We're moving...Blogs

Hi friends and family,

The Quicks are going to be moving Blogs, but don't worry. We'll make the transition as easy and comfortable for you.

You can now find us at livingquickly.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

Love,
Allison&Jon

Our First Home

We are SO blessed to live in Pine Cove Staff housing for the first four months of our marriage. (We're moving in May.) But before we leave, want to take a tour?

Welcome to our entry way!



Turn left and notice my Valentine decorations (obviously old pictures)...



as you make your way into our Den.



(Apparently I forgot the Kitchen & Movie Room but we'll [maybe] add later.)


Back through our entry way will take you to the other "wing" of our house. Here is the guest room



that houses all our wedding gifts!



And here is the [obnoxious] orange guest bathroom



This is the Study



And last, but not least is Our Room and [baby pink] Bathroom





You should come over before we move :)

Choosing to SEE

I recently completed the book Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Steven Curtis Chapman. It’s a great autobiography about her life but especially life since the tragic death of her five year old. I am not a reader, which explains why my goal for 2011 was to read TWO WHOLE BOOKS! This is my first...although I did finish Cold Tangerines this year, but since I started last year I will only count it as a half!

I think my favorite line in the whole book is in the dedication Mary Beth gives to her son Will: "You have been entrusted with an incredible pain! I’m so sorry. I wish as your mom I could take it away, but I know God has a plan for you to steward this story well and to minister to others through your suffering."

Another part of their story that hit very close to home was reading about their oldest daughter getting married five month after her sister died. Change the dates in this paragraph and it sums up my wedding day, as well: "I know that Satan took a massive swing at our entire family on May 21 [June 12, 2010] and thought he was going to destroy us for good. So October 4 [January 1, 2011] was not just a good day, it was a victorious day! God overwhelmed us with a joy that eased our sorrow and allowed us to see that, out of this horrible story, there were redemptive pieces already being written by the Healer of all wounds."

Choosing to SEE--Even the title reminds me that life is all about the choices we make. The Creator of the Universe designed us with the ability to make a choice. Don't underestimate the significance of that. We have been wired with the ability to choose everything from our attitudes to His free gift of salvation! This book made me cry and laugh all at the same time--and that, my friends, is my favorite emotion.

i love you, jon

Today is Valentine's day, and though I'm not much for the cheesiness of the holiday, I am a believer in the purpose: taking a time to let someone you love know just how much you love them. So I will do just that...

Dear Jon,

I love you. I love how you speak to me kindly. I love how if I ever need something, you rush to get it or do it. I love how you nursed me back to health, spiritually speaking, by reading "Streams in the Desert" every morning. I love that you cook and have dedicated a year to learning the trade in order to better serve me. I love that you embrace my need for girl time. I love that you encourage my creativity and am proud of what I make. I love that you let me kiss you whenever I want. I love that you hold me when I'm sad and take care of me when I'm sick. I love that you love me, deeply. I love that we get to learn how to love for at least the next 50 years (hopefully!).

I love you.

Love,
Allison

happy birthday, daddy

Today would have been my father’s 54^th birthday. It’s still so crazy to me that the Lord never intended him to live past 53 or to walk me down the aisle or to be a grandpa or be married for more than 29 years.

But day by day, things are getting better, and so today, in honor of my daddy, I made red velvet cupcakes and jotted down some of my favorite memories. I know as soon as I post this, even more great things will come flooding into my memory, but for now, this is what I want to share with you…

• “Earthquake” wake-ups where I would lay on my tummy and Dad would bounce me on my back as I jumped in the air…he woke me up this way up through my senior year of high school and then some...
• Weekly McDonalds breakfasts and how even in college, I would call him on the way to school when I had picked up my coffee and sausage biscuit that morning to tell him that I was thinking of him
  
• Him sitting in his maroon chair having a quiet time at night and saying “Goodnight peanut” as I passed by
• Always kissing me good night
• Front porch breakfasts where we didn’t say much but enjoyed God's creation and our cereal
• Calling him crying after my first D on a biology test in college and him telling me, “Don’t let one bad grade change your whole life plans.” He was an example of perseverance.
  
