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faq's about the mack's

I was thinking in the care today about some of the questions I get asked on a daily/weekly/monthly basis - obviously people don't know these answers because I'm such a terrible blogger! (I'm getting better guys, I have about 3 posts I want to write this week!) So here are some answers to questions you may or may not have about us, just in case you ever wondered.....

 

1. Where are y'all living, again?

Temple, TX (Or as I say to people who don't know Texas geography very well, or those who judge people from small towns - "just north of Austin.") We moved here last July for Ryan's job, and we love it!

2. When are you going to have kids?

We're not there yet! We do enjoy babies though - we have a new baby cousin, McKinnley, and we're very excited about our niece, Mackenzie, who will be arriving in June. We also have some favorite baby friends in Temple - we spend a lot of time with Carter Edwards and Camdyn Cawyer, and they are a ton of fun.

 

3. What is Ryan doing?

He is an Internal Medicine Resident at Scott and White. He loves it! He works with great people and has learned so much in the 10 months we've been here. His program is 3 years long, so we will live here at least another 2 years, possibly longer.

4. Do you ever see him?

Yes - not as much as I would like to, but more than I thought I would! (When you are married to a resident, people tell you horror stores - like their friend's sister's husband's cousin who worked for 6 months without a day off - yikes! It's been nothing like that!)

5. When are you going to have kids?

(see answer to number 2)

6. What does he want to do?

He loves the program he is in, and is considering a cardiology fellowship. 

7. What do you do?
I work from home (in customer service) for DOCUmation. It's been such a blessing to continue working for the company I loved working for while we lived in San Antonio. I do miss my co-workers though! Thank goodness for phone and email!

8. Where do y'all go to church?

We go to Western Hills Church of Christ, and love it. We have an amazing small group and we have been hanging out with the youth group on Wednesday nights. They are fun and we are lucky to get to spend time with them. :)

9. When are you going to have kids?

(see answer to number 2)

10. Where you do want to live when Ryan is done with residency?

We honestly don't know. We like to dream about it, and we're open to anywhere! I am a big fan of us staying in Texas (and so is Ryan!) so we'll see where God leads us. My dream would be for all of the people I love to move to one city in the next two years. Then we would definitely move there - that would be an easy choice!! 

I was thinking today about how amazing our life is right now - we're so blessed. It's kind of crazy. God is good!

· sylvia ·

disney!

I'm way worse of a blogger than I ever planned on being... which is why I am just getting around to posting these pictures from our Disney World trip in March! Here are some of my favorite shots from the week:

Toy Story Mania - one of the best rides the whole week!

We took about a million of these pics.

So much fun :)

It's always nice when you ask a random stranger to take
your picture, and he ends up being a semi-professional
photographer and teaches you new camera tricks! Score!

Trying out my camera settings at the Epcot Illumi-Nations show.

Universal Studios!

HARRY POTTER WORLD! Dream come true. :)

Butterbeer! We couldn't have just one.

We liked Spiderman, too!

The new Little Mermaid ride - nostalgic.

Bowling and sushi at Splitsville!

These elephants on the Jungle Cruise were just too cute :)

DELISH salted caramel and fudge from Germany in Epcot!

It was so nice that there was a big crane sticking out of
Cinderella's Castle when we were there :)
Off-season tickets. Totally worth it.

The Lion King.

It's Tough to be a Bug! Probably my favorite thing we did the whole week.
Ryan is reading over my shoulder, shaking his head, and wondering why
he took me to Harry Potter World... (kidding)
But what can I say? I felt like a little kid and loved it!
(OK, maybe I didn't love it more than HP World. But it was really good!)

 

 

We got to see Mickey on Valentine's Day! He loved our shirts :)

Sylvia's Favorites

Ride: Star Tours

Show: It's Tough to be a Bug

Restaurant: Citricos at the Grand Floridian

Snack: Salted Caramel :)

Evening Show: Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios

Character we saw: Russell from UP!

 Ryan's Favorites

Ride: Rockin' Rollercoaster
Show: Indiana Jones

Restaurant: Citricos at the Grand Floridian

Snack: Almond pastry from the French Bakery

Evening Show: Wishes at Magic Kingdom

Character we saw: Donald Duck

It was the greatest trip! I can't wait to go back again! :)

· sylvia ·

love&marriage

I woke up early with my sweetie this morning... he is making his big presentation for the year today! I got to listen to the whole presentation last night (all thirty minutes of mostly medical terms... do I get a gold star??) and it was SO fun! I haven't had much of a chance to hear him in "public speaking mode" and he is so great at it.

So anyhow... once he left for the hospital, it was too late to go back to bed, but too early to start work. I picked up my Bible and randomly turned to Ephesians 5, the famous marriage passage. I've read it and heard it a million times. Every sermon on marriage, every marriage seminar.... it is a GREAT and very important passage in the Bible, but sometimes after hearing it a million times the words start to run together. (At least for me!) Here it is from the NIV:

Instructions for Christian Households

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[c] 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

 Good Fabulous advice for any marriage... and we should read this often! But I think that some people, especially women, tend to think this verse is old fashioned. The word "submit" just tends to rub people wrong, which I can understand.

