12.16.2013

christmas party (a video)


Christmastime in Tennessee has been so good to my heart.

12.11.2013

insta-update














In a nutshell:
We love our church/youth. (Even the drama that follows.)
I still love and take too many pictures of our pups. (Sorry not sorry.)
My Husband likes to dress up. (e.i. My pajamas, ostrich rider, turkey, etc.)
It turned Fall and then Winter. (Crazy, huh?)
I'm still falling in love with living somewhere with actual seasons. (Thanks, TN!)
I painted our dining room set (Thanks, Annie Sloan!)
3 years ago I graduated college and got engaged. (On the same day!)
and
birthday month has already begun! (Can I get a hallelujah?!)


Woo Hoo!
Happy Wednesday!











10.22.2013

mini messages



(Some pictures from our Girl's Weekend this past weekend!)


Dear Collision Student Ministry Girls (Axios),
I don't know what I've done to deserve to be a part in your life (little or big) but I'm so glad I followed my Husband (who followed God) all the way to TN to meet y'all. You've taught me so much and even though there are times we won't always see eye to eye, I love you ladies. No matter what teenage drama you drag into my life, my heart is full because of the giggles, movie nights, heart to hearts, and hope that God will use me in a small way to build you into the woman of God He created.

Dear Sound Machine,
Thanks for being invented. I'd forgotten what a peaceful night's sleep was (thanks to Husband's awesome snoring skills.)

Dear Legs,
Time to start on that winter coat! No shave October-March!
(I kid. I kid.)
Sort of.
Hey, that's what leggings are for!

Dear Leggings,
You my dears, are magicians. The way you keep my legs warm AND hide the fact that I forgot to shave...words cannot express.

Dear Anyone That's Reading,
I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I could say it's all routine and happy, but I'm afraid it's not. Prayers and happy thoughts are super appreciated. No matter what, God's in control and why would I fear in that? (Way easier said than done.)

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

10.13.2013

things

It's a blog world rule to apologize and explain why you've been missing for, oh...like, 2 months.
But I'm not going to.
And you can't make me.

I will, however, fill you in with another one of my world famous "things" post.
(Okay, maybe not world famous...but I do see visitors from Germany. Shout out to my Germans!)


Want to feel really old? Plan a wedding for one of your girls from an old youth group you and your husband led way back when. Our sweet Kayla is going and getting herself hitched! I loved planning our wedding and I even had Kayla's help, so of course, I'm loving planning hers. January is coming super quick.

Speaking of Fall/Winter (sort of)...
It's Fall and almost Winter!
No more explanation needed.

Husband and I play this game. You see, I'm horrible at replacing the toilet paper. I'll grab the new roll, but I always forget to put it in the holder. To "teach me a lesson," he started to leave the empty rolls on my side of counter. Now we just hide the roll so the other person finds it. Drawers, jewelry box, shoes, dishwasher. Well, it just makes me laugh. So, the joke is on him and I haven't learned my lesson.

I have two jobs now. I work 4 days at a store downtown and 2 days at our church's preschool.
So, I love it.
Yeah.

Last weekend we took our youth on a Fall Retreat to Copperhill, TN. It was so beyond so much fun.
Here's the video, if you're into that kind of stuff...




I'm off to catch up on all my blog friends and see how many are now pregnant. (I always miss the announcements and end up congratulating you all embarrassingly late. Sorry.)

I promise to maybe have some semi regular writing schedule.
Maybe.

9.02.2013

weekend with the family (a video)

 (best in full screen.)

How was your Labor Day weekend?
Mine was full of family, puppies, food, and laughter.
Just like I like it.

Happy Labor Day!

8.27.2013

El Roi



He sees you, right now.
In your struggle.
In your storm.
He is the God who sees you.
He knows your heart,
your desires.
He loves you, unconditionally.
He's never away from you.

El Roi,
the God who sees me.

8.25.2013

wilson county fair (a video)





Saturday, Husband and I went to the Wilson County Fair with my Godparents.
I lovelovelove fairs.
And I lovelovelove my Godparents.

So, pretty perfect Saturday if you ask me!


8.09.2013

friday favorites (husband edition)

(Husband and friends being meerkats. The usual.)

1 disc golf 2 sleeping in 3 hanging out with friends 4 chicken alfredo from Olive Garden 
5 volleyball 6 ping pong 7 humor 8 super heroes 9 playing with the puppies 
10 and last but certainly not least, I love when my wife tries to be funny.


Happy Weekend!

8.06.2013

my thursday nights are... (a video)

crazyloudgirlyintentional
spiritualbeautifulintimate
ridiculouswonderful.
perfect.


(Video from our big sis lil sis reveal party!)

