with grace & lace

so happy to announce...

2012-02-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

her lady parts. lets pretend this never happened when she's older.

we couldn't be more excited! we are thrilled to be parents to a precious little baby girl.

i had a feeling there was a little girl in there. i don't know why that was my guess but i knew it! it took a few minutes for little miss dainty to uncross her ankles. after some coaxing we could see that there was an absense of 'something' but not really girly parts. eventually, in her own time [of course] she let us know that she was a little princess. babe was curled up in a little ball but the u/s lady assured me that she had plenty of room in there, she just must be a snuggler [like her momma].

sweet little girl, we love you so much already!

this morning i celebrated with a pink lemonade. in your honor little lady!

tutu's or mustaches?

2012-02-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

today is the day! we find out who exactly is growing so big in my belly. excited doesn't really begin to explain what we're feeling i don't think. i can't wait to see it on that little screen again - see it moving all around. it is such a comforting feeling to know & see that it's ok in there. i know that my confidence shouldn't lie in that, i'm trying to give up that control but it really is such an amazing thing to see the baby with your eyes. and to know if it is a little he or a little she. ugh - icing on the cake! i cannot hardly wait. i'm excited to not call it and 'it' anymore. i'm excited to dream of what that little itty bitty is like in there. start planning where he or she will live. have a name - is it 5:30 yet?

my guess is a sweet little girl.

feel free to leave your guess for little ballerina or football player too so you can gloat over your victory in the comment section.

what will be filling our closets soon?

things for a little gentleman?

or a little lady?

[all baby items from zara]

today...

2012-02-08T12:59:00.001-05:00

today...i woke up when i should be getting in my car for the office.

today i thought my makeup was in the car where i put it on at my one stop-light each day. it wasn't. my face looks like...well, my face - but lets just say, it ain't pretty. a bit of mascara certainly wouldn't hurt the situation.

today i rubberbanded my pants shut. at work. one word - sad. the constricting waistband while sitting just wasn't going to happen today. maternity pants, this song's for you.

at around noon i realized that my underwear were on inside out.

happy tuesday everyone.

you know what monica would say...it's just one of dem days

[found here]

happy birthday, you handsome stud

2012-02-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

my sweet husband. happy birthday! you are so old. i am blessed daily to have you as mine & i am so so so thankful for you. you genuinely have been one of the greatest gifts i've ever recieved. i truly cannot imagine living life with anyone else. thank you for caring for me, encouraging me, learning with me, teaching me, ministering the gospel & working so hard. thank you for being in it for always. i hope to never take you for granted! i'm so excited for this next chapter together - you're going to be such an awesome papa. babe loves you already! [ps babe says "happy birthday old man!" & is wearing a tiny party hat]

i hope you have the best birthday of all time! i can't wait to celebrate with you tonight as we cheer on the cats [thank you brzinski's] & eat cupcakes.

love you dearly!

15 weeks

2012-02-05T16:58:00.001-05:00

WEEK 15
what's cooking? [new baby things]: baby is about the size of an apple, orange or kit kat, 4" or so from crown to rump. babeinski can move its limbs and joints [yay elbows!] and its legs are now longer than its arms. it can sense light now even with its eyes closed & is forming tastebuds [hooray for senses!]. baby's neck is more well-formed so that its head doesn't have to rest on its shoulders anymore. eyebrows, eyelashes and hairs on top of their head are coming in. babe can wiggle its fingers and toes.

gender: only 4 days until we find out! is this real life? i hope hope hope that little babe isn't modest on thursday!

movement: everyone says babe is moving all over and that it shouldn't be long before i feel it myself. i've been trying to be in tune to see if i feel anything. so far i think i'm just imagining flutters - nothing definitive so far.

momma developments: same -feeling fantastic. still a little bit tired. i've been taking naps when i can [as all the literature suggests, and who rebel against that?]. still have nosebleeds but that's about all. i think my belly popped yesterday. all of a sudden i feel much bigger! this is what i see when i look down.

total weight gain: 4.5-.5-5 pounds [depending on when you weigh me]

maternity clothes: i haven't worn any maternity clothes yet but i want to! my pants feel too tight and i don't really have anything i can do about it until i go shopping. on friday i wore my "fat jeans" but i feel so icky in them that i really gotta do something. it's possible for me to button all my regular jeans, it just isn't very comfortable. dresses, tights & leggings are my new best friends. i bought my first maternity something. it's a $6 dress from old navy. it's purple, with lacy, its sleeveless and jersey and i'm thinking in about 2 months i'll be able to wear it through spring with a cardigan and all summer long by itself. deal!

cravings: i wanted pizza hut cheese sticks all week and when i was blow drying my hair today i wanted cocktail sauce? weird. but STILL no must-have-cravings or weird developments.

anything hard?
still balancing life & all the crazy thoughts/planning that go through my head.

waiting to find out if a little lady or gentleman is in there - i get SO curious.

deciding on a name. ben & i like some of the same things, and some not - how will we ever decide what a little one will be called for the rest of their lives!?

never forget: i hope i never forget talking to you while we're driving around town. i hope we never cease in praying for your little life & that it wold glorify the Lord.

baby info sources:
baby center
parents connect
baby zone

week 14

2012-01-31T21:58:00.002-05:00

this gorgeous place is partially responsible for my absence. i was here. picture stolen from a friend, steph dorsey. it was gorgeous and warm and just so nice to feel the sun. i was a horrible photographer [as usual] so the only photos i got were from the plane. go figure. i'll come back to that soon though. it was incredibly fun but i do feel like i've been learning things too. very sweet & encouraging time with the Lord. i want to remember that.

now on to the littlest brzinski...

WEEK 14
what's cooking? [new baby things]: babeinski can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. babe is getting covered in thin tiny hair to keep it warm until it fattens up. i also think that its little skeletal system is working in there. babe is 3.5" - 4" long & is about the size of a lemon, clinched fist or flip phone [closed, unless you have a zoolander phone].

gender: only 9 days until we find out. i could ralph i'm so excited! a lot of people have asked if we'll keep the gender or name a secret until the baby comes. we're thinking no for both. i think our 3 month secret and the surprise of the baby being out in the world will be good enough for me!

movement: all the sites say that itty bitty is swimming all over the place and is much more graceful than its former 'jerky' self.

momma developments: feeling fantastic. still a little bit tired. i've been taking naps when i can [as all the literature suggests, and who rebel against that?]. still have nosebleeds but that's about all.

total weight gain: 3.5-5 pounds [depending on when you weigh me]

maternity clothes: still not yet. but i sometimes have to adjust my pants around my belly when i'm sitting. i looked at maternity clothes at target last week [normally inexpensive & cute] but was sorely disappointed. i hope i just went on a bad day.

cravings: still no "got have a _____ or else!" moments. i get hungry more often so i've been trying to keep snacks handy.

anything hard?
understanding how insurance works. i don't know if i'm dumb or if its just really complicated. we're looking forward to having it all straightened out & being able to really anticipate the total costs and how to plan / budget.

ben & i have both been really busy and that's rough. we have lots of-out-town trips coming up & plans all over the calendar. i'm hoping to find a good balance between work, ministry, friends, family, school, planning, learning, resting & playing - and find it soon.

feeling really out of control when it comes to the babe and its development. it's just a really strange feeling that it is impossible to check up on how they are doing in there. i have to wait weeks in between doctor's appointments and months in between ultrasounds so basically its all a mystery from there. i hadn't ever thought about that before being pregnant. if the babe was out of the womb i'd never go 5 weeks without know it's ok, so its just kind of bizarre that that's the reality for now.

never forget: this week i got to hear the baby's heartbeat again. i thought that the nurse was just picking up mine and got scared that she couldn't find the baby's. then after i counted my own pulse, which was about 70 beats/min, i concluded the educated professional did actually know what she was doing when she said that the 179 beats/min weren't mine.

i got to see all kinds of friends at the yl all staff conference [photo above] for the first time since we've been pregnant. friends from all over the country that we rarely see but truly love. that was a blessing & so fun to celebrate with them.

baby info sources:
baby center
parents connect
baby zone

m.i.a.