**Side note: Ryan got me an NIV/Message Bible for a wedding gift and I LOVE it! It is so nice to be able to read both at the same time. I mostly read the NIV, but referring to the message really helps me understand things sometime. I know a lot of people have issues with the Message, which I completely respect, but personally, it really inspires and helps me to know God better.

SO... as I was reading Ephesians 5, I looked over to the other side of my Bible at the Message. I don't know if I had never read this before, or if it just particularly struck me this morning, but I was so encouraged and inspired by this version of the text. Here it is, I highlighted the parts that especially struck me:

Relationships

²¹ Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

^22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
^25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.
^29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

I love how the word "submit" is also described as "understanding and supporting" and "honoring" our husbands. As many times as I have read this, it's almost like this all really just 'clicked' for me this morning. (Only 16 months late??) Or maybe that it has just taken on a new meaning... I am not exactly sure. But I am glad. :)

Reading this verse this morning really made me want to love, help, and understand Ryan more! And better than I do now! With "a love that is marked by giving, not getting."

· sylvia ·

unplugged.

We just got back from a whirlwind of a weekend in Houston! So, so happy that we got to celebrate the marriage of my sweet friend Lauren and her new husband Hunter! It was a beautiful, joyous wedding, and couldn't have been more perfect.

These two are tanning it up in Cancun right now... jealous! :)

Mr. and Mrs. Bollman!

The best date! :)

While in Houston for the weekend, I got to do some fun shopping.... awesome resale shops and Home Goods! What I miss most about living in a bigger city! However, I may have been a little too excited about shopping and not too concerned about my cell phone. It was either left on a shelf in the store or taken out of my purse by someone. Lesson learned! 

So, since Friday, I have been phone-less. It's been interesting, and I realized how dependent I am on my phone! In some good ways and some bad. I love being able to text my sweet husband at anytime I please, to send and receive emails, look up quick information on Google, or reference a Bible verse. Not so great was all of the times I realized I would want to check my Instagram, Pinterest, or Dice with Buddies (ha!). So maybe part of this "unplugged" situation is a good way for me to start 2013 - and realize how much time I waste on my phone! 

**If you need to reach me in the next few days, you can email me at sylviakmack@gmail.com. If I haven't responded to you in the last few days, I apologize! I'll get back to you as soon as I can!**

Right now I'm sitting on the couch spending some much needed "veg" time with my honey and watching 24. Happy New Year Everyone!!! :)

· sylvia ·

new wall decor and upcoming projects!

We have a giant empty wall in our living room that I was clueless about how to cover! Ryan & I brainstormed about a lot of different projects we could do to fill the space, but nothing seemed just right. Then one day, we were at Ikea and spotted this beauty:

80 inches x 55 inches.... and for $150. It's huge and perfect with the color scheme in our living room! I've always thought it would be cool to have a giant map in a playroom or a breakfast nook when we have kids someday. I saw a picture in a magazine many years ago that is my favorite map inspiration, but I can't find that image. So here are some other favorites!

 

 So until the time we have a playroom filled with kids and toys, our map will grace our giant, previously blank wall in the living room.

 Notice the new wall color? So much better than the other ugly yellow-orange color. :)

 We're having Ryan's whole family here for Thanksgiving (yay!) so I also have some house projects that are desperately needing to be completed:

- Kitchen Window Shade

- Guest Bathroom Re-do

- Master Bedroom Bedding/Wall Color
- Front Yard Landscaping

So I have lots of work to do! Look for posts on these coming soon.

· sylvia ·

thoughts on home decor

Ever since Ryan and I got married, I have spent a lot of time and effort on making our house into our home. I spend a lot of time looking for home inspiration and ways to decorate on a budget. It's fun! There are so many inspiring blogs to look at, and so many ways to be creative in home decor!

Sometimes, however, I know I can focus too much on this aspect of our lives. I can easily spend too much time and money if I let myself! Sometimes, after a long sitting of exploring all of my favorite blogs and Pinterest, I feel guilty. I could have done so many other things in that time frame... spent time with my hubby, in The Word, at the gym, or with friends.

So I've come to a conclusion about this, at least for now..... It's all about finding balance. My mom sent me the lyrics to this song a few weeks ago. Sorry mom, I'm not a huge fan of the song itself, but I love the words in the chorus:

In bright color
And in joyous line
In morning light and lampfire
I'll make fine my home here
And trust in my home to come

-Amy Grant, Bridegroom

So, to sum it up, I'll take care in making my life and home on earth something that is pleasing to the Lord, and trust Jesus until it's time for me to go to be with Him. And there's so much more to 'making fine my home here' than just home decor, but it is something that I'm particularly enjoying these days. :)

· sylvia ·