About Me

I have a hard time being myself sometimes. 

I am not always the nicest person. 

I don't always treat my husband the best. 

I let words come out of my mouth that I should fight back. 

I bite my tongue too often in situations where I should speak up.

 

I worry too much about how others will look at me if I... (Fill in the blank)

I don't read my Bible or pray enough. 

I like to control things in my life and not let things go for God to handle them. 

I need need NEED alone time every week or I go crazy. 

I am in chronic pain every single day of my life. 

I am learning more and more to cherish my friendships and the time I have with people...because life can change in an instant. 

I like to have an occasional drink and I love to dance. 

I have a serious love affair with all things Disney. 

I wasted a lot of time being obsessed over getting pregnant and freaking out over every possible symptom or everything I might have done wrong to possibly hurt my chances. 

I am a planner and I like to have my ducks in a row. I don't handle last minute plans very well at all. 

I physically need a massage every month. 

I tend to hope for the best but prepare myself for the worst these days, especially after everything I've been through in trying to have a baby. 

My heart hurts so much when my friends and family are going through trials and hard times. 

I have changed my eating habits so much this year and I don't even have cravings for Coke or McDonald's French fries or Jack in the Box tacos anymore. 

I can be very social, but I am definitely an introvert. 

My husband and I have gone through so much in the 8 and a half years we have been together, but we still love each other and wouldn't trade any of our hardships for anything. 

Witnessing my bestie give birth this year healed my heart in so many more ways than I ever would have imagined.  

I could read and watch Harry Potter over and over again and never get sick of it. 

I seriously wish every month could feel as special and magical as December does for me. 

I could definitely move to Colorado Springs in a heartbeat if God ever decides to call us there. 

I am a big chicken when it comes to deep water and going on rides where you fall straight down, but I have overcome my fears of speaking and singing in front of people. 

If every season could be pumpkin spice season at Starbucks, I would be one happy (and probably really unhealthy) girl. 

I am very guarded in sharing some aspects of my life, but have no problem sharing others. 

I really don't enjoy cooking very much because I'm too impatient for it. Yet I love to bake and have endless patience for that (I'm kind of an oxymoron). 

I can be very creative but it comes in waves. I used to be a big scrapbooker but I haven't started a new project in the last four years. I was on a jewelry kick for awhile but I haven't done that in a long time either.

 

I've had a hard time reading books since I first read the Harry Potter series. Comparing anything to those books just seems wrong (though I did really love the Hunger Games and Divergent). 

I used to save all of my movie stubs. I think I still have practically all of them from a 12 year period. I kind of stopped saving them after I got married. 

I have learned so much more about faith and trust and hope this year.

And I still have so much more to learn.

Summer and Some Other Randoms

This summer has been one of the best that I can remember.

Not only has our weather been pretty fantastic, we've just been able to do and experience so many fun things. I always think it's cool when parents make a summer bucket list of things to do with their kids during summer break. And while I definitely have never made one for myself, I feel like most of the things I would put on there I've been able to do this summer.

Camping, making s'mores, beach trips, going to the boardwalk, cabin trip, star gazing, eating watermelon, bbqing, night swimming, cards playing, root beer floats...so many wonderful memories.

I seriously look back on the last couple of months and just smile. This year has been one of the hardest I've ever experienced...but it's also been one of the most beautiful. In the midst of crazy trials, God has been so faithful, and we have been able to experience such beauty and joy. 

Here's a few pics to reflect on what we've been up to lately...and to highlight some of my favorite moments this summer.

Camping trip with family in June

At the W's Wedding. I'd say we all clean up pretty well

Lounging by the pool 

Dinner with two of my favorites after a fun day at the beach 

4th of July cabin trip

Family BBQ

Beach worship and baptisms

A night of dancing

My sweet friend E.H. and I! They came home for the weekend and we got to lead worship together. It was such a special night.

This girl was in my high school discipleship group...and now she's a college grad! She makes me feel pretty old.

At an engagement party. I got to spend some quality time with this beauty...who also happened to be wearing polka dots.

 Also from the engagement party. I don't see this lovely friend nearly enough!

I can't overemphasize how blessed I am with my friends and family. I honestly don't know where I would be without these beautiful people that love and encourage me in so many wonderful ways. I'm so very thankful that God placed all of them in my life when He did, at just the right times.

I Love...Weddings!

Since I went to a wedding last month, and because I truly do love weddings so much, I decided they needed to be the topic of the next post in my I Love series.

Having been a bride myself almost five and a half years ago, I know how stressful weddings can be. There's so much to think about and plan for (and pay for!). Who to invite, where to have the wedding, who to ask to be in the wedding party, favors, food, cake...it's a lot. But, the absolute best moment in every wedding is the second that bride and groom become husband and wife. It makes every single moment of stress suddenly worth it.

One of the things I enjoy the most about weddings is how different they all are. I have gone to some that were held outside and some that were inside a church. Some of the people getting married choose to do a unity candle, others did two colors of sand blending into one, and others did communion (some choose to do  more than one of those things). Some weddings have sit down dinners, others hor d'ouevres, and still others just dessert. Some people choose to have dancing, while others do not. Some people have someone sing a song or read a Scripture verse during their ceremony. Some do a traditional guest book, others have people write words of encouragement or congratulations in a book or on something they can scrapbook. Some weddings are very fancy and others are extremely casual. Some have a theme and others seem to be a hodge podge of things. But the one thing they all have in common is the love between two people who are committing to spending the rest of their lives together as one. It's a truly beautiful thing.

