Wedding Plans Update

My wedding is 87 days away. Wait, what?! 87 DAYS!!!! Ben & I have been together for such a long time (6 1/2 years) & we have dreamed of this day for so long. Now that it is extremely close (DOUBLE DIGITS!) we find ourselves pinching ourselves. We can't believe it & are SO incredibly excited for the day to arrive! :) (Above you can enjoy a photo flashback... this happens to be from my birthday in 2006. It is one of my favorite pictures of us... we are so little!)

Lately, we have been busy wedding planning (which is hard when you are both working) & it's crazy how no matter how much you do... there is still so much left to do. Lots of little details & finalizing. I am just trying to cherish each moment but I am so ready to be married!

In the past 3 months or so, we have been able to check some things off of our ever large "to-do" list.

- We taste-tested food from ABC Catering for our reception. So many delicious options but I think we've got it narrowed down. :)
- We also got to see the final product of what the tables at our reception will look like. We are in LOVE with the final look! :)
- Rehearsal dinner venue booked
- Wedding hair trial completed. My stylist Traci got the look PERFECTLY & I am SO SO excited wear it on my wedding day. I still need to go back for my make-up trial which I am pretty excited about. :)
- Flower girl dresses arrived. Ben's nieces are SO excited about those dresses! They want to wear them now so badly! :) They will be absolutely adorable on our wedding day! Love them!

This month, we have also been pretty busy. Ben & I started marriage counseling two weeks ago with our pastor. So far it has been very insightful & I am excited to continue to discuss & learn so much. :)

I have also been working on designing/finalizing my wedding invitation wording/font. We are having them printed by my Aunt's printing company. I am SO thankful that she is willing to let us use her company's printers versus ours... hers are of MUCH MUCH higher quality! :)

In the middle of writing this blog, guess what just arrived?!? MY WEDDING GUESTBOOK! :) I spent so many hours working on getting this guestbook just right... and it has TOTALLY paid off! I am so excited for you to see it! :)

Ben & I also signed the lease on our apartment last week. We are SO excited to have our "first home" in place. Finding an apartment was a big worry for me so I am glad that God provided just the right one for us to move into after we get married. :) It makes it so much easier to pick out decorations & furniture when you can picture where you will be living. :)

Finally, Ben & I booked our honeymoon. We will be jetting off to Punta Cana for some sun & relaxation. We are SO incredibly excited! :)

Well, it's off to work I go. Sorry this blog was written so randomly & is semi-spazzy, but I thought I'd write a little catch up blog since it has been so long! Until next time! :)

Running

Well, here I sit. Out of high school. Out of sports. Out of college. To be honest, I have been feeling kind of crummy athletically for the past few years. I miss being in my athletic high school shape. Back then, I always wished I was in better shape too, but looking back... I was in good shape! (Our coaches sure knew how to whip us into shape for volleyball!) It seems like that's how it always is. At the time, we are not satisfied or happy with ourselves/lives, but when we look back, we see it in another light. Sure, we probably look through rose-colored glasses at the past, but that's not all bad. Anyways, I guess I am feeling nostalgic about my former athletic condition and am regretting my current one. Especially when I have a certain absolutely beautiful white dress to fit into (and hopefully take in) in 266 days! :)

To help me get back into a healthier version of myself, I am turning to running, as well as other cardio exercises along with strength training. My goal is to get back up to running 3-3.5 miles and if I am feeling great there, push myself to 4-5 miles. Two summers ago, I was running 3 miles a day in about 25-30 minutes, which is not the best but for not training for a marathon or anything, it was enough to make me happy. :) Running and I have had an off and on again relationship. As a young child/early teenager, that was ALL I wanted to do. Run, run, run. For some reason, after freshman year of high school hit, I didn't love it so much. Maybe it was all of the running we did in volleyball, but I just was burnt out by it. It was not my favorite. It still isn't my absolute favorite, but I know that it is a great way to work out my entire body and get a great workout! So I am setting out on this journey to rediscover the joy of running. Wish me luck! :)

P.S. I am thinking of investing in a good pair of Nikes. Any suggestions on which women's style is best? There are SOOOOO many to choose from! Right now, I am looking at these two shoes:

http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikewomen/en_US/shoes?hf=10001^12001^4294967132&p=PWP&t=Women%27s%20Running%20Shoes#?ll=en_US&ct=US&pid=401982&cid=101101&pgid=401983&p=PDP

http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikewomen/en_US/shoes?hf=10001^12001^4294967132&p=PWP&t=Women%27s%20Running%20Shoes#?ll=en_US&ct=US&pid=400880&cid=101101&pgid=384342&p=PDP

You're Faithful, Forever...

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Awe.

That is the feeling that has been coursing through my thoughts constantly over the past month. I am in awe of our Creator. Our Sustainer. Our Provider.

In one of my recent blog entries, I wrote about change. How it scares me. How it has been shaping me into the woman that God has created me to be. Now, based on the verse I posted above, some of you may think that I have a full time job. I still do not.

BUT! I am in awe and so incredibly thankful for God's provision in my life. As I have been telling those around me, in the past month, God has been teaching me to rely on him daily. To trust him with my seemingly obscure and insignificant daily needs. But let me tell you that He has been so faithful. So good. At the beginning of the school year, I was scheduled to work about 8 hours a week guaranteed. In the past almost month of working, I have literally been called in for a job everyday except for two days (averaging about 20-30 hours a week).Is that not incredible? I think it is!!!!