2012-01-31T11:11:00.000-05:00

so i've definitely been off the radar for a while, minus a few random baby posts sprinkled throughout. i'm hoping to change that real soon. free time is just a hot commodity and it's hard to figure out what to do [and when!] for me. but i just wanted to stop by and say come back tonight because i will be updating yet again and hopefully this week will be full of fun things around the ol' blog.

until then...things that make me melt...itty bitty, teeny tiny shoes

[toms]

[joyfolie]

[baby boots::pattern]

celebrations: birthdays & engagements

2012-01-23T18:44:00.000-05:00

benny's birthday is coming up quickly and we were able to get away to northern ky to visit & celebrate with ben's parents. it was a perfect 24 hour trip! just wish it were longer!

benny! you're so close to 27! holy moly...

i'm really glad that we get to grow up together.

our next party stop was for my sweet friend holly. her and her beau, matt have decided to tie the knot. we are so excited for them and for all the ways that the Lord is going to grow them and use them through marriage. i wasn't the best photographer but i had to snap a few.

::sharing the gorgeous bling::

congratulations happy couple!

what's a guy to do after a weekend full of parties? well go to sleep on the tiny couch and cover yourself in blankets, jackets and fleeces. why not? i walked in and found him like that. hahaha!

week 12 & 13

2012-01-22T21:32:00.003-05:00

i've decided that i'll update on sundays [the last day of each 'week' of pregnancy] for me. my babe & bump will be at its biggest for the week and i can record all that's happening with little babeinski & me.

since i didn't do this last week i'm going to try and start back a week to recap, i'll answer these questions each week and see how we progress!

WEEK 12
what's cooking? [new baby things]: babeinski has reflexes, can open and close its hands, his eyes and ears are where they will stay. it's digestive system is working / forming and its marrow is producing white blood cells to protect it. its own baby-making system is in the works too. it is about just about 2 inches long around the size of a lime or a large plum.
gender: we find out the first week of february, we're dying to know.
movement: babe is moving a ton [they say, and so does the ultrasound] but can't feel a thing yet.
momma developments: still feeling great. it's a miracle really. no morning sickness ever, fewer headaches than i've ever had in my life & no heartburn [yet]. please don't hate me...this really has been the most perfect, miraculous pregnancy i could have ever imagined so far. the only thing that i really encountered was fatigue. but after being very tired for a very long time i'm sleeping really soundly now and feeling more rested than normal, pregnancy normal, not real life normal. oh, a few more minor things: nose bleeds and faintness / light-headedness.
total weight gain: 3-3.5 pounds
maternity clothes: not yet. but i sometimes have to adjust my pants around my belly when i'm sitting.
cravings: i don't have anything more than really wanting something like normal. you know sometimes you get in the mood for _____ and it's your favorite food. i just have that. nothing abnormal, nothing that i don't normally like and no one thing that is persistent
anything hard? we're wrestling through future career / financial decisions, continual struggle not to drink a pool-sized big gulp of dr. pepper [i'm trying to avoid caffeine because i'm not great at moderation]
never forget: at the end of this week we announced our little one to the world - to many family & friends who have celebrated with us wholeheartedly. it is really an exciting time! i talked to my work, we talked to our team, biblestudy and high school students directly. again with precious and priceless reactions. then we posted on fb & the blog and it was all out there. it was so much fun to see the 'hooray' messages pour in. i know that we aren't the first people ever to have a baby - but when it's your life, its just so monumental.

WEEK 13:
what's cooking? [new baby things]: babeinski is growing. this week it is the size of a peach, about 3 inches long. bones are growing in its arms and legs and now it has itty bitty fingerprints. vocal chords are in the works and babe could be trying to suck its thumb now.
gender: we still find out the first week of february but i just moved our appointment so that benny doesn't miss the uk vs. fl game - tickets were an early birthday present! hooray - that will be one awesome week. ben's current gender guess is a little gentleman & mine is a tiny little princess. we'll see who ~~wins~~ is right.
movement: again - babe is moving a ton [they say, and so does the ultrasound] but can't feel a thing yet.
momma developments / 'symptoms': still feeling great. more nose bleeds, being tired & a few moments of light-headedness. they use the word dizziness for this but that's not really how i feel. i feel like i'm going to faint, but without ever fainting to know what that would really feel like. my eyesight gets kind of weird, i feel real weak and really feel like i need to lie down - or else. annnnd my boobs hurt this week. treat!
total weight gain: 3.5-5.5 pounds
maternity clothes: still not yet. but i sometimes have to adjust my pants around my belly when i'm sitting. i'm less self-conscience about my shirts now that everyone knows about the baby. i don't actually know if anyone would notice the little bump but i was a sensitive about it when i was trying to be a secret keeper. and i had to adjust my pre-pregnancy skinny belts around my waist multiple times each time i wore them. i might need to add some more notches - ha!
cravings: i really wanted a grilled chicken sandwich all week - ate one and i'm done. i still think i just want things every now and then, just like i always have
anything hard? i cried this week about our dirty floors. we have been talking about replacing our nasty carpet and padding since we moved into our house and when i realized that we probably won't be able to take care of that before the baby comes i cried. and then i felt selfish and stupid because i know people do with much less than us and worse situations than us. lets blame hormones. ben and i are trying to get on the same page with life. we're getting there & i love it.
never forget: we're done with the first trimester! a third of the pregnancy is done. the weeks are already going by so fast. we've been talking about baby names. we don't agree on many but just the thought that the little babe will grow up to be a person is crazy.

in case you're interested, here are a few resources i've found really helpful to see what is happening each week with the babe, they each say something a little different about what's going on in there:
what to expect
baby center
baby gaga
baby zone

ridiculousness & daily shenanigans with jenna(s)

2012-01-19T16:43:00.003-05:00

i had plans. we had plans. jenna and i were going to have a lunch date and then get a little bump picture to document week 13. i was going to save it until sunday [my decided 'update day'] but after having one of the most awesomely awkward days of my life i decided that it just needed to happen right now. i'll get a little less gas-station-y pic this weekend.

so how did our plans unravel to the desperate point of taking bump pictures in a marathon in front of some brewskis you ask? we picked jalapenos. a little mexican restaurant that is essentially a cave for our dining destination. not a joke, it looks like the middle of the night inside - mistake #1. the food, queso & conversation were all perfect but the lighting? non-existent. we finish our meal with 20 minutes to spare, on accident. what luck! mistake #2 we keep talking instead of getting up and going to a photo-worthy location. we walk outside and think about just getting a shot outside the building's bright blue walls. it is freezing! mistake #3, underestimating 20 degree weather with short-sleeves. the coat cannot come off. the bump is in hiding. so where do we go with our 2 minutes to spare? the gas station next door of course. not at all bizarre and weird to take pictures of yourself in the middle of candy aisles accentuating your bulging stomach...no, not strange at all.

other awkward happenings of the day:

:: getting to the mexican restaurant before they can even unlock the doors. how sad to be waiting outside for food. c'mon that doesn't do anything for a girl's self-esteem.

:: i poured out two different cans of coke in my car today. on accident, duh. who would do that intentionally? drink 1 i was actively drinking. holding it while getting into my car after biblestudy around 8am. i have a giant bible, pop, purse and keys in hand. something's gotta give and lucky for me it was a half-full coke that poured all over my center console and in between my seat. treat! drink 2 was old & got moved to my back seat holders to make room for the drink 1 can after the spill. while my car was stopped, perfectly still, the can leapt to its demise onto the floorboard in my backseat. pop just a'pourin. the upside to this is that i still had about 400 napkins that i ~~stole~~ borrowed from panera from the first incident.

