um, hello? anybody home?

i was on a blogging roll and then...well...i guess i just kind of rolled over.

for a little over a week i have had a headache from Hell that has basically been trying to destroy my life.  i sound like i'm exaggerating {well if you know me maybe you know that i'm not} but seriously.  this has been awful.  today i'm finally feeling a little more like myself and a little less like there is a drill barrelling through my temple.  and for that i am so thankful.  once i get over something like that i'm reminded what a gift health is.  if you never get sick, feel terrible, get scared that you may never feel better {that was the thought going through my head} you start to take for granted what a blessing it is.  i know that other people have to deal with much more damaging & scary hardships than week-long migraines so for now i'm glad that this is what God is using to refine me & bring gratitude.

so all of that to say...that's where i've been.  not solely but kind of.

in other news...benny & i are preparing to leave for young life camp in a few short days.  i feel like a maniac because that week can be so pivotal.  i'm so hopeful for the kids that we are taking.  and i'm scared that 'my plans' for them won't be His plans for them.  i desperately want to bring back a bus full of new creations to lexington, ky.  please be praying for our friends to grasp the gospel.  i'm also a maniac because i'm not prepared.  like physically not prepared {no bags, no stacks or piles have been packed, no shopping done, no exercise to get ready, no health before}and i feel scared that i'm not spiritually prepared either.  i'm positive that i feel like this every year but i never feel 'ready'.  i always feel like i will never be adequate for this week - which is true!  so i need to be heavily relying on the Holy Spirit and God's good plans and get out of the way.  but i don't think that's what i'm doing, i think i chose worry instead.

after we get back we have a week full of super fun things planned to continue building community once we get home.  i'm so excited that i will still get to be with them even after our week has ended but it will be nothing short of exhausting i'm sure.  work all day, party all night.  what's a girl to do?

then...the following weekend we are having a party extravaganza!  a bachelorette party & bridal shower all rolled into one weekend.  things are getting cra-zay!  i am also trying to get all that squared away so that we can celebrate & shower shan with all the best!  i had planned to be done 'planning' but all this down time with headaches have really screwed up what i had in the works.  i cannot wait for that weekend.  i will literally be surrounded by my some of the most wonderful women in the whole wide world.  i'm am beyond pumped.  i'll leave you with the absolute most precious party.  sorry shan, i don't think i can pull this off.

{perfectness}

oh oh, and my nephew should be on his way any day now. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

prom (round 3)

this is jenna & steph.  they just turned 30 and well...they did it in style.  they grew up together and actually went to prom together their first go 'round.  in stunning fashion they threw a happy 30 bash with a prom theme.  that term is used a little loosely and could mean any prom...from any time.  your own prom, your mom's prom, you get the idea.  here are some of my favorite pics of the night stolen from facebook.

if my parents had come over to take pictures of us {like our previous proms} we would have been able to have a better shot than in our messy kitchen. preeettttyy! ow ow!

 happy birthday girls.  you're amazing little mommas!

ps - my dress was from goodwill on clays mill & if anyone would like to borrow, you just give me a hollar and i'll hook you up.

treasures

{pretties found here}

this is where i started.  a glass container filled with wonderfully fun & girly cupcake liners found via pinterest.  i have two jars very similar to this and i thought i actually had a third empty one floating around the house.  it turned out that i didn't and that the two that i have now {full of flour & sugar} are significantly smaller than this one.  or their cupcake liners are teeny {which i don't think is the case}.  so until i could run out and grab a third jar & some more magical liners i just wanted to make due with what i had around the house.

 

someday this 'snacks' jar will be filled with real snacks but until then it can be filled with cupcake liners or other crafting goodies.  i must say it does make my kitchen a little happier & it is a bit more fun to get your liners from a jar instead of a drawer.

wedding bells {matt & jenna}

a few weekends ago ben & i had the pleasure of driving out into the middle of nowhere for a beautiful evening full of wedded bliss, fun friends & pretties.  jenna was such a stunning bride and had thought out each little detail so perfectly.  they were married under a great big bending tree.  our other friends married them, stood beside them & played worship for them.  it was really awesome.  marsh presented great truth about marriage & about christ.  we really did love it.  the weather ended up cooperating too! as soon as the sun was behind the trees it was in fact, the perfect temperature.

little details that i loved: arnold palmer stand, milkglass centerpieces {each table unique}, coldplay's yellow played by the string quartet as the bride & groom left down the aisle, monogrammed 'm' pillows on the little couch, the yummiest home-cookin' ever & peonies everywhere!

we love summer

now that ben is out of school i can hardly stand to be at work.  the sun is shining.  i know people are at the pool.  hangouts galore and i'm stuck in an office.  i tell myself everyday to be thankful for my job that provides for us in so many ways.  but still it's kind of a tough pill to swallow when you love summer as much as i do.  thankfully, i have friends that also get together in the evenings.  how could i live without it? 