• Calling after the MCAT didn’t go over so well and him telling me it was going to be okay.
• Daddy-daughter dates to Johnny Ozarks when I was little, I’d get two chicken legs with honey and he’s get liver and gizzards.
• Before I left for Germany on a mission trip my junior year of high school, he gave me the best advice he’s ever given: “Never forget who you are and whose you are.” Who meaning Allison Legg and Whose meaning a daughter of God Most High.
• Fishing trips where he’d spend more time getting my line out of the trees, bushes, and Hannah’s pants then he did actually catching anything
• Farm calls to deliver calves and one where he did an autopsy and Jeffrey and I had to tie body parts up in long plastic gloves
• Calling him at work because I left my lunch or my gym clothes or my homework (or anything else) and him always bringing them to me without making me feel bad
• Helping in surgeries—c-section on a poodle, removal of a maggot infested tail, or sewing up the lip of a dog from a dog fight. I loved watching Dad sew up animals. I loved the click on the scissors and always tried to learn how he tied his knots.
• Him letting me “drive” while riding in his lap out in the pasture when I was maybe four or five
  
• Building a pergola and having a beam drop on my head. He felt awful!
• Soccer games, coaching me during half-time
• Making the decision to give up Saturdays at work just to be able to attend ALL our games.
• Our incredibly awesome four story tree house with a trolley that went from the bottom floor of the tree-house to another tree in the pasture about 50 yards away and the second floor that had a balcony and roof so we could sleep in it. I remember the day he and Mom started planning the tree-house for the next generation…
• Coming to College Station just for the day to attend a baseball game because of an ASC daddy-daughter event...neither of us really even liked baseball
  
• Taking me to a veterinary conference at A&M where I would color pictures in the very same classroom I would color pictures (I mean take notes) in about fifteen years later
• Going with Dad to work for the day
  
• Learning how to use hand tools and yard tools and seeing the value of hard work
• Seeing slide after slide of pictures from a childhood in Africa
• Attempting to ride with Dad in a 100k bike race in Chattanooga, TN. He was proud of me for doing the first 27miles.
• The day he gave Jon his blessing and then being the first person to pray for our marriage once we were engaged
• His last words to me were to comfort me: “Shh, shh, it’s gonna be okay, peanut” said three days before he died.
• “My goal in life is to make sure you have experienced as many different things as possible.”—Thanks Dad. Thank you for the memories you have given me. Thank you for molding me into the woman I have become.

My father was the best provider, protector and priest that anyone could ever strive to be. I’ve seen it in his life and I’ve seen it in his death, how even then, he had already taken care of things so we wouldn’t have to.

Suggestion for Valentine’s day—make a list for someone you love.

I love you, Dad. Happy Birthday.

our bad!

So we've been a little busy the past few months, you know, planning a wedding and all...

We'll try to go back and catch you up on what you missed (if it was something really important), but as for now, we will try to be better bloggers about life, love and the pursuit of happiness and anything else related to our new life, our (sort of) new home, our new jobs, etc.

Don't give up on us! We love you...seriously.

Neighbors!

We've experienced a very interesting transition the past few weeks of our engagement. Instead of living 2 and a half hours from each other, we are now (and I counted) 70 steps from my front door to Allison's front door (of course those are my steps, for Allison it might be somewhere between 95 and 120).

Transitions from "dating" to "engaged" and now from "apart" to "within a Sabbath's Day journey" (a little Israel shout out for you, her house is basically my 'eruv').


This is a picture of my house (notice the heavenly glow around it). I'm living with Trent and Andrew. Allison is living with Chelsea, Elizabeth, Carrie and Hannah. There truly ain't no party like a resident Pine Cove staff party because a resident Pine Cove staff party don't stop.