:: i parked nearly sideways in a spot without realizing it. i walked out of the gas station and literally burst out chuckling. what the heck is my deal? who doesn't notice something like that?

:: after lunch and m&m's i'm officially too big for my 'skinny' belt. [term used loosely]. i could barely breathe. sad.

what a day. at least i saw this:

[here]

and this:

the reveal

2012-01-18T14:05:00.005-05:00

with our exciting good news we could hardly wait to tell our closest friends and family. we had come to a consensus that we'd wait to tell the world until at least our first ultrasound or maybe the first trimester mark - but our families and closest friends, not an option. not to mention, after christmas we weren't really sure when the next time would be that we would see all the family in one place again. we're telling them...done!

we thought of photos in frames, cards, t-shirts that say "i'm a grandma" etc. but in the end we thought we'd go with something short, sweet & to the point with our immediate families. with christmas coming we got each family an additional 'present' / card to open last for the evening.

i got some tiny shoes for our little one. i tried to go unisex but really just got boy ones because the girls could never be mistaken for unisex. i paired little babe's shoes with just about every pair of mine and ben's in the house and started taking pictures. i settled on this one. ben's sperry's which are second only to his rainbows [says his feet] and my little yellow loafers. i thought they were darling on our deck. and who doesn't love shoes that are only two inches long?

i couldn't wait for them to arrive because i knew they're purpose. they were the messenger, the way that all of our families would know that a little one even existed. i wrapped them up quickly so that no surprise visitors might happen upon them, but before i did...i just stared.

we did two different versions for the card.

::version 1::

::and version 2::

[excuse the french...it was just too funny not do it]

i was so anxious to tell / show them / have them open these little pieces of paper. how would they react? would they be so excited, would they be worried, surprised? who knew what would happen? our plan was to wait about another year to start 'trying' - once ben had started teaching, got his feet under him, we were able to save some dollars. but you know what they say about our plans. ha!

i thought about taking pictures or video of reactions to the news because i know they would be so sweet to have someday but i didn't want to miss it. i didn't want to miss their faces and the emotion with my face behind a camera. i think i'll remember it always - and i don't say that about much.

both of my families were stunned. some people cried, some people cheered. its was kind of crazy but in the most perfect way. we loved having people celebrate with us.

ben's mom on the other hand asked me point-blank if i was pregnant over christmas. i just lied. yikes. i was such a liar keeping this secret! maybe she has a sixth sense for pregnant people, or maybe i was just too tired for a normal person but she knew. maybe we still surprised her a little though since i am so covert ;) benny's family was so excited too. chris [ben's brother] thought that we might be lying since ben has jokingly announced that i'm pregnant for years now.

we couldn't keep it from two of our closest couples either. we went to the poston's maybe immediately after the day of our doctor's appointment, i'm not sure. all i know is that i was dying to tell them. ang guessed almost immediately what was going on. they were so excited. their little boy is one of our favorites in the whole world and they have been trying to convince us to give him a little friend for quite some time.

next we told the ridd's. rach thought i was going to tell them we were moving. they were much happier with this news! but definitely floored. it was perfect!

we also told my girlfriends around this time at girl christmas [which i've yet to post about...oops]. i had them open one last present together. it was the tiny baby shoes from the picture. jenna opened it for everyone - but really she took out the tissue and just look at it herself. she said something along the lines of "shut up!" "no way!" or "are you serious?" while everyone waited for her to pull the little booties on out. of course all the girls screamed and threw their hands up [what else would we do?] some cried, that's what they do & it was awesome.

each of their reactions, each of their faces were priceless at every celebration. such sweet joy & excitement being genuinely shared with us.

we truly treasure all the love and support that our family & friends have poured out on us. i already know that this little baby is so well loved & it isn't even out in the world yet - how is that possible? we are so incredibly blessed.

scarves for sale...

2012-01-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

you should probably read that in your best 'caps for sale' story voice.

my sweet friend, libby has started a little side business making the most lovely, cozy, chunky knit scarves and i'm in love. of course i had to get my hands on one. i'm ~~kind of~~ a scarf hoarder, sorry benny. today he found a whole basket full of scarves that i didn't even know i had. i hid them from myself in the top of a closet. who looks up there? so lets just say that for the next 4 months, you'll most likely see me in one daily.

if you're interested in one of these snuggly beauts for you or a friend be sure to hop on over to her site & getcha some - she mentioned them today. i know she'd be more than happy to accessorize you!

mine is an infinity scarf [that you wrap several times around] in an olive / yellow-green color. i called it pukey green when i asked for it...does that sound bad? what can i say, i like pukey greens and mustardy yellows - its a problem. someone needs to think of better names for colors. crayola, i'm looking at you.

thanks lib, i'm thrilled!

finding out & our first doctors visits

2012-01-16T19:40:00.002-05:00

i kept a short-hand notebook of 'the beginning' - finding out and all. i thought i'd record them here to have as well as in our little babe's notebook.

nov. 23: 3 invalid pregancy tests - yes THREE! it was nerve wracking, i was anxious and excited, all rolled into one. i thought about not telling ben and if it were a 'yes' surprising him somehow, but since we weren't 'trying' i thought he might just keel over & i really wanted someone to go through it all with.

nov. 24th thanksgiving day: wake up around 8:00 lay there and snuggle until we both see that the other is awake around 8:30. we prayed & thanked God for the many blessings in our lives and asked that God would help to grow and mold us to be more like Him. that we would be full of the Spirit and that our home would glorify God. we are so thankful for what the Lord has done. then i took another test. this time the control window did not stay white. nor did the question mark box. it was a plus sign. i deep pink plus sign.

ben gets off the phone and says..."so what's going on in there?" i respond "uhhh...babe" and i think we both know what's going on. we pray again.

we prayed- much thanks and for guidance and praise for God's goodness

such a mess of emotions: fear, unknown, excitement, thanksgiving, questions, love -- we're scared about finances and all the changes that will happen, we talk about dr.'s appointments, it's completely surreal.

then we do what all good parents would do...scour the internet to try and get a crash-course on babies. we know nothing. i should be about 5 weeks along-ish and ben says "our baby looks like a dinosaur" based on webmd.

nothing feels very different for me yet. i have had cramps for about a week and a half but without the girly time to make it make sense. itty bitty backaches. but no headaches or extra fatigue which is comical because i'm kind of famous for terrible headaches and being inexplicably tired. [this did change after i wrote this...fyi]

it's thanksgiving weekend. we literally see nearly everyone we know in the world. three sides of our families, extended families, two giant sets of friends in two different cities, and our yl family too. keeping the secret with it being so new was unbearable. and i still hadn't been to a doctor. we waited to take a second home test the next morning [they say that's the best time]. it was another positive. sunday evening i hop into urgent care just to see if they'll set me up an appointment with the lab at our clinic on monday. my dr. doesn't take calls until after 8 but the lab is open at 7 so i could go without missing work if u.c. would just set me up! instead they say, we can see you right now. i wasn't prepared. ben wasn't there and i got all clammy and my heart was beating fast. we were going to hear a professional tell us...for real.

the doctor comes back and says "congratulations, you are pregnant!" holy crap. that's what i think. i don't think i said it out loud but i might have. so surreal...so so so surreal. she tells me all the things that i shouldn't and should do - like do drink water, don't do meth. and she told me that i should call an ob/gyn.

they want to see me immediately - mainly to again tell me to drink water and not do meth. but i was excited for that too. they took another test, that was again positive. it still doesn't feel real. but this time ben's here so maybe i'm not imagining it. they draw a gallon of my blood [not an exaggeration] and send me on my merry way.

dec 2:

at our first ever baby dr. appointment...

actually felt like this:

and my sweet & awesome husband right there with me:

once we had even more confirmation we knew we'd want to tell our families. we weren't all going to be together for a few more weeks but christmas was quickly approaching. what better gift than to give all your families a baby, right? we started hatching a plan. i'll be back soon with how that unfolded.

and it may not be ok but i just have to post this heinous picture of me. this was the morning of the first 'yes' test. rolled out of bed, all kinds of crazy, wearing my ducks [appropriate] and full of pure joy!

some of the best news we've ever shared

2012-01-15T22:38:00.002-05:00

our little family is expanding from two to three.

there is a little one on the way, a tiny baby bean, an itty bitty. this little one may be a little bit of a 'surprise' to us but we know that it is all in God's perfect timing & we could not feel more blessed. so here goes just about the biggest adventure we've ever been on...

it's about to get pretty infant-tastic around here so if you hate babies, you may not like it here.

here's me & babe, today in all my belly-ness

cheers! happy new year!

