinner and then had my ex-Roomie Sarah over for some homework. So we were homeworking, and remember, me dying a slow death by this paper. So I worked on it and somehow let myself consider the possibility of NOT doing the paper. This.was.a.BAD.idea.By the time Andrew got home from work, I was convinced that I needed to "drop" the class. This meant taking an F. Did I say bad idea already?? Cause it was a VERY bad idea. SO I was a mess. Sleep deprived, bawling, hating school, and miserable! It was not a fun night in the Swed household.

Monday: Classes Romans, Message Preparation for Women (listening to Sermons), and then my last class was canceled. So I went home and got a few things done (clean up a little, make out the check for Rent, etc) Then I went to catch the bus for work. While I was on my way,  I realized, after having some sleep the night before, that I had made a VERY bad decision about my class. So I was thinking about it all day, and decided to rough through my paper the next day.

Tuesday: The day of death, by papers. First of all, I had to write a book review. Not a huge deal, but annoying just the same. So I met my wonderful husband at the dungeon (Library), put on Pandora, and got to work. Got my first paper done by 6. We then went home for dinner and a break. We were back to the library by 7:30 and starting back on my huge exegetical paper of death. I looked through lots of scary books, joked around with my hubby on Skype chat, and was in the "dungeon" until about midnight when it closed. We went home to keep working. Meanwhile, after more Pandora and scary books, at 3:30 my paper was done. It was 1.5 pages short, but it was done. Andrew stayed up to, mostly because he couldn't sleep.

Wednesday: In the wee hours of the morning, after finishing my paper, I flopped into bed and slept. My very sweet honey woke me up before he left for class, and told me to get some more sleep and not worry about getting up for chapel. He also texted me to wake me up to make sure I woke up and got ready for my class to turn in my paper. So I got to class, sat through it, and turned in my paper, while apologizing to my prof. He was gracious and wonderful, and is going to try to get me some kind of extra credit assignment,again he is wonderful.
I went home to make lunch and eat with Andrew. Then I went to my 1 o clock class, and met with my prof afterwords just to talk. (She is an amazingly wise woman) Then I went home and relaxed a little, talked to a couple of the girls from youth group, study for my test in my night class, make dinner and go to class. In class, I just had to hand in my paper, take the test, and go, happppy! I got home and Andrew went to his night class, after finishing his paper. While I was waiting for him to get home, I had some really refreshing and just awesome time with God. I also cleaned up, and did dishes.
When he got home we still had to work on a little homework. But after about 45 minutes, we were done and got to watch Toy Story 3! hehe SUCH a good movie. Then we finally got some good sleep.

Thursday:
Woke up at 11, watched Gilmore Girls with hubby, and then he made lunch while I got ready for class. I do NOT like my Apologetics class, but it is a requirement, so I get through it. After that, I waited for him on campus and ran into my friend Julie. (really good to see her!) Andrew got to campus and we left for the suburbs to work with the Youth Group, and GET MY HAIRCUT!!! ( I was excited, and so was my hair :) ) So I got my haircut by my mom and made plans with my parents for next Thursday to go out to dinner before Youth Group. After that, we got ourselves to youth group. It was Turkey Bowl. A.K.A COLD!! But it was pretty fun. Got to see the girls and catch up with them in person. We went home (and hour drive is a little annoying but it gives us some good talk time and its worth it), and had some Ramen soup to warm ourselves up before going to sleep.


Well, that's a week in my life. Sorry this was long. I love you all. Buh-bye :)


Alyssa

A Return to Modesty

I just finished reading A Return to Modesty by Wendy Shalit and sit in shock and disbelief at our culture, especially when faced with it in black and white.

Normal life for a girl growing up in our culture:

Elementary School- Sex Ed where we are taught to not be embarrassed about things that are clearly embarrassing, especially in front of boys. We are taught that we're expected to have sex, so we may as well do it safely. We get teased by the boys, and other girls about what we learning. We now begin to be teased about our bodies, starting more innocently.

Junior High- "Going out" We like someone,they like us back, two weeks later we don't like each other anymore. Boys get even more cruel in their teasing, as do girls. We now know that we need to like someone, anyone, at all times. It is the source of entertainment and drama. In some circles, virginity is lost, and we are now taught more than just the mechanics by our friends and even strangers.We find out there is more than just sex itself...the teasing about our bodies and comments about our bodies are no longer innocent.

High School- Because we can start driving, we date. Now, if you date for more than a few months, it is expected that you've had sex. At least to most people. If not sex,one is expected to do a number of other things. We are now expected, to look a certain way. If we don't we are teased. We start to feel that there is something wrong with us because we don't look like the other girls in this way or that. Girlfriends are either great, or cruel. We are closer to our friends than our families, and suffer for it. We care more about our reputation than what our family thinks of us. We are now taught that we are over-sensitive. If we cry because so and so talked about us behind our backs, we are cry babies. We are taught to be more and more like "one of the guys." We learn that to be a girl, is wrong. It is too vulnerable, to sensitive. In christian cultures, we learn that we need to dress modestly as to help these poor boys out who "just can't help themselves." (While I agree in part that we need to have respect for the men around us, it is our respect for ourselves that should cause us to be modest.)

Now this is how the typical girl grows up in today's world. We leave her unprotected, alone and laugh at her dreams of romance and think her silly for her girlishness. We strive for sameness with men, rather than equality with them. We are taught that we are the same as men. Well, last time I checked, there was a difference, quite a few in fact. We are expected to view sex as men do. We are expected to think how men think. We can be anything we want today, except to be a woman.

There was a time, that a woman's femininity was not only respected, but cherished. Girls were raised to be women, and women of modesty. Boys were raised to be men of honor, and to cherish and protect the women around him. I am not saying this was a time of perfection, but it was certainly a time of less fear. A woman would not fear walking down the street because she was not met with stares, or crude comments. A woman did not fear rape as one does today. The society was one of propriety where to hold someone's hand was thought to be scandalous.

This book opened my eyes to what is going on in our society today. Our girls are miserable and dying, and they have no sympathetic ears to hear their cries. Now I was blessed to grow up in a christian culture that was not as severe as the world around us, but I fear for the girls today, and for our future daughters.