We've enjoyed getting to say good night to each other face to face and spending time with each other outside of the weekends. Another aspect of living so close is that we can start to buy food and groceries together and prepare meals with each other. Check out our dinner from a few nights ago:


We made Chicken Cacciatore, and it was delicious. We grilled chicken breast and placed it on a bed of quinoa, accented with grilled peppers and onions and other spices. We're trying to start cooking healthy and saving money. Our chief tool in accomplishing these goals has been the book "Cook This, Not That." It's been a lot of fun for us to flip through and pick out recipes that we want to try to add to our repertoire. [Special shout out to Bryce H. for introducing me to this book, I almost stole it when we were living in the upstairs Forge apartment.]

And as I typed that last paragraph, I am startlingly aware of how old I am becoming.

To make up for it I might go play Andrew's N64 for a few hours. That'll show me.

registry=biggest blessing ever!

We finished registering this week! Yay! As I sit and write this blog, I laugh at my little moments of panic--"Ahh! The bedroom has to match the bathroom and that dictates the rest of the house, or does it?" "Do I love these dishes? Will I love them five years from now?" silly things...but overall, Jon and I really enjoyed it and had fun together.

What I love about blogging is this: as I sit and type, the Lord opens up my heart and eyes to even more...for instance, just now. A gift registry is a wish list. Jon and I are placing our lists before people and asking them to provide for us as we begin life together. We are beyond blessed to be loved so dearly by so many. Thank you, Lord. And thank you, you, who are reading this blog, and want to bless us.

We started at Bed, Bath & Beyond in College Station, http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/

**Side note--I love my future husband and how he speaks to me. His words to me when I was almost to the point of stressing out about which shower curtain to choose: "I trust you. As the future caretaker of our home, I empower you to make this decision. I love everything you choose."--those three sentences are powerful.

Then we made it to Target, http://www.target.com/. I love Target and have finally corrected the online registry so it no longer shows that we want q-tips or three vacuum cleaners. I'm not that much of a clean freak!

Then Jon gave me his blessing to continue registering without him at Henderson's Gift Gallery. I love the Gift Gallery. It was my favorite place to register. "Just pick whatever you like and set it on the table." Small towns are the best!

And we finished at Dillard's, http://www.dillards.com/.

After I made sure we had registered for everything Real Simple said we needed, we were done. (Jon would appreciate my Beaver-ness.)

senior year review

Some may compare this year of my (Allison's) life to a rollercoaster--extreme high to extreme low--but for me the whole idea of being on a rollercoaster is frightening. For me, riding a rollercoaster is my biggest fear. I'm serious! I've tried to conquer it but everytime I slide into the seat and pull down the bar (of which I always slip out of and have to crawl back under to get in my seat), I begin crying and praying and even got blisters once from digging my heels into the ride. So, no, I wouldn't compare my year to a rollercoaster.

I think I would describe it more like climbing a mountain...

ENGAGED

Texas A&M graduate

dating Jon...Bub moved to CA
sweet community of roommates...wedding festivities
move in to the Bonsai...great semester in ASC...trips to Lubbock/CO
great summer as a mama ruth at camp...forge family...DADDY DIED

My senior year at A&M was definitely an enjoyable uphill climb that PEAKED with the HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE (so far). It all started with another incredible summer at camp. The Lord shook me and my aspirations of becoming a doctor. What had been a life-long desire to practice medicine was instantly gone once I understood the power behind the word "Mom." I moved into the Bonsai (our home in College Station) with incredible girls who encouraged and challenged me with the sweet love of Jesus. Jon and I began dating and with Jon, came the company of the Forge. I was blessed to be the 23 1/2 member, if I may claim that title. I got to travel to Lubbock to meet my future family and then to Colorado to meet more family, so to speak...all of whom I fell in love with. Aggie Sisters for Christ was wonderful as I ended my term as president and enjoyed a final semester as a member with my sisters. Wedding festivities began for me and I also got to stand beside two of my greatest friends as they tied the knot. I graduated from college, which was a literal miracle, and the highlight of it all was that Jon and I got engaged--a dream come true.

Overall, life this year was sweet. Please ask me for details if you're interested because with every moment came extraordinary lessons.