2012-01-05T08:52:00.001-05:00

i know i'm a few days behind but happy new year friends! i really feel like my life is flying by. what in the world? you know you're getting old when you think things like "where has the time gone?"

we had an absolutely lovely time ringing in the new year with some good friends. we were able to go out to fancy dinner, eat my weight in steak and then spend the evening 'in' just visiting and feeling bad about dick clark.

we were joined by a few more couples later in the evening but here are some of our only shots

[stolen from carly]

2011 was another fantastic year. i feel like i grew as a disciple, as a wife & as a friend but i still have a long way to go in becoming the woman i'd like to be someday. i was reminded after a new year's day spat with my husband that i always need to be seeking Christ - hard. running with all that i've got. not to be lazy & complacent [which is really easy for me to fall into]. i just recently read through hosea with some girls and the overwhelming theme was that God's people, though He had provided for and loved them abundantly had forgotten Him at every turn & God hated that, was heartbroken over that. i don't want my life to be a reflection of that part of israel's history. i want to be the one of the ten lepers who comes back with thanksgiving and praise, recognizing who it is that brings me such great joy and real life.

i thought of making a list of 'resolutions.' i really like goals, working towards something, & checking things off a list but for whatever reason i'm not sure that is going to be best for me this year. my list was long of "do more _____" and "do less _____" and instead i think everyday i will set some goals before me - namely to be a disciple whose treasure is Jesus. that's my goal and daily i will seek ways to make that a reality for my life, mind & heart.

happy 2012 all. i hope it is fantastic & full.

meeting evie

2012-01-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

so one of my best friends in the world just had the most precious little bundle of joy. she is perfect and tiny and has the softest little cheeks. thank goodness i was off work on friday so i was able to get up there asap. i couldn't hardly stand the wait.

ben told me i looked like i was on drugs here. i had to include it. i wasn't on drugs with babies - i promise. i just have bad timing i'm thinking. and maybe frizzy hair...whatever. look at the baby!

::snuggle monster::

and this is the first of many girlie outfits i plan on purchasing for my little 'niece'. um tiny laced leggings, fabric flowers & stripes...oh please!

congratulations friends! we could not be MORE happy for you all. you are excellent parents and we will be praying for God's guidance & continued work in & through your family. we're so blessed by you!

christmas in review

2012-01-02T21:39:00.003-05:00

for us our holidays are very full. full in a good way. we are so blessed with giant families and wonderful friends and i really wish i had a month just for deep visits and relaxing with the people we love. instead we have a few consecutive weekends but we make the most of it. out of all of the celebrations i really only took about a dozen pictures. i'm the worst. but don't let that fool you. the times together were perfect.

for christmas we spent the weekend in chicago with benny's family. we switch each year between our families but really we still get to see everyone we just change up the day. chicago is always a blast. this year we arrived after all the fish had been cleaned at grandma ada's so we just started working at the deli. his family owns an italian deli in chicago heights full of yummy things that i don't know how to pronounce. it was all hands on deck for christmas weekend.

it's really fun to see who all will stop in. so many of them know the family. some just wanted to stop in to see all the commotion because its so crazy in there. everyone wants roast beef & sausage. it really could be a reality tv show.

on christmas eve they have a big ol' fish fry / bake. don't worry i don't starve. i even find something for my picky self. we do a hilarious version of white elephant & visit - ben got some foot chargers circa 1987 [shown below] that are awesome and so 80's-ful and i 'won' a giant glass rooster full of vinegar and peppers. we had slumber parties & road trips. it was indeed a blast.

at each of my parents house i failed even more picture-wise. ben did get some awesome pics of our little nephew in his christmas pj's. obsessed!

look at that face!

at my pop's house we also only got two shots. good thing one is great! my little brother opening the frog we got him. how awesome is that? that's his...is-this-really-for-me-face.

and back to our place...

although we didn't spend a ton of time at home over the weekends i did thoroughly enjoy having our house dressed up for the holidays. the presents were wrapped with care and i just couldn't wait for our friends and family to receive them. i love twinkling lights and glittering ornaments. the 'special' ornaments are my favorites. the individual ones, given as gifts, something 'special' just for our tree. my family gives us one each year and now i've carried that on for ben and i, so each year we get 2 to 4 new sweet treats. one day i hope our tree will just be filled with them. they are my favorite to pull out each year.

i cut out free, printable tags from [here & here]. they were a big hit, everyone loved them, including me. i'd like to use them again next year but i don't know if that's "ok".

ben and i have only done stockings for each other the past few years. we think it is a good way to give thoughtful things to each other without spending tons of money [that we don't really have]. i got ben a couple things that wouldn't fit into his stocking physically but were for his 'stocking' really. i wrapped a couple things up and stuck his stocking on top. fair game right?

i had him open the biggest / best present last. he tore apart the wrapping paper and then lifted the box lid. "aw babe, what's this?" he asks in a really sweet but confused voice. hmm...it should have been a fleece i thought. i lean up so i can see from the floor...it's all of my girl christmas crafts. it basically looks like i wrapped up a bunch of random items from around the house and gave it as the 'best' gift. oh geesh, if you're going to be embarrassed at least it's in front of your husband. we had a good laugh about it. i really had to go quite out of my way to wrap the wrong box and all the clanking as i flipped the box should have been a good indicator that the box wasn't filled with fleece pullovers but hey, you live and learn. better luck next year!

well hello there stranger

2011-12-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

i don't really like blogging about not blogging but i just have to say that i'm so disappointed in my lack of posting lately. even with the hustle and bustle of the holidays i have had some free time and plenty of photo-worthy opportunities & i've just slacked off. it makes me sad that i won't have record of all those great memories to look back on - my mind alone isn't the best at 'recording'.

we had such a blessed season with our families celebrating the birth of our savior. i wish i would have taken more time to be with Him too.

for the past two years i've had ben read me the christmas story first thing when we wake up on christmas morning and it may just be one of my favorite traditions. twice = tradition right? i hope we do this every year, always. everything is quiet and we're just laying in bed [basically my favorite place, its restful and free of distractions, unlike the rest of our lives]. this christmas we were snuggled on an air mattress in the middle of grandma ada's living room but it was still it was perfect. and i got to hear about God's plan to rescue His people. who would herald the way, the women who would bring john the baptist and Jesus into the world. it is absolutely the most perfect way to begin Christmas morning. i obviously could read it myself but it's sweeter when ben does it. your husband reading scripture to you [or your family if you have babes] must just be one of the best things in the whole world.

we ate and visited, ate and visited, did presents [too much...we have way too much] and traveled all over the place. i did do some crafting this year - sadly i didn't take too many pictures because i was in such a frenzy to get things done. but i would like to share! maybe i'll replicate some of my projects again just for kicks.

i hope that you had such a sweet holiday with the people you love, worshipping our Lord & celebrating Life! i'll be back soon with a girl christmas update, new years that is right around the corner & some of my holiday treats!

tacky christmas sweater party

2011-12-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

it's that time of year again. we are having and hosting christmas parties galore. i'm loving every bit of it. our stockings are hung on the tv stand with care [we don't have a mantle] and our tree is lit all a twinkle. on sunday we had some of our favorite people in the whole wide world over for a christmas sweater party. we snacked, danced, laughed & and looked ridiculous all night long with our high school friends.

it really was such a blessing to be together. our last few clubs of the season felt blah and a few we really weren't able to run. the point of club is to build relationships and to give a gospel proclaimation and it didn't feel like we were getting to follow through much with either. this night was a great reminder of just being together. and being together is awesome. ben & i love these friends so much & i thank God daily for giving us a heart for them to know Jesus.

yes, my friend is plugged into the wall. that is real.

me and my handsome stud of a husband. ok. is he not just the most awesome mustached, bill cosby sweatered husband in the whole world? look at that face.

merry christmas to all! i hope you are surrounded by people you long to share real Life with.

