The 4th Year Begins

Yesterday Spencer and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, which is insane to me. It seems literally like only months ago I was anxiously putting on my dress, opening my beautiful Tiffany bracelet, and crying over the longest, most heartfelt letter from my groom. I will never forget the church doors opening, and seeing him waiting for me at the end of the aisle - laughing because my mom, my dad, and I were all crying as we walked down the aisle together. :)

Guest Post: Adventures with Luka

Good morning!

As I mentioned, while on vacation, I have some great posts lined up for you to read. Today is no different! Meet Ashleigh, who blogs over at Adventures with Luka. Enjoy this post, and be sure to go say hello!

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Hey everyone! This is my first time writing a guest blog post, so please bear with me :)

My name is Ashleigh and I run Adventures with Luka when I’m not teaching or volunteering at my church. My days are filled with work, volunteerism, reading, or taking care of my dog, Luka. He’s quite the pup and never allows for a dull moment.

It is my pleasure to share some of what God has been placing on my heart lately, and something I deal with often. You are not who the world thinks you should be. You are who God made you to be and you are on a trajectory of becoming who He wants you to be.

Working at a Christian middle school, I get a lot of my students commenting on my singleness. In this day and age, having “someone” is everything. Assuming (correctly, I might add) that I am living by God’s standards when it comes to relationships, my students are often baffled at how I embrace my single life. Not a month ever goes by without at least one student asking a question along the lines of, “Why don’t you have a boyfriend?” “Do you want to get married?” “Why aren't you married?” “Aren't you oh, so lonely?” When I first began teaching three years ago, I would cringe at these questions. How insensitive can these kids be? Of course I want a boyfriend and to be married. No, I don’t know why I’m single. If I did, I would fix it! Now, I never answered that way, but the three years of practice have helped me refine my attitude toward the questions themselves. I no longer cringe. I actually smile. Though my students (and many other people) think that there must be something wrong with me because I’m single at (almost) 26, there isn't. I’m right where God has placed me. I smile because when they ask I get to share with them an often unspoken and unheard truth about God. That truth is that there is no peace, no completion, no joy when you step outside of God’s will. 

After a long internal struggle, I decided in March to give an entire year to God and God alone. No more going on dates, no more saying yes when people ask if they can set me up, no more looking at that cute new guy in church or the store or the gym and wondering if he is single and loves Jesus. No more wondering where my future husband could be, if he even exists. None of that. An entire year focused on growing in God. An entire year focused on getting to know my Creator more intimately. An entire year learning what vulnerability and falling in love are really like with the most perfect Being there ever was, is, and will be. An entire year of seeking Christ before anything else. An entire year of spending time in the Word daily. An entire year of only looking to Him for my peace, joy, happiness, fulfillment, contentedness, and comfort. It’s only been almost two months, but they have been the best two months I've had in a very, very long time. I’m falling SO in love with Christ! I thought I already was in love with Him. Oh, how wrong I was!

We all live in a society which expects—sometimes it demands—of us what we cannot give and do not have. It expects us to have our lives completely together. Especially the Christians. We need to be tolerant, but not without backbone. We need to stand firm, but not too firm. We need to hold convictions, but we better not be offensive. We should stand out, but not too much. No matter where you are in life-- single, married, widowed, with children, without children (and trying), grieving the loss of a child, not even wanting children, in the process of adopting, divorced, broken, addicted, struggling, barely hanging on, graduating high school and afraid, graduating college and lost, changing careers and confused-- God loves you. God wants you to look to Him for your fulfillment. You worth comes from Him alone. Don’t look to the world for your worth. Look to God. How? The Word of God. A trusted pastor or mentor to give you guidance about a confusing concept in the Word of God. You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need to have your future decided when you’re 18. You don’t need to have $50,000 saved up by the time you’re 30. You don’t even need to have $1,000 saved up by that time. 

All you need, all you need, is to know where to fix your eyes. Fix your eyes upon the unchanging, everlasting, unconditionally loving God. The One who was before time. The one who created all things. The one who knit you together in your mother’s womb. The one who holds the whole world in His hands. The one who loves you so much that He decided to come to Earth in the form of a man, retaining His full deity, and bearing ALL of your sins upon the cross. Though He was sinless, He chose to carry your sins. Nothing, I repeat, nothing, can define you apart from Him. He is all that matters. In that, seek to please Him alone. You will not regret it!

