Religion or Devotion?

Are we going to die in our religion OR die in our devotion?

Radical

Andrew and I are starting to read books together. We started with the book "Radical" by David Platt. There should be a warning on the cover of this book titled, "Prepare to be blown away."

After reading every chapter, I'm either crying or praying more and more that the Lord gives me an even more authentic faith. I turn to the Bible and see where Jesus requires us to pick up our cross and carry it. We are to sell our possessions and follow him. We are to abandon everything we have... with joy! We are to go to the nations and make disciples. But do we really do all this... for the sake of Christ?

I love the quote by Jim Elliot,

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

I think it gets easy in America to read something like that and just move on. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep. Nothing in this life remains, but our relationship with Christ. Why cling to things of this world? America makes materialism so easy, so beautiful, and so desirable. Money is the reason most Americans wake up every day.

There are so many people that do not live like us. What are we going to do about it? Andrew and I are praying that the Lord guides us as we pray to the Lord. Our life is an open book to him.

I pray if you are reading this, the Lord would grip your heart, and draw you to closer intimacy with him.

I understand this post is so much different than my other ones (all 4 of them!) I love telling funny stories, and I will continue to do so, but I will also share my thoughts on the Lord. After all, God is Love and he is the center of the "Love Nest."

I want to end with a quote from the book Radical.

"Here we stand amid an American dream dominated by self - advancement, self - esteem, and self - sufficiency, by individualism, materialism, and universalism. Yet, I want you to show you our desperate need to revisit the words of Jesus, to listen to them, to believe them, and to obey them. We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel, because the cost of not doing so is great for our lives, our families, our churches, and the world around us." - David Platt

The "Entertainment Crew"

Let me just say this:

Marriage is amazing. I love it. No, I'm OBSESSED with it. I seriously love Andrew more everyday. The Lord has really blessed us. May the Lord be in the center of every marriage!

These past few months have been a complete blur. I can't even believe it's almost been 2 months since we got married. Before I know it, Andrew and I will be 80 wearing diapers watching Golden Girls (and actually finding it humorous).

Here are some memories from the best week of my life aka the HONEYmoon.

First night. I got that dress because it looked Mexican :)

Sitting on the cute bench next to the people.

Inside our suite :)

Let me just tell you a story from the Honeymoon:

There is a group of 7 people that worked at the resort that were the "entertainment crew" aka "Let me annoy you to death crew." There were two that really bothered me, Oscar and Tall Girl (I forgot her name but she was literally 7 feet tall). Not only did they "try" to entertain you by the pool, but also at night. One night, the "entertainment crew decided to get a game of "Suck and Blow" going. Really??? Is this 1999?? We were about to leave when Oscar (I knew I should have never made eye contact) grabbed my arm and dragged me on stage. The Tall Girl (so tall, seriously) grabbed Andrew and threw him on stage. We and 6 other people had to play a game of "Suck and Blow." You have to pass a playing card with your mouth. Hence, if you drop the card, you could potentially kiss the person next to you. They separated me and Andrew and laughed about it. Of course, people are dropping like flies out of the game quickly. Me, Andrew, and Bucktooth Willy were in the final three. Andrew drops the card on purpose just to kiss me in front of everyone. It was cute :) But that leaves me with a SEVERE problem. It is just me and Bucktooth Willy. He is wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I started out with the card. We had to stand about 10 feet apart and I had to spin and walk across stage before I passed the card to him. I spun and started walking successfully while sucking the card. I got close to Bucktooth Willy and SURRENDERED because the thought of us messing up and making lip contact made me nauseous. Needless to say, weird experience.

Here I am onstage. There is Bucktooth Willy on the other side of the stage.

Alright, Katie. I was pretty good. But had lose on purpose, couldn't face Bucktooth.

Bahahahah.

Besides that really weird experience, the honeymoon was a dream. Check out my photos on face book. It was the best week of my life. Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" became our theme song, mainly because I sang to Andrew, the line, " You know that I love you boy, hot like MEXICO." Mexico was fun, hot, and unforgettable.

Lifestyle Change...

Everyone told me marriage would be a huge adjustment... so far it is.

In college I lived in a sorority house with my best friend Carol Anne. We liked to decorate with Zeta things, Anthropologie and pictures. Over breaks, I would go home to a house decorated with Pottery Barn, Tassels, etc. When I wanted a bed spread from Anthropolgie, Andrew looked at me like I was crazy. He told me, "Your not a middle schooler anymore." I don't know why Anthropolgie screamed "middle - schoolish" to him, but that was the first fight we had as a married couple. Not really, but it kinda made me mad/question his taste. I asked him what type of bed spread he wanted. He said "a navy blue one." Well I told him, "You're

not a bachelor anymore." We decided on a bed spread at Macy's and we are both very happy with. Even though it is not Anthro, it's still really cute.

