Life Lately

These last couple of weeks have been busy...but that's just the nature of summertime.

My friend had her second daughter last week! I've gotten to cuddle with that little bundle twice already and I'm itchin' to hold her some more.

 

(Meet little Miss M!)

 

Another friend's daughter graduated preschool and I attended her graduation. It was cute to watch all of them sing their little songs and recite the scripture verses they memorized this week.

 

(The graduate on the left and her little sister on the right - T&T)

 

We went and saw Men in Black 3 this past weekend...and I loved it! Being a big Will Smith fan, and a fan of the original Men in Black (the second one was pretty lame, in my opinion), it just made the series for me. I really hope they make another one!

We also went to two graduation parties on Saturday for two very lovely ladies.

 

(Me and H at her party celebrating her 8th grade graduation)

 

Josh's oldest brother is moving for work (and taking two of my nieces with him!), so we had a going away party for them on Sunday. It was sad to think that we aren't going to see them as often, but I'm oh so thankful for Skype and FaceTime!

I also got to share in the birthdays of two young ladies this weekend...one at church on Sunday night and the other on Monday night.

(Happy 13th birthday to M!)

We also got a new to us couch yesterday! My parents gave us their old one, which is still in great shape and super comfy! I love it.

 

(It looks dirty, but it's just the way the material is. It changes as you move your hands across it)

 

And, in the midst of all of this crazyness, I started having major jaw pain...to the point where I really couldn't chew anything. I went to the dentist and she put me on a liquid diet for seven days! After that, I have to eat soft foods for another two weeks! So, life is going to be very different for me this month. I am already craving solid foods so bad. We went grocery shopping and I had such a hard time not drooling over all the things I can't eat. However, I am very glad I don't have to have any sort of surgery and that this is an easy (and relatively painless) fix. I bought a bunch of stuff to make "green" smoothies (I'm gonna try the whole spinach in a smoothie thing and see if you really can't taste it. I will let all of you know what I discover), some Superfood, yogurt, and mashed potato mixes. I'm a little excited about possibly losing some weight from all of this, but I'm also hoping that maybe this will motivate me to eat a little healthier in the future. And, of course I'm excited to be rid of these jaw issues!

How has your life been lately?

(You're the Bee's Knees may or may not return this week. I have some posts picked out to feature, but if I don't get it posted by Friday, it will hopefully be up sometime this weekend)

It's Time to Celebrate

We had a busy day on Saturday!

It started off with my oldest niece's 5th birthday party (I can't believe she's already 5!). They did a cowgirl themed party...and surprised her with pony rides! I loved seeing the huge smile on her face as she rode those ponies.

 

(My niece and her friends attacking my brother-in-law)

(Riding the pony for the first time!)

We also got to spend time with my other two nieces, who are getting so big! I can't believe how fast time flies...and yet, it seems like these two have always been a part of the family.

 

(Sophiamarie)

(Payton)

We then were privileged to witness our friends get hitched!

We've known the groom for a couple of years now and met his lovely bride almost a year ago. She was living in another town, so we are excited to get to know her better now that they will be living here!

(The guys praying for the groom before the ceremony)

(First kiss as husband and wife!)

(All my ladies from church!)

(Charlie's...Geeks? - credit for that has to go to Megh)

(Surrounded by beauties!)

(First dance!)

(Megh and I with the bride! - we were staring into the sun, thus the squinty eyes)

(They were very polite about the feeding of the cake)

How was your weekend?

You're the Bee's Knees Top 5 {Week 1}

Welcome to the first week of You're the Bee's Knees Top 5 link up!

I am so loving the posts I picked for this week's You're the Bee's Knees! I read so many great posts this week, but these five definitely spoke to me the most...and I hope they will speak to you as well!

The first is from The Girl That Sings. Julianna's blog is one I've recently stumbled on, due to her posts on Beautifully Rooted. She and I have a couple of things in common...she loves singing worship music (she's a worship leader, in fact), and she's also battling with infertility. This post she wrote about Mother's Day touched me so very much. I hope you will take the time to read it: Seeing Mother's Day From the Other Side

The second is from Gloriously Ruined. I've been following Wynne's blog ever since she guest posted on Casey's blog last year. She has also battled with infertility...but God called her and her hubby to adopt...and now they are bringing home two babies! She also wrote a sweet post about Mother's Day that I could relate to so much. You can read it here: Mommas



The third is from A Holy Experience. You may have heard of Ann Voskamp and her book One Thousand Gifts. The book is kind of a big deal. I have been following Ann's blog for over a year now...and I love the pictures she paints with her beautiful words. This post about pain was so simple, yet so profound to me. I hope it will speak to you as well: The Purpose of Pain: When Life Hurts





The fourth is from Hello from the Nato's. Jami is a crack up...but she's also very serious...and very profound. She blogs very honestly about the things her family has gone through, and her love for God's truth is so evident. This post about balance vs. obedience really struck a huge chord within me. The Bible study I've been doing by Priscilla Shirer lately just talked about the importance of obedience (maybe God is trying to teach me something here?). Anyway, you need to read this post: Is That Really the Question You Should Ask?