Connect with Ashleigh!

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Bon Voyage!

Happy Wednesday!

I have some big news - tomorrow (Thursday) - Spencer and I are leaving for our big European vacation that we've been saving for! We finally saved enough, and got it all planned out. I can't believe it's here already!

I'd like to ask you for your prayers as we travel, for safe flights, good rest, and for an easy time finding our way around. It's my first time in Europe, but Spencer has been quite a bit, so I get to take advantage of his existing knowledge. :)

We will be making our way to the following cities (in this order). I would LOVE to hear any sightseeing and/or restaurant suggestions you may have!

1. Manchester, England
While we are here, we will be attending the Manchester United v. Arsenal "football" match. Man U is Spencer's favorite team, and I'm along for the ride (and the new t-shirt). Go team red! ;)

2. London, England 
In London we will do quite a bit of sightseeing. A few things on my list are Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Tower of London, Big Ben...

3. Paris, France
I'm excited for Paris! I have heard a ton of great things, especially about the food! We know I love food... Also, we are going to take a market cooking class while we're in Paris, which involves going to the market and selecting all of our fresh ingredients. I can't wait!

4. Florence, Italy
Many people have told me that Florence will likely be our favorite city. The architecture, the history, and the people are said to be some of the best. While we are in Florence, we are planning to take a day trip to Tuscany for a wine tour. I'm looking forward to experiencing some of the Italian countryside!

5. Rome, Italy
Our final stop will be in Rome. There are certainly no shortage of sights to see in Rome, and I hope we have time to get to most of them. Which ones do we HAVE to see?


Over the next 2 weeks, I have some guests posts lined up for you. I hope you stick around and get to know some of my blogging friends!


Also, make sure you are following me on my social media accounts. I plan to share some pictures as I have access to wi-fi.


Facebook: Yellow Door Diaries
Twitter: @YellowDoorDiary
Instagram: @YellowDoorDiaries
Pinterest: Yellow Door Diaries


au revoir!  arrivederci!

Five Reasons I'm Thankful for My Momma

Mother's Day. A day created with the sole purpose of honoring our mothers and for showing them appreciation for all they have done and continue to do for us.

As I have gotten older, I realize that my mom's role in my life has changed many times. As an infant, her role was to care for my basic needs: food, shelter, clothing. As I grew, those needs continued but more were also added: walking, talking, learning numbers and letters. Yet again, getting older added new responsibilities for her: manners, social skills, life skills.

I look at things that I do each day, and I can see her hand in almost everything. When I make food, I can remember times that she stood with me in the kitchen and taught me to crack an egg, to properly "fold" a mixture together, and how to add just enough flour to dough to keep it from sticking. When I shower, I can think back to the time she taught me to shave my legs (Spencer says thanks!). I drive myself to work with the memories of her teaching me to drive as a teenager, and I interact with people each day and can hear her voice in my head reminding me to say "please," "thank you," and "yes ma'am."

I value her more than she knows, and I certainly do not tell enough just what an impact she has made in my life.

Well, Momma, on this Mother's Day I want to share with you five (of many) reasons that I am so grateful for you.

1. You taught me that "stuff" will not make me happy.
We didn't always get everything we wanted or thought, at the time, that we "needed." At the time, it seemed so unfair. In hindsight, however, I am so glad you did not give in to all of our whims and wishes. It taught me, and my sisters, to be grateful for what we were given, to be content with less, and that using our imaginations could be so much more fun than any store-bought toy. That same imagination now helps me both at work and at home! 

2. I learned the value of family.
At a certain age, it seems all teenagers (females in particular) only want to be with their friends. I am sure all three of us were no exception. I am so appreciative, though, that you taught us how valuable our family is in our lives. You have always been close with your family, and have encouraged us to be close with ours, to "hug it out" - as much as we didn't want to - after a fight, and to remember that family is always family - through arguments, hurt feelings, and hard times. And as I get older, I have found that to all be true. My number of close friends has dwindled to a very special handful, and I see now how my family is always there for me, no matter what. 