Despite my worries about the future, God has been so faithful in meeting my daily needs. Completely. 100%. What an amazing God we serve! :)

Bittersweet & Change

Hello friends! As many of you know, I am a major bookworm. Sadly, ever since I started attending college in 2007 & working full time every summer, I have not had much time to read as many books as I used to. :( Lately though, I have been trying fit in reading time before bed and in any down time I can scrounge up. One of the books that I have been wanting to read for a very long time now is Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. I had heard WONDERFUL things about this novel & finally purchased it a couple of weeks ago. I am only on chapter 11 out of 35 or so, but this book has already been such an incredible blessing to me. I have found myself underlining quotes more often than I usually do in other books. It is simply the story of an average American woman who has had trials like the rest of us, some more challenging than others, some not. But her honest opinions, thoughts, and wisdom are such a blessing to read. :) Anyway, I just wanted to share my favorite piece of the prologue with you which sets the book up. I found Shauna's take on the word/idea of "bittersweet" to be utterly refreshing. I hope that you do too. :)

"Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful. Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gusty, earthy..."

"This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good and failure is good. By that I mean that it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along... when life is sweet, say thank you & celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."

I hope that these quotes have been either encouraging to you or have made you stop and think. I have never looked at bittersweetness and change as a good thing. Change is not my favorite thing in the world to experience, as I said in my previous blog. :) However, I am learning to look at bittersweet things and change as opportunities to grow and to become a better person. I hope that you do too. :)

Change

These past few weeks have been a time of transition and adjustments for me. Unfortunately, I have still not found a full time teaching position yet, which would have been ideal and what I was hoping for... especially with school loans to be paid off looming in the distance as well as getting married next summer.

However, God has been teaching me SO much! One of the biggest things He has taught me is to trust Him. Completely. With everything in me. As those of you who know me really well know... I am just about the biggest worrier and perfectionist there is... at least in my city. :) I LOVE schedules and to-do lists. I love being able to plan ahead. In other words, change is not my favorite. With school in session and me not having a job, it has been a BIG change. Life so far has not been what I had expected. After graduation, I "planned" on being able to have my own classroom, gain experience as a teacher, and make some money to put towards school loans and to save up for married expenses. It has not gone even remotely the way that I pictured it would.

However, I also know that Isaiah 55:9 says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." God obviously has a different plan in mind for this season of my life than I had for myself. It is both scary and comforting. Scary because the human side of me screams, "How will I pay bills? How will I ever find a job? What if I don't make "enough" money? Is there something WRONG with me?" Oh, how I wish my flesh wasn't so weak sometimes. But in the chaos going on inside my head, the Lord has been whispering His own words into my heart. "You are good enough. I am using this season to mold you, shape you, and prepare you for something greater in the future. You need only to let go and trust me."

I am constantly reminded of one of my favorite passages of Scripture... which of course is on worry. :) Matthew 26:6-7 says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" What a breath of fresh air. If God meets the birds needs, why wouldn't He, as my Heavenly Father, meet mine? God doesn't always give us what we "want", but instead gives us what we NEED.

So... in this season of life, I choose to trust. To be patient. To be thankful. To wait on the Lord. He is faithful forever. And I know that when the time is right, He will provide.

Updates Galore

So... if you could not tell already, I am absolutely HORRIBLE about updating my blog! Sorry about that! Life has just been so crazy lately! Between wedding planning, applying for teaching jobs, and working full time at V.E., I have just been so swamped. I come home exhausted everyday but I would not change it for the world! :)

As far as wedding planning, I have the church and reception venues booked. I have the caterer, photographer, and florist booked as well. The last "big" thing to do, I suppose, would be to book the DJ. I just want someone who I can give a list of songs to and they will play them. Music is SO incredibly important to me, so it is important that I find a good DJ who will play the music that I want. This is one area I will not budge.

June 16, 2012 seems so far away. I am just SO ready to be married to Ben! I can't believe that this September will be 6 YEARS of dating! I feel like we have been together forever and yet it has flown by at the same time! I am so thankful that God brought us together. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us in the years to come! Hurry up June 16! :)

My fourth summer at Camp Vertical Extreme began June 1. I have about 30 campers registered to my & Bryan's group. We average about 19 campers per day. It often fluctuates between 18 and 22. They are definitely a rowdy group of campers (one of the rowdiest I have seen) but I love them. They teach me something about myself and God every single day. Being a counselor at Camp V.E. is such a blessing & I am so thankful to have the job that I do. :)

Earlier today, my friend Kourtni & I went garage saling. I cannot believe that a year has already gone by since the last time I got to go garage saling! Life is flying by faster than I ever remember! Anyways, I bought thirteen books for $5.50 to add to my classroom collection. The topics varied in nature from seasons to planets to having a good attitude to the first day of school. Quite a wide variety of topics but hey, what choice do you have when you don't know what/if you will be teaching in the fall? :)

I also got to see Kung Fu Panda 2 this evening. It was pretty good. Not a waste of money but not a movie I'd probably watch again. Confusing, I know. :)

Anyways, I better wrap this up. I have been running at a million miles per hour the past month and am contemplating heading to bed early. Until next time! :)

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Days like today make me wish that I was back home so that I had a fireplace to snuggle underneath a blanket by. :) Nevertheless, I am enjoying staying inside while the blizzard rages on outside. The weather reports are projecting 13-21 inches of snow in the next day or two. If we actually get that much, it will be crazy!!!! How have I spent my evening so far? Well, my school that I am student teaching at dismissed students early today at 2:15 so that the kids could be bused home safely. It has been REALLY really nice to relax with my roommates (crossing my fingers for a snow day tomorrow... will know for sure in a little over an hour.) We ordered Papa John's for dinner (delicious!!!!) and now I am watching Season 5 of Boy Meets World. Life is good, my friends. Life is good. :)

**Note: Just got final word from my teacher and the district that my school is officially CLOSED for tomorrow! YAY YAY YAY!!!!! :)