It was about a week ago, we were watching TV on the floor, when I put my foot down. We NEEDED a couch. No more waiting. My first thoughts were, "Baby, let's go to Ethan Allen, Pottery Barn, or Ashley Furniture." I wanted to look for a couch there. Andrew told me that we are extremely poor and that we couldn't. So, he drove us to (get ready for this) Salvation Army. I was a good wife and didn't complain. We looked around

at all the 1960ish looking couches until we found one that looked like it was made in the 1980's (not as bad as 1960's). We sat on it. It reeked of cat pee and the cat hair on the couch made my eyes start watering. Andrew's allergies started to flare up. I stopped pretending and told Andrew, "I can't do this." We had to adventure to another store. Our next stop... World Market. It was over - priced and we didn't like anything. We then went to the one and the only.. Big Lots. It was the first time I had stepped foot in a Big Lots. Andrew "heard" they sold furniture. Well they did and well we most certainly... BOUGHT A COUCH. And we got it delivered by Big Rick aka our new bestie. When the couch came wrapped up, it was a little confusing, but we got over it.

See it is literally wrapped up.

After we got it unwrapped, we sat on our couch that WE paid for. Not Mommy and Daddy, but us. We are growing up, peeps. And I like it.

The adjustments have been huge, but the adjustments are really fun when you do it with the person you are madly in love with, that happens to be your best friend. Being married is fun. I have learned two things:

1. How to compromise

2. How to cut coupons

Our couch is a great addition to The Love Nest.

The couch... tell me you love it. I don't care if you don't.

Okay, I see you MY BOY.

BEST FATHER DAUGHTER DANCE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe I did this!

There it is, folks. THE father - daughter dance. I know what you are thinking, "Katie, you got that idea from YouTube." You are exactly right my friend.

This all started on Spring Break 2010. While everybody I knew was getting a tan (still bitter) I was home doing wedding plans. I mean, it was amazing, don't get me wrong, but you know how I am about being tan :).

I was watching YouTube videos on the couch in the kitchen. My dad had to see what was so funny to me. This is where it all began, this is where we got our inspiration. Let me tell you a little background info about me and my dad. I'll start with my dad.

Ronald Lee Albertsen: Ronald's nickname is "The Rizz," "Rizzle" or most commonly known as "Rizz." He is the friendliest of folks. He is a human teddy bear. My dad is my best friend. My dad has a humorous side (obviously), but the serious side takes reign most of the time. My dad is the financial advisor for UPS. Ron is big time. He travels all over the world for business. Ron likes the same foods, same TV shows (and when I say TV shows, I mean FOX news), he wears the same outfit when he gets home from work, and he loves the same woman every day. He is a family man. He is a typical Type A personality. He is NEVER late. If we are NOT 15 minutes early to church, so he can read the bulletin leisurely of course, he is PISSED. He still can't grasp the idea of designer jeans. He thinks that paying more than $40 dollars for denim is, in his words, verbatim, "ludicrous."

... so my dad WILLINGLY wanting to do this bust out dance, well, surprised me aka threw me out of my chair aka made my die laughing aka had me confused. WE HAD TO DO IT.

Me: I love to be goofy. I LOVE making a fool of myself. I love to dance. If I have anything to drink, I IMMEDIATELY start to dance. I love to have a good time. Laughing is my middle name, yadda yadda you get it!

... so me wanting to do this dance, well I'm sure none of my friends were surprised. I WOULD do something like that.

So the week before the wedding we started to practice. The DJ at our wedding has been one of my best friends since high school, so he was so excited. When I started teaching Rizz the steps to Soldier Boy's "Crank That", I thought he was a lost cause. But, he came around. He was determined to get the steps. I even tried to simplify the steps for him... still tricky, but nonetheless, I told him to just "freestyle" if you forget. If you watched the video, you'll see some :)

The day of the wedding arrives. I get a knock on my bedroom door at 8:00am. knock, knock. It's my daddy. He wants to hug me and of course... wants to practice. We do an acapella version of "Crank That" as we practice the dance in my bedroom. We do it very quietly because there are a million relatives in my house. I feel good. Rizz feels good. We are ready for reception time!

Reception comes... we do a successful bust out!

PS - It was a complete SURPRISE. Andrew (the groom, if you're stupid) didn't even know!!!

Well, Rizz, you were incredible and I will always be... your little girl. Promise.

And so it begins...

I'm blogging. I never thought I would blog, but I'm really into blogs, I'm unemployed, and my life is really interesting right now. Now before you start to read, you must understand two things:

1. I am not an award winning writer. Well, who is? That you know personally? Email me with responses (not really.)

2. I will probably have typos. I hate to proofread. It just gets on my nerves. BUT I will try to proofread my blog before I "publish" it. And... I still get confused when to insert commas and when to not insert commas. I went to college and hold a degree (not in journalism) but it still tricks me, so get over it.

So with that being said, the blogging commences. Enjoy my friend (unless I don't like you).

"Oh what a day is today, nothing can stand in my way." - Ingrid Michaelson