3. Thanks to you, I can manage my home.
As a kid, it wasn't always fun to have to clean my room, to do a load of laundry, to make my bed, or to do the dishes. I even was jealous when I had friends who never had to do any of these things. I would think "that's not fair, I have to do so much and your parents do it all for you!" I couldn't see that it was actually the best thing you could have done for me. I learned to appreciate the things I had, to care for them and to keep them in good condition. I also was able to transition much more easily when the time came for me to leave home. Unlike others I knew, I could do my own laundry, keep my living spaces clean and tidy, and to be discontent if things were dirty. As I've gotten older and bought my first home, I feel that (for the most part) I can keep it running in an orderly fashion without overwhelming myself. Thank you for a lifetime of preparation for this valuable skill.

4. I inherited your love of cooking.
As you know, I love to cook! I always have. Remember when I would watch Julia Childs on TV (having no idea what she was saying) and then wanting to go into the kitchen and use any and every ingredient I could find to make, well, nothing? I know I got that from you. I loved to sit in the kitchen and watch you make meals - lasagna, chicken casserole, chili, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken...even cinnamon toast! The conversations and the smells - it all is so special to me. You've taught me a lot of your recipes, and I especially value the biscuit bowl and cutter you passed down to me. I will never use anything else. Thanks to this love of cooking, I can keep my husband (and future children) well fed, and love doing it!

5. You have inspired me to be a mother just like you.
More than anything, I am grateful that you have instilled in me the desire to be like you. Being the youngest, I was allowed some special years with you alone while my sisters were at school. I probably remember more of that time than you realize. You were always around to make ordinary days special (front porch picnics, playing in the leaves, and having water gun fights), to foster my passions and creativity, to give plenty of hugs, help us make memories, and to allow us to be kids while also teaching us valuable lessons. I hope that one day when I have children of my own, that I can be as great of a mother to them as you have been to us. 

Momma, as I've gotten older, I've watched our relationship turn into more of a friendship, and it takes a special mom to be able to let go of her "baby" and accept her as a friend when she grows up. Thank you for allowing me to grow up, and for allowing that process to take place. I hope you know just how much I love you!


Happy Mother's Day!

8 Tips for a Great At-Home Date Night

Date nights can include so much. Romantic dinners, trips to the ballet, expensive bottles of champagne, concerts...Date nights are really fun! They're also extremely important to couples who are working to keep the "spark" alive. 

Though the options I listed are wonderful and definitely fun, they're also expensive! Not many of us are able to comfortably afford to do these often. But the good news is that you can have just as much fun at home for little or no cost!

I've made a handy list of 8 Tips for a Great At-Home Date Night. Don't be like me and break most of these, haha. We don't always do it right, but at least we try! Right? 

1. Easy Dinner and Quick Clean Up

If you're like us, we enjoy the cooking and eating part, but totally dread the clean up - putting away leftovers, washing and drying pots and pans, loading the dishwasher...the key to this is to be sure you plan ahead and make this as easy as possible! Order takeout and eat from the boxes. Make a frozen pizza. Have leftovers! It doesn't have to be fancy to be delicious, it just needs to be easy!

2. No Phones

This is a biggie. We all know our phones are basically attached to our hands and ears. Because of this, we are 95% of the time not fully present at any given moment. On date night, put the phone away! Turn on your "do not disturb" and put it somewhere where you won't see it light up with notifications. Really focus all of your attention on the other person - that's the whole point of the night!

3. Skip the Movie

Spencer and I love to cuddle up and watch movies together. We both really enjoy a good movie! I've noticed, however, that this isn't the best option for a date night. It's great when we just want to lay around and snuggle, but when we're really attempting to connect, movies actually discourage communication and conversation. Instead, try a board game, card game, or Q&A game! Most of the time you'll end up laughing with one another (or at one another!) and that's one of the best ways to connect.