[ps. sorry for the poor pic quality. it was so dark in the house and i always end up making my pics dark, grainy and blurry in this kind of light without a flash whomp whomp]

:monday:

2011-12-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

what is worse than a monday? a monday covered in rain & clouds that's what!

but then i started in about a week late on some advent reading and my day miraculously took a new turn. don't miss an opportunity to sing praise! i know i was so blessed by this scripture. i hope you will be too. [and i'm going to be completely honest - sometimes when people post scripture i skim and don't take the time to breathe it in. i want to stop doing that. it's God's word. so what if i was hoping to see how they turned a coffee can into a tu-tu...God wants to talk to me, how is that even possible!? what a blessing...breathe it in]

psalm 146 & 147 [in part]
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

He Heals the Brokenhearted
Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.

carter's first birthday

2011-12-04T15:54:00.002-05:00

over thanksgiving this little man also had his first birthday party. he was all smiles, giggles and grunts for the day.

homemade cupcakes and icing for the big day. my favorite part was the little toppers. well, my favorite part besides gobbling them up.

carter also had his very own mini cake. he was timid at first but eventually he got the hang of it and was all about the sugar!

carter, you are so big already! i can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. hopefully next year i'll be a better cousin and get to squeeze your cheeks more often. we love you very much!

i'm so glad that we were able to be there for such a sweet day!

[some pics stolen from cousin sarah, carter's momma]

not too late for thanksgiving

2011-12-03T17:55:00.002-05:00

so now that everyone is 'over' the thanksgiving holiday and moved on to christmas it seems to be perfect time for a week old update right? right on schedule.

life seems to be more busy in my head than in real life. does that make any sense? i have all kinds of things swimming around in my head and fighting for attention. my mind seems to literally never stop these days. and even though i do have free moments or hours to get things done, i'm still sort of stuck contemplating how to do all the many things i have to do. it a paralyzing predicament. one which doesn't lead to much getting done. anywho...here's one thing i'm getting done. documenting our weekend full of family, friends and mass amounts of food. no i didn't take pictures of myself stuffing my face through several different meals, but i most certainly could have.

for thanksgiving dinner we went to my grandma margaret's. it was wonderful to see all the fam and i even whipped out the camera for a few shots right before we left.

some of the kiddos...

way too much pie. or not enough pie. guess it depends on who you're asking. i treated myself to some pumpkin pie...its my favorite. i'd like to have some more right now!

some of my many cousins + my momma

benny bear & i...gobble gobble

max taking a break

from grandma's we went on up to nky for a few days to visit the brzinski's. i love getting to see them and since long weekends are a rarity for us we just had to take the opportunity. maybe the visit spurred on some puzzle addictions but i'd say that its worth it. at least sitting around the table together is better than nearly anything else. we went and saw a movie as a fam, went shopping for a minute on black friday night and i even was able to sneak on over to rick's to see a few friends. i loved seeing those friends. it doesn't happen often and those girls are so fun - it was really sweet.

we returned to lexington on saturday for my cousin's first birthday party but i'll be back for more on that. sunday we had hoped to put up our christmas tree but it just poured and poured outside so we had to reschedule. we still haven't been able to take care of it! and christmas is so soon [i'm sure you already know that]. i want it up and twinkling...now. or three weeks ago...whatever. fingers crossed that tomorrow my dreams come true :)

now for the real reason for thanksgiving - giving thanks. we are so incredibly blessed. i'm absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude for the ways that the Lord has provided for ben and i. from things like a place to live, a bed to sleep in, heat, food to eat, cars to drive and a job to less tangible things our gigantic, caring family and a community that i'm convinced is perfectly orchestrated by God, a husband who is a man of God, creativity, learning, & conversations that give Life. then there are even more powerful, eternal gifts like grace, love from our Creator, a call and a purpose on our lives, breath everyday, and adoption into the King's family. we can never be thankful enough. we don't deserve this life. i pray that i'd remember that everyday. we are incredibly blessed.

so happy for school projects

2011-11-29T22:42:00.000-05:00

ben has been working on a school project nearly all day. and i couldn't be more excited about it. he has to show a video of his family history. do you know what that means? LOTS of old family photos. i could literally show you like 300 that are amazing & awesome [full of mustaches, large rim glasses & chubby cheeks] but i'll keep it to just a few...for now.

benny's parents. look how pretty!

[bears, mustache, chunk...what's not to love?]

heck yeah short shorts in the mountains

and last but not least, the reason i'm scared to give birth...ben's giant little brother

hip hip hooray

2011-11-22T13:34:00.002-05:00

this past weekend we were able to have some family time and celebrate poppa steve's 60th birthday. ow ow! can you believe it? my parents are growing up! now they are grandparents and that is just strange. i'm so glad that we were able to celebrate with them and i hope that pops felt well loved. we watched an ugly game of uk basketball, stuffed our faces with mexican food & cake & of course just visited. maybe we also got a little cheek squeezin' in with this little man. our first ever nephew, cormac. [all pics thanks to my sis-in-love, greta who is graciously sharing with me].

[pop, cormac, sophie, paul]

momma and dad

greta & her babe

my brother & sissy

::grandma & jim::

and i just can't resist adding a few more baby shots. you know i love the kiddos. and we never get to see this one! ben & i are trying to get the hang of snuggling with the little guy.

oh, and he can eat his whole hand. and you thought your nephew had skills.

pop-

thank you for always being an excellent father and provider for our whole family. i pray ephesians 3 for you and mom..."i kneel before the Father, from whom his whole familyin heaven and on earth derives its name. i pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. and i pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

love-
jen jen

business or pleasure?

2011-11-19T15:54:00.002-05:00

when spending countless hours milling around an airport people often ask if your travel is for business or for pleasure? ok so no one asked me that this time but if they had...well i'd have to say this was pretty much both. while i wouldn't be able to go on adventures if it weren't for work, it is the perfect opportunity to hangout & have fun halfway across the country too with my dear friend, jules. since she lives about 3 hours away it isn't often that we get to see each other but since we're coworkers we do get to talk...a lot.

the past few days we've been out in colorado meeting with young life [the ministry we both love & lead] for work. it was a blast and i think that things went well. i think it is extra special fun because the women that we meet with have the same mission as us [in life] so even though we may be doing something silly, like selling clothes, being together is more special than that.

as i packed for this trip i was a little frantic, and last minute [as usual]. we had 400 loads of laundry to do and waited until the day before i left to do them, of course. i had no clean clothes. i'm not exaggerating. so after 24 hours spent in the laundry room i started making my stacks and planning outfits. i was actually quite proud of myself because i felt like for a super-fast-pack-up i had put together some pretty sweet fits. on my flights in and out i thought of how i'd be the most comfy. leggings. duh...no brainer. so i packed leggings for the ride in and out, a black long-sleeve tee for the way out and a black tank for the way back and long sweaters for both ways. seemed pretty fool-proof to me.

that is until i get to security and they call my sweaters 'jackets' and make me strip down to my all black skin tight outfit that could easily be mistaken for a black unitard. so i have to walk through security like that. and the shoes...oh gosh the shoes. i wore my boots, tall socks and leg warmers. i forgot i had to take off my shoes. so there i am [twice] in my black unitard, socks and legwarmers hustling through security hoping that no one will see my rear end or bra straps. i'd show you a picture of the madness but then there would just be more strangers out there witnessing my public indecency. lets say, lesson learned.

