// christmas on trezevant //

our main family holiday has always been thanksgiving and our extended family is never free for christmas so we really don't have many traditions this time of the year. but the beauty of this is that we have a whole lot of freedom to do things different every year! most christmas's we have friends join us but sometimes its just us and this year my family came all the way to memphis to spend a few days with me!! micah is currently deployed and jonathan is in italy so that means 10 people staying in my house! i'm really grateful to my roommates who allowed my fam to completely take over the house while they were off celebrating christmas with their families! 

something new this year was stockings! we've never done stockings before but mama had a ton of old  wool sweaters and decided to felt one for each of us and turn it into a stocking! so fun! my mantel wasn't quite big enough so we hung them from the stair case:) despite having so many chillens in the house, we are the slowest on christmas morning! usually we all sleep in a bit and then make breakfast (usually beignets!) and then mosey around to giving gifts.  at dinner we all helped each other complete christmas madlibs and then read them outloud:) we've spent years fitting 12 people around a 6 person table so fitting 10 people at our table for 4 was no problem! 

the weather has been incredible (currently 75 degrees) and we've spent a lot of our time outside but i love nothing more than the house being full! i think if we weren't used to so many people in tight quarters we would have gone crazy by now but thankfully we only start to think something is wrong when it's quiet!   we've spent the last several days washing lots of dishes (no working dishwasher!), chasing each other around the playground, watching loads of psych re-runs, raking leaves, getting on each others nerves,  hanging out, laughing over inside jokes and learning even more what grace really means. especially thankful for daddy who has helped me with some huge and not terribly easy projects around the house (when a house is 75 years old, one project quickly becomes 3!)

this semester has been incredibly difficult and exhausting for many reasons but one thing i'm increasingly aware of is the gift that my family is.  remembering the really broken seasons that our family has been through as well as looking around and mourning for the many friends who don't have the support of family has made me so grateful. maybe i don't get to share much life with them now and maybe i'm not dependent on them for daily resources but they are the best encouragers, prayer warriors & adventurers i know and they are the first to point me back to Jesus or make me laugh. 

during this advent season i've been reading about Jesus being the true and better adam, the true and better abraham, isaac and jacob. the true and better passover lamb. the true and better manna. 

he became the ultimate sacrifice for us as he took our punishment on the cross. paying our sin debt and satisfying us more fully than any thing or any one else ever could. he completes and surpasses our needs and expectations while giving us the purest example of humility and faithfulness.

"for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. and the government will be upon his shoulders. and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. he will reign on david's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." 

isaiah 9:6-7

even in my most broken moments, these are the truths i cling to and the promises that make me eager to start a new year!

 merry christmas and happy new year y'all!

// san diego //

i'm not sure how many of y'all have watched the movie called the hundred foot journey but it is one of my all time favorites. so much vibrant life and culture and food! exploring the little italy farmer's market in san diego with friends the day after liss and caleb's wedding kept making me think of that movie... and then we literally stumbled upon a tent where they were serving fresh sea urchins (the whole first scene of the hundred foot journey is of a little boy who knows the quality of a good sea urchin when he smells it)! the photos below are from that day-- and afterwards we spent plenty of time wandering along the harbor looking at boats because when you're with the tillmans, you do as the tillmans do;)

truly though, this second trip to san diego was full but so good. my flight got in at midnight wednesday and the next morning i had time with jesus and went for a run with the mountains in view  to clear my head before the festivities began. thursday was full of last minute prep, people flying into town, the rehearsal dinner and bachelor/bachlorette parties.  i'm blessed to already know so many of liss and caleb's friends and family but there were a handful of familiar faces that i had heard so much about and was so excited to meet! they are an incredibly blessed couple when it comes to people who love and invest in their lives and it was so special to witness that.

 i love it when people are gathered together to celebrate. to celebrate something so precious and wholly anchored in jesus. and that's just what thursday and friday were. two whole days set aside to serve & celebrate liss and caleb, revel in the story jesus has written and share life with some of their nearest and dearest.

the day of their wedding was sunny, abundantly full of joy and went by way too quickly! its still a little surreal that this day has come and gone already and their lives are permanently joined together... but the Lord is the bedrock of this marriage and because of that, i know that the best seasons are still to come! cheers to c + l!

(here's one quick image from their rehearsal thanks to lenae. they had a seriously incredible backdrop for their ceremony!)