4. No Chores

This is similar to number 1, but goes even further. Plan out your date night so that you haven't left any urgent chores until the last minute. Planning a date night for Wednesday, but know you have to take the trash out Wednesday night for Thursday morning pick up? Take out all of your trash on Tuesday! Dog need a bath? It can wait a day. Laundry? Do it on the weekend! This should be a night when you aren't staring at the dust on your end tables or fretting about changing your sheets. Enjoy the moment. The rest will still be there tomorrow.

5. Talk

This is one of the main points of having a date night! Open up, catch one another up on work and friends. What are some things you don't know about one another? What is his or her favorite color? Do you know? Ask about past experiences and future dreams. What traits do you both want to develop in your children (or to foster in future children)? Enjoy the conversation! And don't forget, when you aren't the one talking - LISTEN! It's just as important (see number 2 above).

6. Skip the Serious Talks

Though talking on date night is extremely important, it is not the time to discuss anything "heavy." This includes money and budgets, something you wish your partner would work harder at or do better, big family issues, etc. Sure, discuss what's on your mind, but avoid bringing up any topics that you think could potentially drag the conversation into a direction you don't want it to go. Those topics can wait. 

7. Laugh

One of the most fun things to do on any date night (whether at home or in public) is to laugh! Laughing together is one of the best things you can do. Be silly, play games, chase one another - if you don't do this often, you'll love to see what doing these things can do for both of your moods! And it really sparks the romance. Seriously!

8. Be Intimate

This means different things to different people. For a new couple who is dating, this may mean having a conversation about the future, as individuals or as a couple. For engaged couples, being intimate may be sharing your hopes for marriage, or sharing your fears about what things may change. And for married couples, yes, this absolutely means having sex (sorry for being so blunt). It's so important to do this regularly! (see 1 Corinthians 7:3-6).

What am I missing? Share your at-home date night thoughts in the comments!

Until next time - - 

Our Weekend: For Better or For Worse

Spencer and I spent our Valentine's weekend at the gorgeous, world class Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte, NC. We enjoyed many of their amenities, including the golf course, amazing restaurant, and their spa by getting a very enjoyable (and much needed) couple's massage. 

I had planned to go into detail about all of the wonderful things we ate and experienced there, but it just does not seem quite appropriate now. When we returned to our room after dinner on Saturday night, I picked up my phone (which I had left in the room) and discovered that my beautiful, amazing Aunt Linda had lost her long battle with breast cancer. 

This is how I know I have found the man for me. While we had a bottle of champagne on ice, chocolate covered strawberries, a cheese plate and a bottle of red wine, all set up in a beautiful hotel suite - pretty much the most romantic scene you could imagine on Valentine's Day - all was forgotten in that moment. We sat and cried (well, I cried, he hugged) for what seemed like an eternity. I got mascara and lip gloss all over his clean white dress shirt. He brought me mounds of tissues and rubbed my back while I ugly-cried. He told me to forget where we were and what we had set up, and to just be sad if I wanted to be. He showed me that caring for me and being by my side in hard times, was much more important than our plans and images of romance we had. 

That, my friends, is romance. Romance is not candles, bubble baths, champagne and lingerie. Romance is kindness, hugs, and commitment. It's being there for someone when things are great and fun, and also when things are hard. It's letting you cry while reassuring you everything will be ok. Because it will be. 

I'll end this post with some pictures. The first pictures are of dinner on Saturday, and the rest I am sharing are of my lovely aunt, who will always be remembered by her friends, family, coworkers, and the entire town where she lived as the fun, cheerful woman who could take on the world with Christ on her side, spreading His love, and now is rejoicing with a healed body in Heaven. One day we all will be reunited again, and what a family reunion that will be!

Delicious surprise in our room!

My Valentine <3

Hubba hubba!

Spencer's Dinner: Elk

My dinner: Cap Steak

Heart-shaped caramel candies from the chef

Ice cream trio: Brown Sugar, Pistachio, Rocky Road

"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."
- Isaiah 57:1-2

She indeed loved the Lord, and He has taken her from the earth to spare her from evil, and has found rest. These verses are a comfort to me.

Making something delicious, no doubt

Dressed for Walk through Bethlehem, which she founded and ran in her town

With her two beautiful daughters. She loved them more than life.

All of the siblings together.

The Foust girls with their parents, my Mamaw and Papaw

At my sister's wedding, radiating joy

She was, and always has been, truly beautiful, inside and out.