and in case you were wondering..

some other eventful tid bits were that i am seriously allergic. maybe to planes. maybe to the person behind me with a cat secretly stashed up their shirt. i have no idea. but my nose was a faucet and i went through an entire pack on mini tissues from ky to dallas. disgusting evidence below. you can't just put something like this in the flight attendant's trash bag. how embarrassing.

jules and i met up in dallas to finish the last leg of the trip to colorado springs together. its always good to be with friends. could you imagine wheeling all this through an airport alone? i wish you could see how ridiculous we looked. i'm sure a room full of security folks had a blast viewing our luggage struggle.

our rental car was super phatty, just like last year and even had one of those handy dandy reverse cameras so you don't run over things. julie's response "forget everything you were ever taught about backing up!"

we were really excited to make it to town, pumped about our meeting and hanging out, mountains & having multiple chins!

view leaving the airport...

we organized, and practiced and ate. a lot. maybe we were silly. and maybe we were drank too much pop.

here's jules and i on the big day. its a big ol' presentation for us. kind of like a first day of school pic. if my mom was there we could have gone out on the back porch and put our backpacks on.

one last anecdote: in dallas i found cow mannequins wearing leather jackets...i thought "now that doesn't make a bit of sense, or does it?"

there was this one time...

2011-11-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

when i looked up at the sky and thought "the clouds are moving really fast today for clouds." and then i thought "but my car is passing these clouds like whoa so maybe they aren't that fast afterall." ben gently reminded me that sometimes my car can appear to pass airplanes too but that doesn't mean that my car is in fact faster than a plane. which turns out is true. clouds = mindfreak.

lesson learned.

[via]

birthdays

2011-11-17T09:53:00.000-05:00

my family had my dad's side of the fam over for some super yummy food and presents. we were semi-celebrating my old bday and of course celebrating my little sisters 21st birthday! holy moly! how is she so old? lucky for me her requested meal is one of my absoulte faves so i ate my weight in roast & mashed potatoes and enjoyed the company of my wonderful family.

chels, i'm so proud of the lovely woman that you've become and couldn't be more thankful for the work that the Lord has done in & through your life. i pray that your heart would be His all the your days. i'm so glad you're my sister!

benny & i took a few pics of the day...i think we still need some serious help with our lighting and composition skills :) someday...someday.

ben refusing to smile normally at me for a picture.

and nick played us a concert. treat!

today i'm thankful for full life and people to celebrate it with.

christening our kitchenaid

2011-11-10T10:39:00.007-05:00

we did it! for the first time ever we used our glorious, oh so very pretty, kitchenaid mixer. my way way way too generous great uncle bought us this for our wedding and i suppose that well, 1. i never really cook [yet] and 2. its so pretty i never wanted to dirty it up. but it's there for the using so we better get to it.

the last time we were up in nky ben saw his childhood cookbook sitting out which just so happens to contain the recipe for some of the "best in the world," crazy delicious, chocolate chip cookies. we brought it back to town with us & ben was all hyped about getting the ingredients together and whipping these up. it may have literally been the first thing he said in the morning when he woke up before 8am on saturday. well, that and that he wanted to take me to winchell's [our new weekend tradition] & that he wanted a new uk crewneck because he shrank his. mmmm cookies!

he wanted to triple the recipe but in the end we thought better of it and made just 60. yes JUST 60. i know...how will we ever survive with just 60 cookies?

there she is :)

i'm sure there was a far superior angle for picture taking but it was hard to get in there with all the mixing going on and ben being a baker. i'll work on that for next time. [yes there will be a next time]

he won't like that i'm telling you this but he was being real particular [or persnickety as my papal would say] about how to make these treats. eventually i just had to leave the kitchen and lend my moral support from then den. god forbid i don't stir something right.

::in the making::

60 cookies taste pretty great! i'd share with you but i'm pretty sure they're gone.

what else would you suggest for us to try in there? remember that there's just two of us normally.

what do you mix up in your home!?

is this a trick?

2011-11-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

obviously i'm a few weeks behind but i couldn't keep these to myself - i had to share some halloweeny pics.

this is my little brother, snookie [aka snickie]. yes he is dressed as a trashy jersey shore girl. it was absolutely hysterical to watch him walk down the street. little jon jon had no idea it was nick under there.

little leah was a kitty cat, full of meows.

and jon jon was buzz lightyear, the vampire with a light up costume, wings and fangs for teeth!

i had to skip out on the family time, chili & grilled cheeses. it was a monday night and of course we had club. woot woot! my camera had died so i stole these from ang & her phone. that's me...the ghost. and look how awesome some of the girls are!

my blurry little team. micah is ben, kaitlin is ang, ben is ben, angie is kaitlin, dylan is dylan and me and em are ghosts. ghosts with hightops. duh.

my life [seemingly a weekly series]

2011-11-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

i really want to post but posting without pictures is no fun. especially when i have the pics i want to post & have just failed to get them out of the camera and on to my computer. [ #whitegirlproblems ]. i suppose all i can do is this...and then just feel satisified that on nov. 8th i posted something.

good for me.

so last week was eventful and full. instead of telling you anything of importantance i'll leave you with this. my luck. errr my misfortune. i forgot both my pin number and my cell phone number both in one week.

i've easily had the same pin for oh...more than 3 years and my cell phone? yep, over 10. i feel like i have all the right numbers but maybe they're scrabbled. i'm not sure. who just starts randomly forgetting things - never to be remembered again. after someone told me my phone number it did sound familar [duh!] but my pin!? no one knows but me. who will tell it to me? oh my, i'm in trouble. when i called the number on the back of my card guess what they said, "enter your pin" it's like the bank is mocking me. next thing you know i'll forget where i live or how to get to work. i basically need a caregiver.

happy tuesday!

does anyone want to talk about this?

2011-11-02T17:04:00.000-04:00

me & rachel in high school. seriously?

cory sent this little gem through cyberspace and well, it totally made my day.

first annual [i hope] oktoberfest

2011-10-31T08:41:00.001-04:00

happy monday friends. i hope you had a wonderful weekend full of rest and friends and fun. we most certainly did. it may have done me some good to do a little more 'work' than what i did but oh well. friday ben & i ended up on a date, dinner & a movie. the usual. time to talk, time for entertainment. we saw paranormal activity 3. it's halloween what can i say?

saturday was some of our favorite things all rolled into one day. we i slept in, we ate breakfast together, lounged around and then finally got ready for the day when the margraves rolled into town. from there we headed over to the poston's for what would be the first ever oktoberfest. my hope is that the poston's loved it so much that we could have one every year. [yes yes?] they did such a sweet job turning their backyard into the most perfect fall getaway. giant long table [big enough for all our friends], twinkle lights, buntings, tree canopy, friends, babies, tons of yummy food, campfire....it was awesome. i may have taken far too many pictures and then proceeded to upload them all to blogger. i may have.

ben riding moose. don't worry anne, no animals were harmed in the making of this picture.

you're welcome cory

poston's-

thank you so much for planning, inviting, hosting & decorating for oktoberfest and on top of that feeding all of our friends. thank you for opening your home [and yard] and blessing us with your friendship and hospitality. we love you all dearly & are so thankful that we get to celebrate life with you all. the good, the bad...the oktoberfest -all of it.

j&b

more pics [here]

behind the times

2011-10-28T10:08:00.002-04:00

so i wrote this post ohhh like a month or more ago i think and just never hit publish. weird. so for a trip down memory lane here's just a little update with some here and there's. more current info in teal. and fair warning this is all real random.

made these ~~from a box~~ but look how pretty:

i will pin anything with 'free printable' attached to it. if you want me to come to your site and stick around, a "free printable" is just what i need. if you see anything good send it on my way. and if you're looking for some yourself you can steal mine {HERE}.