8.05.2013

mini messages


How Bailee feels about Mondays.



Dear Husband,
Thank you so much for taking care of me this week. Being at the hospital is super scary, but having you with me makes all the bad go away. I'm sorry for being grumpy (I totally blame the meds.) I thank God every day that you take the "in sickness and health" part of our vows seriously! Let's just stop being sick though, yeah?

Get in my mailbox! I cannot wait to get my life organized. Seriously, few things get me ecstatic like a new planner. And this thing is the holy grail of planners. Nerd alert.

Dear Not-One-But-Two-Jobs,
Woo Hoo! Thanks for showing up at the perfect time, in true God-timing! I am working part-time at an adorable specialty store downtown, along with part-time at our church's preschool, leaving ample time to spend with Husband and my youth girls! Favorite.

Dear Blogger,
Why won't you let me change my font and background color? Rude.

Dear Des,
Pick Chris.


Happy Monday!

8.03.2013

saturday day dreams (house edition)

This is the first real house Husband and I have lived in since being married.
It's nothing too fancy, but to us, it's the perfect little place.
I think you have to start out in a shack (no seriously, it was a shack) to appreciate the little blessings
like, doors that don't have gaps (no more towels to keep in the air/keep out the bugs!),
a bathroom actually connected to the house with air/heat (talk about miserable!),
non-stained magenta carpet (hello, beautiful hardwood!),
and actually having a dishwasher! (I mean, there are no fights like "whose turn is it" dish washing fights.)

All this to say, I love our Tennessee abode.
It's been fun to collect and see our home designing grow to give the perfect "so us" feeling.

Here are some day dream wishes for our home that I hope to add...


*Canvases! Wedding, engagement, dating, instagram, etc.
*Chunky knit throw blanket for snuggling


*Corner rack to put out outfits for the week
*Initials for the door


*This one has to wait until we own the house, but I love bold doors/numbers
*Half wooden ladder to hang blankets on


*Key hang by the front door
*Huge leaning mirror


*A collection of old windows
*Fancy ottoman


*Pillows: Reds, Whites, and Greens
*Big, cozy sectional


*Bright red bar stools
*Bookcases


Totally looking forward to some yard-saling, antiquing, and maybe even a few DIY's!

Happy Saturday!

7.27.2013

Stop. Just, stop.



Getting married and being newlyweds means receiving a whole lot of advice.
Some, awesome ("don't go to bed mad," "always make out," etc.) 
Some, not so awesome ("your life is over,""just wait 'til you've been married as long as we have," etc.) 
Sadly, nothing cheapens the sacredness and excitement of marriage more than hearing those words.

Of all the advice I've heard, there's one phrase that sticks out and still kills me.

"Oh, you're just in the honeymoon phase. Wait a few years THEN that's marriage."
(explanation: "You may be happy now, just wait...your marriage will get worse and you're doomed to fail.")

Let's define "honeymoon stage," shall we?
(Happiness, unconditional love, fun, spontaneity, physical attraction, etc.)

Marriage is hard. 
I get it. 
I knew that. 
Our literal "honeymoon phase" ended the second we came back to (insert horrible town, USA) and we were "kicked out" of our house. 
We both lived and worked in miserable places for the first 6 months of our marriage. 
I grew depressed and lonely as I felt the life being sucked out of me. 
The amazing thing, Brandon was by my side the whole time. 
Never once did we think to call it quits (when, according to the world, we honestly had every reason to.) 
We knew that God didn't bring us together in marriage for it to be easy. 

Staying in the "honeymoon phase" is a choice
It's me choosing every day that Brandon is the most important thing to me and acting on that love. 
It's a choice for Brandon to show that he will always love and provide for me.
Choosing to love each other when all our faults have been brought to life, that's marriage.
Is it easy? 
No. 
Will we ever master it? 
Heck no. 
We mess up, we fight, we get over it. 

I know that when we are 60 years old, we will still be in the "honeymoon phase."
Brandon will still come up with stupid adventures that I'll tag along with because I will still be head over heels for him. 
Don't cheapen that by telling me "it's just a phase."
Because, I hope and pray with all my heart that my marriage will never be a "phase."

Maybe your marriage is so bad that you have to warn others from it. 
Maybe you have lost your love for your spouse so much that now marriage is dull to you. 
If that's true, I am so sorry for your loss.

Or maybe you mean it as joke, not to be taken seriously.
Whatever your reason, truly think about the damage you are creating before you say those crushing words.

Stop. 
Just, stop.

7.14.2013

Today...

...I accomplished a great thing.
I overcame my fear of guns.
 My Sunday School class (yes, you read that correctly, church group) 
went to a shooting range.

It was loud and made me super nervous,
but I did it.


And maybe I liked it.