The fifth is from Take Heart. Danielle's blog has been one of my favorites for over a year now. She has the sweetest littles, she is adorable, and she is very passionate about reaching out to other people through various means. She wrote a post this week about not following "the rules" when it comes to blogging...and it resonated so deep within me. I started blogging to record my thoughts. And while blogging has definitely evolved for me since then, I still write what I wanna write...and not in a certain formula or because I feel like I need to have a certain number of posts in a month. This post speaks so beautifully to that sentiment: Don't Listen to Them



What have you been reading lately that has spoken to you? Or, has made you change the way you think? Or, maybe it just was a fun read and you're dying to share it with other people. I hope you'll link up with us!



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All About the Bees...

I am a huge fan of blogging (as if it wasn't obvious).

When I started my blog, I was only reading the blogs of people I knew. Slowly, I'd start to click on a blog that one of my friends followed...which led to clicking on a blog that person followed...which led to me finding so many of my current favorite blogs.

I follow over 160 blogs. While that may seem like a lot, quite a few of those haven't had a new post in months...or the blogger doesn't blog on a regular basis. So, it's probably more accurate to say that I read about 75 different blogs in a week...most of which have multiple posts in a week.

While I love all of the blogs I follow, sometimes I have a hard time keeping up on reading each one. I try my best, but some of them end up getting skimmed when I'd much rather take the time to soak in each word. I'm sure some of you have done this very same thing.

As I was thinking through this week on my priorities and how I can make this situation better, I came up with somewhat of a solution: I'm going to start a weekly blog series about my top 5 blog posts for the week.

If you are anything like me, you probably come across a couple of amazing posts each week that you really allow to sink in...but you quickly forget about them as you go through the rest of your week. I want to take the time to allow those words to sink in, to really let them marinate, as a good friend at church so often says. I don't want a post to simply change my life for the five minutes that it took me to read it; I want it to change my life for a much longer period of time.

So, I introduce to you Finding Refuge's You're the Bee's Knees Weekly Top 5. Each week, I will not only highlight the blog post and explain why I love it, but also include a reason or two as to why I love the blogger.

I'd also love for you to link up with me each week and include your top 5. I am hoping that this will not only be a great way for me to showcase some amazing posts from the bloggers I already love...but also for me to discover some new loves!

I have some big plans for this link up. Some weeks, I may have a theme for what sort of posts to showcase (like maybe my top 5 beauty posts one week, fashion the next, and inspirational the following...that sort of thing). Other weeks will just be random. I'm just really excited to be able to take this opportunity to reflect more on posts that touch my life in one way or another, and to bless the bloggers that posted them!

I will be publishing my first Bee's Knees post on Friday. I hope you will come back to link up with me!



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Blog Awards

My sweet blogger friend Shon nominated me for a couple of blog awards!

The first is the Tell Me About Yourself award:

1. Thank and link back the person who awarded you.
2. Write 7 random things about yourself
3. Spread the love to 15 more bloggers

Here are my random things:

1.  I always thought when I was younger and would buy a pair of sunglasses that I just kept buying crooked ones. It took me a long time to realize that one ear is higher on my head than the other! (I've discovered recently that this is a fairly common problem. I thought I just had weird ears)

2. I have this weird thing about eating food with my fingers. I hate having dirty fingers when I eat. So, I only use my pointer finger and thumb on one hand as often as I can (if it's something like ribs, which I don't really like to eat because of this, it obviously takes a lot more fingers than that). I eat French fries one at a time, as well as things like chips. I also won't shove my hand in the bottom of a chip bag if it's getting empty. I shake the chips down toward the opening so as not to get my fingers all covered in salt and spice.

3. For those who love the Hunger Games, this may shock you...but I think I like Divergent by Veronica Roth better. Don't get me wrong; I love the Hunger Games...but I really loved Divergent. I'm currently reading the second book in the series, Insurgent, that just came out last week.

 (Source)

4. I love flip flops. I would wear them year round if I could. A friend introduced me to Teva a few years back and I can't seem to wear any other brand now. They are just so comfortable.

5. This is my current favorite verse and has been for about a year now: Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:5-6, NIV)

6. For those that are newer readers to my blog, I have this thing about getting super attached to the characters on some of my favorite TV shows. I've blogged about my love for LOST. I also developed this attachment to characters on Gilmore Girls (I need to re-watch that one...I've probably watched every episode at least 5 times) and my latest favorite, One Tree Hill. I caught up with that one right before the series finale and watched the final episode with my friend Megh. We both cried. 

7. I used to collect blown glass pieces. Every time we'd go to a fair or a store that sold them, I would beg for my parents to buy me one. I always got the little tiny ones (probably because they were the cheapest), but I loved them. I have lots of dolphin ones, because I love sea life.


Here are the bloggers I am nominating for this award (I'm only nominating five):


Myriah Mae
Everyday Adventures
K + J = Love
Kim's Kreations
The Shepard Life


As for the Liebster award:


Thank your award presenter on your blog
Link back the blogger who presented you
Give your top 5 picks for the award
Inform your top 5 by commenting on their blog
Post the award on your blog
(This award is meant to boost blogs with less than 200 followers)