saturday was awesome [who knows what saturday this really was]. i slept in {woot woot} hung out with the hubs, and then some of our best friends came over to visit and to help us figure out what to do with our terrible blank walls. i scrounged up all of my frames from around the house and laid them on the floor. rach helped lay them out. after tracing the frames on newspaper & arranging them on the wall i think we have something really good going. right now the frames are drying out in the garage after some good ol' spray painting. [update: they are actually hanging on the wall now. all my friends are amazed that something is hanging on my walls....however, they are still without pictures because i'm super indecisive. whomp whomp. i'll take & post a pic soon, maybe even if they're still empty. that's real life for us i guess.]

laying them on the ground was a good idea, tracing them on newspaper to pre-place on the wall [with tape]was also a good idea. however we didn't label our newpaper so we got worried that we wouldn't know what went where since some of the frames are similar. so...i snapped this pic so we'd remember the order. turns out...thats a good plan too because we were totally confused without it.

we made dinner twice in 1 week [ahhh this happened again this week, i told you we're improving. i shall call that a miracle]

i figured out my second greatest fear {that doesn't have eternal consequence}. being the couple in the restaurant who never speaks. do you ever see them? looks like they're out on a 'date' and neither one says anything the whole meal. it makes me so sad. benny, i hope our dates are always full & deep & fun & lively. i never want to be that couple.

and back to reality...it's friday! in real life. right now. i'm so excited about that. this week has kind of flown by and i have no idea where it went.
--thank you for your prayers for our meeting last night. i'm excited about the truths that we were able to lay out with our mormon friends.
--tonight i'm hoping to do some haunted house hunting or at least a scary movie night [like hocus pocus wooooooooo...ghost sound] with hs friends
--tomorrow we get to have a blasty blast party with all our friends, homemade oktoberfest here we come. i'm way hyped!
--we're currently puppy parents. just for the week. the furballs are running the house. literally running all over the place and also like running the show. they do what they want. and awesome sidenote: yesterday morning i took the pups outside before i left for work. they saw a squirrel on the roof and our black furbaby ran over to the air conditioning unit and tried to jump on top of it in order to get to the roof. 1. he couldn't even make it on top of an ac unit, he's tiny and it's less that 3' tall 2. our roof is way higher than 3' even if he could get up there. hilarious. our pups are wild.
--i keep seeing ladies in really cute outfits on blogs etc. who say things like "belt: thrifted" i've been looking through old belts for months and haven't ever found anything good. c'mon goodwill - somebody give me your old, awesome belt!
--and not to be a complete weirdo but i really enjoyed this sermon on who God is and the reality of Hell [vs. common misconceptions]. i really think you'd be encouraged by it. listen here. it's tim keller.

my friends have babies & i love 'em

2011-10-27T09:11:00.002-04:00

so lib came to town & of course we took advantage. some girlfriends [and their babes] all piled into the poston's for a long-due visit. contrary to the story these pics tell...there were adult friends there and not just babies. but gosh they're so dang cute.

rach i thought you'd like this one...baaaahahahaha

cheeeeeeeese [that's what he's saying].

figuring out how to be friends

sharing is hard.

you're welcome holly.

it was a really sweet night filled with laughter, life, food and of course...babies

more pics here

life as we know it

2011-10-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

this past weekend i had a free night. sadly it was because i wasn't able to take any girls on our campaigner overnight. but happily, i got to fill my free night with a bestie. i drove on up to nky, and after picking up my husband and a bunch of boys on the side of the road with 2 flat tires i made it to cory! she has a bunch going on with a baby on the way & some other exciting ventures in the works so i was more than pleased to get up there to help out with any little thing.

we did a little 'work' and i got to play with james [her little guy] and visit dusty [her hubs].

we also went out to dinner, hated paypal, went to fabric shops and thrifting. oh oh yes, & we found this:

where was this when i was 9?

working backwards, a few weeks ago i got to go out with most of the girls from my bstudy + kaitlin and cory for my birthday. i love them and loved getting to sit and visit for an evening. i wish there were more hours in the day or more days in the week so we could do more of that. i love that i get to live life alongside such awesome, faithful, hilarious women.

and last but not least i've been cooking more, baking more and just eating at our house more often. it's been a goal of ours for basically the last 3 years but we've never been able to make it work or be consistent. we've had some kind of shift in our schedule and somehow have had more open evenings & we've been taking advantage. i kind of don't know what i'm doing when it comes to the kitchen [or any part of the house really] and grocery shopping...don't get me started. but i think i see a glimpse of little mrs. homemaker in progress. and come to think of it, i don't think i've ever cooked a meal for someone other than ben. i've made sweets and treats to share with people but i've never really made a whole meal unassisted before i don't think. maybe i'm forgetting something because that sounds crazy. i'm 26. anyway, tomorrow we're having some fellas over to the house and i'm making dinner for them. feeding 4 hungry men and not burning anything sounds like a challenge. i'll let you know how that goes. i will be utilizing my crock pot #lifesaver.

speaking of tomorrow i just wanted to ask for prayer please. the guys that we're having over are mormon missionaries and as you likely know we're pretty passionate about sharing our faith with people & don't share the same gospel as our new friends - so please pray over our conversation & home please. that it will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that God would be mightily at work shedding light in dark places. we really love these guys and are excited to see what happens but we also know that spiritual warfare is at work and want to be prepared for battle.

going to the chapel: steph & andrew's engagement party

2011-10-25T09:35:00.001-04:00

so as you might have noticed we love a good celebration around here. and they kind of just keep coming. i maybe feel like every week is aparty. i'm not really sure what to do with that info but that's basically my life. a few weekends ago we had the pleasure of helping with a engagement party for my cousin, steph and her fiance andrew. they live in nashville and came up to lex; it was so awesome to have family from near and far and a bunch of andrew's fam was there too so it was a great meet & mingle too. i hope they felt well loved & celebrated! her sister [my other cousin] sarah put the whole thing together and did such an excellent job, working hard to take care of all the details.

the happy couple came a little early to check out the place, decorated just for them. benny got steph's face...so excited!

steph has this crazy talented friend / roommate that we pretty much want to adopt into the family and she made a super sweet keepsake for s & a to take home with them. it is a count down until the wedding and each week has a card. family members & friends could write notes, advice, knock knock jokes, anything they wanted. i'm sure they will have so much fun counting down the days til the day!

my momma made all the desserts for the party and just looking at the pictures make me hungry. she made lemon cupcakes with glaze, brownie delights, little apple pie tarts and brought cheesecake bites.

she even made candied lemon zests for the tops. how sweet [literally] is that!? i'd like to eat one of these a day.

we made poms to jazz up the buffet table. i couldn't get a very good pic and once the food was out i was manning the salad station.

::friends and fam::

me & grandad. isn't he totally the guy from up?