As with every mountain, the uphill slope reaches a peak and then the downward slope begins ending in a VALLEY. It was difficult for me to tell my brother goodbye. We had never been apart for more than a year when he left for A&M but even then we saw each other regularly. This time he moved 1500 miles away and I was losing my protector and confidant and best friend. The Lord, however, gently encouraged me to begin finding these qualities in Jon as he was the man God had created for me in the very beginning. Pretty sweet. Thanks Lord. Hard? Yes, but good? Totally. (more details on that too if you want it!)

I would say I've been through many trials in life, but in every hardship, the Lord has been faithful to walk through the flames with me as He promised He would (Deut 31:6...he will never leave you nor forsake you).

I know God is good (Psalm 52:1...the goodness of God endureth continually) and I rest in His peace because I know that my God is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3...the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort).

Then Daddy died. In the middle of such an intimate time in our personal relationships with Jesus, my family loses our precious father, my mother loses her lover and best friend, my grandparents lose their son, my aunts lose their brother...Daddy died.

For those who do not know, Daddy battled cancer for seven years. He was given 6-12 months, so literally every day was precious and every new day was a gift. From the time he was diagnosed until the day he died, my family treasured every day. We grew so close. We made memories and left no word unspoken. We were so blessed by the Lord through cancer as funny as it is to say.

For seven years, the Lord has encouraged me to pray for Dad's perfect healing. I knew that could come in two ways: here on earth or perfectly in heaven. I waited and hoped and prayed for a miracle--for perfect healing while he was still on earth. I prayed even at his funeral--look at Lazarus! It could've happened. I know my God is big enough, but this was not his plan for my father.

It has been a month today (7/12). I am officially deep into the grieving process, but that in itself is another blog post, as this one is way too long already. This summer I am home--home with my mom and baby sister, and there is no place I'd rather be.

I guess this completes my year in review. I have been the both the happiest and the saddest I have ever been in life. Right now, though, I'll spend some time in this valley because I feel the Refiner's fire and want to come out of these flames, not broken, but stronger and with a much deeper faith than ever before.

happy birthday?

Jon: "What's your favorite holiday?"
Me: "Thanksgiving. Wait, I take it back. My favorite holiday is my birthday because it's all about me."

I was joking right? No 21-year-old can make a statement like that and be serious, can they? Yet, as I always say, there is some truth to all sarcasm. I just hate it when there's truth to my own.

My favorite childhood memories revolve around family vacations and birthday parties. Mama always threw the best themed parties. At four I had a circus (clown included). At 7 I had my first slumber party. At 13 I had two dances: one with a "Survivor" theme with my best friend Macy and one where my cousins Kolby and Jennifer taught us how to two step. At 15 I had a "Come as You Are" and my mom surprised all my friends (and me) and took us to dinner...most of us were already dressed in our pajamas. At 21 the party was themed "A is for Allison" and everyone dressed up as something that started with an A...did I really not see the selfishness?

I've had a birthday party every year of my life. I love birthdays because my mama made everything so special just for me. Is she to blame for my selfishness? (Absolutely not, Mom.) Am I going to throw themed parties for my children? You better believe it!

So today I turned 22.

I had all these expectations for Jon and things he was supposed to do today since it was my birthday. And as all these expectations I had in my head failed to come true, I was so disappointed. But it wasn't Jon's fault. It was mine. It was my birthday and I didn't get what I wanted. Let me just again remind you that I am 22, not 4.

Jon encouraged me to have some time with the Lord to see why I was so upset and this blog is the by-product of my J.time (J=Jesus).

The Lord spoke to my heart. Though this has been a tough week, I wasn't upset by illness or bad test grades, I was upset about not getting my way. I am selfish. I hear that you learn this lesson a lot during the first few years of your marriage so maybe the Lord is just opening my heart so I can get a head start :) When I confessed my selfishness and asked for forgiveness, my joy was restored!

I was able to actually see ALL that the Lord had blessed me with this year on my birthday: 160 facebook messages, 2 letters in the mail, 25 texts, 6 happy birthday songs...not to mention a special delivery picnic basket from Jon and fun new shirts and delicious angel food cake from my roomies!

I went to bed very happy. I was so grateful for my future husband who gently called me out of sin and pointed me to the Father. Today was a great day.