Thanks for your kind words and prayers!


Until next time - - 

Valentine's Day Q+A with the Hubs

Since it's both Spencer's birthday week AND the week of Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to round out the week with another post where I include my awesome husband. Monday I wrote about our wedding dance and Wednesday was a post to celebrate Spencer's birthday. Today is a bit different, however, because this time I involved Spencer by asking him some questions. 

In today's post, I'm sharing his answers - in all of their honesty! Our relationship is of course "not always rainbows and butterflies (it's compromise that moves us along" - name that song), but I'm blessed to have married a man who is committed and in it for the long haul, through the good and bad, and who is willing to work on himself and be open in communicating what he needs me to work on. And that, my friends, is about all you can ask for in a marriage!

Q: What do you remember most about when we first met?
A: We had a bunch of people over to my apartment my junior year of college. I had definitely spotted you earlier in the night but then we ended up standing in line together waiting on our upstairs bathroom. I introduced myself and that was it for the night. I have always taken things pretty slowly, I think more of a confident approach as opposed to timid slow. The rest is a long story, but that was the first night.

Q: Was there a specific moment you knew you loved me? If so, what was it?
A: I don't have a specific moment. We went through quite a lot together over a couple of years and the culmination of your support and commitment eventually got me there. I did have the first sight feeling the first night. I saw you and saw how you handled yourself around other people that night. After getting a feeling for your personality (quick judgement) and your obvious good looks, it definitely crossed my mind in a casual way that maybe you could be the one.

Q: Describe how you felt the moment you proposed.
A: I was definitely a little nervous, but I think the way the night of the proposal unfolded with the bad weather ruining my initial plan made me kind of relax and just try to make the most of it.

Q: What is the hardest part about being married, and how do you work through it?
A: The hardest part about being married is definitely just meshing our 2 different personalities. I am the one that can be by myself in the Man Room with a record on or just relaxing the majority of the time. You need more communication and cuddling, which I totally understand, but it does take a conscious effort and more energy that what I naturally have. I know I have work to do in that area, so as long as you are patient then we can work through it.

Q: Love Languages - do they work?
A: I think for sure they work. The essence of them is just understanding each other's personalities and how to give the other what they really need. Honestly, I don't know that I have much of a "love language." I am a pretty easy going guy that tries to take things as they come without having many expectations from others. Don't get that confused for me not putting expectations on myself. I know you need more attention to your "love language," which I am working on. The things I naturally lack are the things you need so it takes some serious work and energy. The most important thing is that you know I will always love you, which anyone should be able to make come across after years of being together.

Q: What do you look forward to the most about our future?
A: I look forward to seeing as much of the world as possible and sharing different experiences with you and any children we may have. Exposure to different cultures and experiences have been the best way for me to gain my perspective on life. I like when my own perspective and convictions get challenged and the only way for that to happen is to be faced with different views and environments. It either helps you change your perspective or makes it stronger. If it makes it stronger, then I can still appreciate why others see things the way they see them, even if it differs from me.



So there we have it! The husband Q+A, just in time for Valentine's Day. 

I'm curious - how would your spouse or significant other answer these questions? Do you have more similar personalities to one another than Spencer and I have? Are you like us and have to work at it a bit more? What do you do to show him or her your love?

If you aren't familiar with the Love Languages, I cannot recommend learning about them enough! You can find the book here (affiliate link) or go here to take a quick test. If you and your significant other each take the test, you can get the book and each learn how to express love in a way that the other needs to feel it. It's invaluable!

Plans for this weekend? 

Spencer and I are heading to Charlotte to spend a weekend away. We're also using the opportunity to get Piper's second round of shots done, since all of her shots are provided by the rescue in that area where we adopted her. Poor thing doesn't know they're coming. I feel like a mother taking her child for vaccinations - wah! (That's not an invitation to comment about vaccinations, autism, and your opinion on that matter - please don't). 

Whatever you do, I hope it's a wonderful Valentine's Day, whether it's spent with a spouse, significant other, family member(s), friend(s), or even a quiet night at home relaxing. I love you all and appreciate you reading this little blog!

Until next time - -