not too long ago we had a little cookout with friends up at the park.  it was bliss.  perfect weather.  good friends, good food & babies.  all things i love.

this is our little god-baby, silas.  we love getting to be with the poston's and getting to watch silas grow.  i get so excited to know all the ways that he is going to be poured into by his family & by our community.  here he's showing me all of his food.  thank you silas.

and this was him showing off all his muscles.  hilarious.

it was awesome to see eden and silas play around the playground together and interact.  eden really loves the swings.  and she also loved silas.  it was super sweet.  we saw them have their first kiss...and it was on the lips and kind of drawn out, especially for babies.  they may have stuck with it because we were all cracking up.  or maybe because they are in baby-love.  i have no clue but so funny nonetheless.

i'm so glad to have each of you all as family.  you are definitely a blessing to ben & i. 

jenna, we missed you real bad.  next time you & baby #2 must be there.

yay summer!

fantastic summer memory

backyard full of friends, laying on blankets, enjoying a movie together under a perfect summer sky.  we should do this more often.

picture practice

you've heard me talk about my talented friend jenna who is learning so much about capturing beautiful moments through photography.  since she is wise in the way of fancy film i had her take me out for a little lesson.  we've gone on picture adventures before but i mainly just messed with things in manual mode until i liked what i saw.  that isn't really so much a recipe for success, and doesn't constitute knowing what you're doing.  she showed me lots of great tips & tricks.  i'm really slow when i try and do it right but hopefully, practice makes perfect.  or perfect-ish.

a few pretties from our day...

jenna probably won't like this 'senior portraits session' i'm posting of her {we're 25} but she was my subject, it was just the two of us.  and look how stinkin' darling she is.

jenna isn't 100% in focus. i was trying to blur the bricks and kind of blurred everything.  but i still like it though.  i should have {in hind-sight} turned off my auto-focus and made it right.

...sweet jenna...

we found a bunch of neat walls and backdrops for photos when we were playing downtown.  i hope jenna takes people there someday for shoots.

see a few more {here}

ginga-snap: 

thank you so much for sizzling out in the hot sun with me to teach me a few things.  i love taking adventures with you and i'm real excited to be your assistant in two days!!

leader weekend

for years and years we have spent our memorial day weekend at a younglife camp with most of our favorite people, learning more about Christ & what it means to follow him, eating mounds of grub, adventuring & laying in the sun.  last year was our first year out of the habit and it just didn't feel right.  memorial day weekend = leader weekend for us.  this year we were back at it!  instead of virginia we travelled north to michigan.  it was cooler & a bit less sunny but it was still beautiful & had all the perks.

i loved:
-being challenged & taught.  i think everyone left the weekend feeling like God had refined them a little more.  it was really awesome to experience that with dear friends & really process truth.  awesome topics that struck me {and that i'd love to dig into later}:  proximity vs. intimacy with Christ, strategies we use to meet our needs apart from Christ, what it means to make disciples.
-the giant swing that made my stomach jump into my throat
-seeing dear old friends & hanging out with new-er ones.
-having three of our lhs students doing work crew.  i hope that they experienced the joy that it is to serve the Lord.
-being outside
-laughing my butt off:  our friends are funny, program was run by two of my favorites & yes, lexington put on a talent show / skit night.  absolute ridiculousness.
-other fun captured below...

benny driving us up in the suburban that the purdy's so generously let us borrow. its just about the best way to get 7 people somewhere.  we had all the time in the world so we made many stops.  we picked up the poston's at a gas station which is really funny to me, i don't know why.  just picking up people on sidewalk with a bunch of duffle bags is funny.  we also stopped to eat at skyline {woot woot!} and cracker barrell, pit stops at gas stations & even dropped by cabellas {strange for a road trip}.  there were stuffed animals everywhere at cabellas.  i don't mean fluffy toys.  i mean real live animals that are no longer 'live'.  does that make sense?  it was crazy to see all those things so close up.

ominous sky on our drive

once we got there our weekend was so full & good.  one of my favorite things was watching my friends do the ropes course.  heights aren't my favorite thing so i played photographer / cheerleader for the girls.

annie is on the far right. i really wish that i had a video instead of pictures of her. you would love it, undoubtedly love it.

ok...major highlight.  annie & ang decide that it would be great fun to race high up in the air through the trees, fearlessly.  they are both adults.  ang is a mom.  it was one of the most awesome things i've ever seen.  i could barely breathe the laughter was so intense. 

i wish i had a mid-fall pic but it all just happened so fast. baaaaaahahahahahha!  i love you both so much.

kels & mallory were equally exciting to cheer for.  i love these girls very much and was so blessed to spend the weekend with you.  highlight: kelsey singing "if i die young" and little mermaid songs while mallory cries.

the gorgeous property!

and some friend pics to top it off