she got hitched

It's official. My little sister is a Mrs. She and her husband are quite literally a match made in heaven. They met on a mission trip when she visited El Salvador. Then a few months later he was here interning and working with the middle school kids when she was a small group leader for the middle school girls at church. They began dating and so began a romance that would be tested with distance and time. God saw to it to bring them together and He saw to it to grow them together despite the Gulf of Mexico standing between them. They went through an entire year without seeing one another in order to save up for the visa paperwork and wedding. The day we got to pick J up from the airport is one that will always be sealed on my heart. I am so proud of them and happy for them.

My husband and I, along with friends and family worked all weekend to make their wedding a true celebration of their love for one another and our love for them. It was worth all the sweat, tears, and lack of sleep and I would do it all over again in a second. In the process of the last several weeks I have learned that I could be a wedding planner, make-up artist, florist, etc. and that I have THEE BEST family (including my sweet in-laws) and friends a girl could ask for. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my little sister's wedding day!

Isn't it just gorgeous!?

Two of the lovely bridesmaids. An honorary sister and the youngest sister all dolled up. I love these girls!

I was so proud of both of my sisters that day. K married a great guy and didn't settle or compromise. And as the maid of honor, S did such a fantastic job reading the verses during the ceremony and giving a toast during the reception. She has grown into such a lovely young lady. She is beautiful from the inside out. She and her best friend, our honorary sister, did some serious prep work with me and they gave up an entire Saturday and Sunday which is usually devoted to homework to make the wedding an event for our family to remember. You girls rock! For real!

Our mom made the cake!

Such a sweet moment. So glad my husband snapped it.

K and J, I am honored to have had the privilege of helping you coordinate your wedding day. You are so dear to me. I love you two lovebirds and I am so happy for you!

my favorite baby girl and little man: part two

After many months of anticipation, excitement, and prayer, Lucas Peter was born at 7:56am on Monday March 14, 2011, weighing in at 9 pounds even and 20.5 inches long.

His mom is a trooper and a rockstar. After bringing him into this world she and Lucas' proud daddy welcomed both of their extended families into the hospital room so we could love on them and their sweet son.

I did one of the things I do best and gave him his birthday present and promptly read him my favorite parts. (I start this out young so that throughout the years they come to know and expect a book for each gift giving occasion. His aunt is an avid reader and teacher. Would you expect any different?)

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sha-Sha did their part in keeping this Cutie Pie entertained while the family did their part in visiting and fawning over Lucas.

Big sister practiced her taking-care-of-my-little-brother skills.

And she drew a few pictures.

Lucas and his big sister got to know each other a bit more.

The rest of these pictures need no explanations. I have a nephew! And I love love love him!

my favorite baby girl and little man: part one

On Friday morning we got up bright and early to go see this little one. I adore her. She is the smartest, most charming 18 month old on the planet and I can assure you that just because she calls me Aunt Sha-Sha does not mean I am one bit biased. ;)

We spent some time with my sister-in-law and her family just before they welcomed their first son into the world. We had a great time! She and I did a little shopping and got our nails done while the boys watched the Cutie Pie. It was great spending time alone, just us girls, and I was reminded again of how grateful I am that she really is one of my best friends and is like a real sister to me. It makes family time that more special and downright fun!

While we hung around this weekend in anticipation of Little Man's arrival we did quite a bit of playing.

Learning and teaching letters; now that's some exciting stuff!

We already share a love for reading. This makes Aunt Sha-Sha proud!

"I'm gonna get you" - one of their favorite games. (I wish I could bottle the laughter it creates.)

We leave the rough housing to the boys. Stickers are more Aunt Sha-Sha's thing.

Experiencing the playground through the eyes of a toddler. Her imagination and enthusiasm are precious.

Over the weekend there was a lot of practicing for Little Man. She took care of her baby doll so sweetly and gently. It was darling to watch her. She is going to be such a great big sister!

dates and decor and dresses

Last weekend seems like SO long ago already! Anyhow, last weekend Andrew and I went on another date. We went to our favorite burger joint. (Boring in the sense that it's a chain and you could go to a thousand other blogs in the blogosphere and find out about cooler, hip one-of-a-kind burger joints, but nonetheless awesome and true -- Five Guys knows how to make a burger.)

And right next door is one of the greatest cupcake establishments to hit a shopping center in these days of cupcake trendery -- Misha's Cupcakes. SO GOOD!!!

And then I stepped foot inside a Home Goods store for the first time in my life and I will never be the same again. It.was.awesome. I wanted to spend oh so much money, but instead I spent 15 buckaroos on this fantastic shadow box frame. I've been wanting one for wedding mementos, but never found one that had quite the right look and size. Then voila. There it was on a shelf all by its lonesome at Home Goods. Andrew and I came home, got down our wedding stuff, and within 20 minutes this baby was hanging above my vanity/desk in our room. It makes me really happy. I've stopped and stared at it a lot this week. I've had to factor it into my getting-ready-for-the-day time so that I don't run late. Our sweet pastor from Tampa who married us sent us his sermon notes for our ceremony. I placed a page of his notes along with the program front and interior page, and a picture I found in a box of extras from the photographer.

After we hung my new favorite piece of decor on the wall, we sat down to watch a movie (and all of the special features on the BluRay, which were so interesting) and eat our cupcakes. It was a great night. I've been wanting to blog about that everyday since, but have not had the chance to do so!