So, I'm going to share some pictures of some of the weddings I've been to (or been in) and a few of the things I loved about them.

Beach wedding

My friend J.K. got married on the beach. Her wedding was very simple and didn't have a lot of guests, but it was so pretty with the bay as the backdrop. They had a very simple wedding reception at a family home in a nearby city and served hor d'ouevres and cake balls. It was the first and only wedding I've attended on the beach, which definitely made it special.

Outdoor/indoor wedding

When my friend L.B. got married, they had their wedding at a venue where they were able to have the ceremony outside and the reception inside. The only downside to their wedding was the fact that it was 106 outside that day. Other than that, it was so beautiful. They chose for their first act as man and wife to be to pray together. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen. They also did a groom's cake, which I had not seen at any of the other weddings I'd been to before that. Their wedding was so much fun and I'm so thankful I was able to be a part of it.

Chapel wedding

My friend C.M. got married in a chapel. It was the cutest thing. The chapel had gorgeous stained glass windows. We took most of the pictures outside and it was such a beautiful day for it. They left their reception in a very cutely decorated Miata. It was so fun to see them off.

Outdoor wedding

My sister got married at the home of a family we know. They got married under this huge tree in their backyard and were able to have the rest of the event outside as well. My sister spent a lot of time thinking up her table decorations and everything turned out so beautifully. We got to take pictures in some gorgeous spots around their property. It was just a beautiful day (and a very emotional one. I was so excited for my sister to get married).

Country wedding

The most recent wedding we went to was for the W's. Their wedding venue was precious. It has an old barn looking building, it's out in the country, and it had this perfect grassy spot for the ceremony. F.W. (the bride) had it decorated so beautifully (you can see some of the details in the backgrounds of the pictures above). They did a very small cake with cupcakes making up the rest of their cake. And they did a dessert only reception and the majority of their pictures ahead of time, which made the whole thing flow very smoothly and quickly. It was one of the sweetest weddings I've ever been to.

Church wedding

My bestie got married at our church and then had her reception at a hall. My favorite part about her ceremony was the fact that her husband committed to her kids as well as to her, and that they all had a different color of sand to mix in the vase for the sand ceremony. It was so precious. They had a photo booth at their reception, which was so fun, as well as some of the best dancing I've experienced at a wedding. Oh, and they had our friends from CO both sing during their reception, which was just awesome. It was seriously one of the most enjoyable weddings I've been a part of.

I have been to so many weddings since Josh and I have been together, but I wanted to highlight just a few. If I didn't cut it down, this post would be way too long.

I Need You

Today was a little rough for me.

I've known for weeks now that I was going to be leading a worship song tonight at church. I was struggling with how to sing it, because a guy normally sings it. I finally decided on a key last night...and changed it today before practice. I just didn't feel comfortable with it at all.

Then, during practice, I just lost it. My voice was cracking, it was making my voice sound funny, and I was just frustrated. I had prayed a lot today before I got there that God would help me get through this song, because I love it so much and I think it's a great worship song...but I was just having such a hard time with it. I seriously almost threw in the towel on it during practice. I was just so frustrated with it.

Thankfully, the second time we went through it, it was a lot better. And only by the grace of God was I able to get through it during worship tonight at church.

There's a part in the song that just kills me and makes my throat catch every time:

Without You, I fall apart

I was definitely feeling like that while singing the song. Every time I tried to make it work of my own strength, I was falling apart. But when I rested in Him and leaned on Him for help, it was so much better.

These past two months have been really hard on me. I have spent so much time worrying and stressing about all these different situations going on...instead of letting God have control. I just kept falling apart, because I couldn't handle them on my own...but I wasn't letting Him handle them either.

This song, this beautiful song, has helped me to remember just how much I really do need Him.



(Lord I Need You by Matt Maher)

A Beautiful Day on the Beach

This past Saturday, we had our annual worship and baptisms on the beach.

It's seriously one of my most favorite things our church does each year.

This year was really special because we had 9 people get baptized! And we had the biggest group out there that we've ever had.

My husband and I and my friend S.W. headed out there early to hit up one of our favorite places near the beach before everything started. We arrived there around 10am and it was freezing (58 degrees outside)! We ended up eating lunch pretty soon after we got there just to stay warm. We also spent a lot of time in the arcade since it was warm in there.

My husband makes friends wherever he goes

We then stopped at our favorite ice cream place on our way to the beach. S.W. had never been there before, so that was pretty exciting. I got banana ice cream and heath bar ice cream. Yum!

It was a lot warmer when we arrived at the beach, thankfully. We got there pretty early so there weren't very many people there yet. But people just kept pouring in after us! It was such a blessed time of hanging out with our toes in the sand and the ice cold ocean water, eating good food, sharing one another's company, and eagerly awaiting the start of the evening.

Some of my Insta's from the day (I used the Over app for the one on the left)

The worship was so good. The guys leading us picked great songs. The testimonies were amazing. I seriously wish each and every one of you could have heard the awesome stories these people shared of where their lives were and what Christ has done in them since then. So beautiful. And the baptisms were incredible. It seriously is so amazing to watch someone symbolize their old life being left in the grave and emerging as a brand new person.

You can't even see all of the people that were there in this pic

My hubby took these pics. I love the emotion behind them

We sang the song Beautiful Things after baptisms. And what a perfect song to sing. God makes beautiful things out of the dust, out of us.

Some of the others that were baptized

It was such a beautiful day and I'm so thankful we were able to be there again.