On a completely different note: You should go check out this blog that I recently discovered for 2 reasons...one, it's cute and I like it and you might also. And two, she's giving away an awesome dress from the Shabby Apple and it could be yours or mine!

On another completely different note: This weekend my hubby and I are visiting friends and family. And we will be welcoming our first nephew into the world and I am STOKED!!! Isn't it crazy how much love we can muster up for a sweet, little baby we haven't had the privilege of meeting yet!? I cannot wait to hold him, and to spend some quality time with his big sister and mama. His dad is pretty great, too.

The Laundry beckons and I must go attend to it. (The scary part is that there is more in the hamper AND the washer AND the dryer.) My motto: The sign of a happy social calendar and fulfilled life is a large laundry pile.

date night

My heart really goes pitter patter when Andrew says the words, "You wanna go to Barnes and Noble tonight?" I could live there. I have day dreams of getting locked in after closing time and the shelves upon shelves of books would be mine for the whole night! So when the Mister wants to go on a date and take me to that page filled haven I can't get in the car fast enough.

When I was in college and studying Children's Literature I spent many a night sitting in a bookstore reading Children's books to review them for class at times, but mostly just to enjoy them. It became a habit and now I cannot walk into a book store without having a stack of children's books in my arms within 10 minutes. Whether you are a teacher or not, whether you have kids or not, children's books are something to be read often. They are chock full of wisdom, real life, some of the best humor, ridiculously silly characters, gorgeous artwork, and endearing-tug-at-your-heartstrings moments. 

So our Barnes and Noble dates always include a hefty stack of kid's books and some other books I am interested in checking out or reading. Last night I went with the intention of discovering a new children's book I would fall in love with and checking out Tim Keller's new book, King's Cross. I was successful.

Our community group at church is studying the book of Mark through a study by Tim Keller so the timing of his new release couldn't be more perfect! This book is going to be really good. I am looking forward to digging into it.

My children's book discovery, A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C.Stead is a downright gem! The illustrations are done by Erin E. Stead and won her the 2011 Caldecot Medal. (I love husband and wife teams.) You should go to Amazon and check out the preview of this book. It is precious! If you have a child in your life, this would be a great gift. But if you don't you could always place it on your bookshelf or coffee table. I am going to do both!

driving buddy

The other day I was hanging out with this sweet girl. She went with me to pick up my hubby for lunch, which is literally just down the street from her house. She was SO happy and I snapped this picture of her and I LOVE it!

"the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day(s)"

This last week or so has just been “one of those weeks.” Nothing seems to go smoothly. You know what I’m talking about. All of the cookbooks fall over when you reach for one on the top of the fridge…again. The pickle jar is sealed so tight you can’t open it and you’re home alone. You play phone tag with the 15 people you are trying to talk to or make an appointment with or get information from. You realize the one thing you really want to wear is at the bottom of the hamper and no amount of perfume and Downy Wrinkle release is going to make it presentable. You have a headache…again. You are missing an ingredient for the recipe you were planning on making for dinner. You’re running late…again. You’re hair is being difficult and won’t go up the way you want it to no matter how many times you try beating it into submission. One of those weeks.



And those are just some of the things that got to me this week and those things don’t even matter. My heart was in that state these last several days. It felt knocked down, closed off, alone, all over the place, disheveled and forgotten, hurt, forgetful, always one step away from a breakthrough, and defiant . I was upset with some of my circumstances. I was disappointed in the way I had handled some things. My feelings got hurt and I was rehashing things from the past. I had dropped the ball and had not met some goals. I felt like I was going backwards. I felt like there was too much on my plate and I just wanted to have it easy…for once. I was feeling downright defeated.


Then I did the stupidest thing ever. I didn’t pray. I didn’t read my Bible. I didn’t seek His face.


And I stayed down.


Defeated.


Then Wednesday morning came and it was time to go to BSF. I was running late…because of my hair. I also had not done my lesson for the second time ever and was not excited about going to the discussion without having done my lesson. Did I mention I had a headache? So we all meet in the sanctuary to sing a few hymns and pray before we go into our discussion groups and the songs begin lifting my spirits and the state of my heart a bit even though I missed most of them. (I am sure the woman standing behind me looked upon the state of my hair, understood why I was rushing in mid-hymn, and immediately felt sorry for me.) Then we were dismissed and I go to class. And as always, the energetic passion these women have for Jesus and the way God restores things throughout history and our little lives begins to resonate in me. My heart began to open up and I felt camaraderie with them all as I sat and listened to the things they shared. My heart began to focus as verse after verse was read and I was reminded that the God who I love and who claims me as His own was not done fixing me up and that He always remembered me. And as I allowed my heart to remember and the healing to wash over me I felt like I was coming back to the place I had been just a couple of weeks ago when I was allowing God to really work on my heart and break through some tough stuff. I sat there and wondered why on earth I would ever have a defiant spirit toward a God so tender, so loving, and so wise.


Has my week gotten any better? Honestly? Not really. The pickle jar is still too tight and my hair is still defiant, but my heart is in a much better place so I can handle it a bit better. Things won’t always go my way, whether it be recipes or circumstances. But I’m learning that a hurting, seeking heart in the hands of the Father is much more pliable and resilient than a hurting, defiant heart left to itself.