::us & the happy couple [don't worry, we're a happy couple too]::

::SISTER::

the hostess & her precious babe.

the wall behind them is how andrew proposed to steph. it is like a timeline of pictures that were strung all through the house with a proposal at the end. i'm so glad we got to see it!

we love you guys and are so excited for the life you'll be starting together. i hope that God is glorified in your home and that you all point each other to Jesus daily. so glad we got to be a part of such a fun day!

annual birthday bonfire

2011-10-21T10:39:00.000-04:00

i have about twenty posts in waiting so i think i may be on a blogging roll for about a week or so. watch out world, someone finally uploaded her pictures. ow ow! so life, what have we been up to? we've had three days this week without a lot to do and one day with a giant headache so i feel like we have all the time in the world. which is funny. prior to that i feel like we've been busy and crazy and great. here was one of the 'greats'.

each year we have a 4-way birthday bonfire out at my grandparents house in harrodsburg. this year was a 3-way because a cousin couldn't make it but it was still a blast! its fall in kentucky and it is so pretty to drive out into the country. the whole drive, as we passed old fences, rolling hills and changing trees i was thinking about how blessed we are to live in a place where you get to see things like this. the sun was shining and it was really windy so it looked like all the trees were dancing. i need a good drive every now and then. through mountains and tree tunnels - i'm for it.

grandma got all the little pumpkins, little pumpkins.

my little sister chels got rainboots as tall as leah's legs. she couldn't walk. it was awesome.

setting up for a good ol' fashioned bonfire

grandpa lucky in is wildcat gear

princess courtney

the little boys won't stay still long enough for me to get their pictures. but i got the little girls!

tacklefest

benny throwing football with the kids. yes chelsea is competing against little kids. its her birthday, she does what she wants.

who's that hunk?

chels, friends, nick, pop &mom say "bring on the smores!"

this past birthday, 26, was a blast. i'll recap on all the goodies i accumulated too. they are definitely noteworthy & my friends and family are so kind and generous. it's kind of unreal. they know me well and that is awesome. be back soon!

photo challenge: update 3

2011-10-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

i'm baaaaack! and i didn't look to see how off track i am but i'm sure its a lot. i should have known better and just called this a 3 month challenge.

shot 1: what i wore. here i am one day last week after work and errands. after the self portrait debacle [having a hard time getting my camera to focus without me behind it] i just drug the mirror out of the garage. treeeat! classy right? bahahahha

how awesome is this shot! it took me like 15 adjustments to make the sky show its true colors. it kept being really bright, like full of white light. i think i ended up taking the iso lower and then it looked accurate...and awesome. taken out at my grandparents house. i love all the black silhouettes.

same place but earlier in the day. looking straight up an awesome leafy tree just starting to change colors. shot 22: trees.

shot 27: after dark. the most perfect birthday bonfire. more on that day to come but for now, just pretend that you're sitting in front of it telling ghost stories.

my life

2011-10-14T14:00:00.001-04:00

standing in line at chipotle for a lunch date with jenna.
me: i was thinking that instead i might go next door and get a mcdonald's kids meal & meet you outside.
jenna: i swear sometimes you say things and i just know you're pregnant.

baaahahhahaha

let me assure you friends sometimes non-pregnant people totally get cravings for stuff that they don't really like that much.

as a gift, i give you this. jenna and i [and holly's chin i think] from probably 5 years ago.

jenna's a cat and i'm a white trash fairy. yes, my face looks like that.

and we don't even drink.

happy early halloween all!!!!!!!!!

thank you britt for finding gems that perfectly articulate life.

love is in the air

2011-10-10T09:45:00.002-04:00

so i gave all the anticipation and then never delivered the goods. our own sweet shannon has tied the knot and we were so blessed to have been witnesses & celebrate such a momentous occasion. here are a collection of photos from the weekend from jenna, ang and myself. i took none of the actual wedding day so you know those were stolen.

shannon you were a beautiful bride & andy was such a handsome groom. thank you for letting us take part in such a special day with you. i pray that sept. 24th marks the beginning of a wonderful life together filled to the brim with grace & steadfast faith. i pray that you all would lay down your lives for one another, make disciples, serve your guts out and know God & His love with deep passion.

the ceremony was beautiful and blessed. our good friend [eric aka father ridd] married them and did such a fantastic job of pointing them to Jesus as they made commitments and vows.

the reception was basically something out of a magazine, absolutely gorgeous. no offense, gil but i feel like these pics can't even display how sweet and perfect everything felt. we were in the backyard of a historic home in downtown greenville. the twinkle lights gave just the right amount of glow. the weather was impeccable. we danced and visited and celebrated our little hearts out. what a great night.

so...i don't know these guests but i stole this pic of fb so you could see how friggin' darling the bride and groom are. aren't they so pretty!?

the card box was a suitcase with a mini-pom necklace. pretty perfect right?

a few of the bridesmaids

shan's mom homemade the favors for all the guests. yummy vanilla strawberry jam in those precious jars. i may have taken more than one. i haven't tried it yet but now that we have bread in the house, i think it is a must.

not to go in reverse but the rehearsal and dinner afterwards with friends and the couples' families was so fun. the restaurant was amazing, basically the perfect vibe.

maids minus morgan :( dang it we weren't quick enough to catch her before she scampered off for the night.

the night before your wedding is such a crazy night. most brides can attest that you just have so much going through your head. the night before shannon's wedding i couldn't sleep. what is that about? i think i was just a tad too excited for slumber. i absolutely loved every bit of our south carolina adventure, can we all go back?

more of my pics [here]

girls' night

2011-10-06T09:36:00.000-04:00

last week i had the pleasure of joining many of the ladies in my family for a good ol' fashioned girls' night. the celebration was in honor of two fantastic women, my cousin's, & their birthdays. they drank fancy wine and shared stories and it was a really sweet evening. my grandma maybe was sweet on our 22 year old server.

i wish nights like these could happen more often.

i love laughing with you girls.

::26::

2011-10-05T16:48:00.000-04:00

yep. today is the day. i'm 26 years old. i'm spending this day workin' for the man but wishing i was all glammed up and ready to party like the images above. tonight i'll get to spend sweet time with my wonderful husband and that is plenty 'glam' enough for me. i may come back and reflect on life. or i might not. until then...glitter, confetti & dot cake to you all!

[image found]

photo challenge: update 2

2011-10-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

i'm back with more shots from the photo challenge, here is update 1 if you missed it. and its still not too late to join in if you'd like. i'm still learning and having fun playing. having set things to document really helps me to get motivated.

shot 3 was to capture clouds. i wanted to wait until a day where they were all pink and purple and crazy-like but that day never came. instead this happened:

these first two have adjusted contrast so the shadows are more bold than in real life [as i'm sure you could tell]. they don't look super realistic but i still really like to look at them. they were much more washed out and you couldn't see all the details of the clouds that you could see if you were really looking up at the sky that day. i'm sure that is a user error and there is a way for me to capture them right out of the camera - but i'm still learning.

these next three have no editing and you can see the color contrasts a bit better. i thought a crazy storm was brewing but nothing ever came of it -it just blew on through.

after i got home the light had changed or i adjusted a bit better and got some better detailed shots [w/o editing].

shot 16: what i ate. ok i've eaten a lot of yummy meals lately - much more noteworthy / praiseworthy than this - but they've all been outside of my house. and as i've mentioned, publically taking pictures of my food makes me nervous. so here i am. and i know you're wondering if i ate all of those. no, i shared with benny. just because we have a pantry full of little debbie snacks doesn't mean we're out of control [oh, wait...]

shot 14: flowers. lately alongside every road and median i pass there are wildflowers. i'm sure i've noticed before but i must have forgotten since last fall. i think they are just lovely. the yellow ones are my favorite. this is from a park near my house. and those are ball field lights in the background, with the sunsetting - so perfect. speaking of ball fields, go see money ball. loved it.

a few more from the park.

shot 15: shoes. so i took a few different shots and again felt completely ridiculous. i noticed that my pants were all wonky but that's really what i look like so i didn't change it. ps. i'm obsessed with these shoes. i wish i had them in every color. target $14.99 - i gotta go back. i've heard they hurt the backs of some girls feet, but not me. i never had to break them in or anything!

i like the blurry pavement, textured pallets and patent shoes. for it!

the city flea

2011-09-30T09:50:00.003-04:00

i'm a few weeks behind if you can't tell but i hate to miss a thing. my sweet friend cory sent us a link to the city flea which i think has been running all summer in cincinnati. from the site it looked like there might be a billion vendors there, and the name 'city flea' gave me hope that we would definitely be treasure hunting [aka gold diggin']. we were already in nky because this was part of anniversary weekend so why not catch the tail-end of the flea's season. unfortunately, i'm thinking the vendors may have thinned out and they only filled up one small lot. i'm not saying it wasn't fun or neat but i didn't find the gold mine i had hoped for. i really wanted a bench.

we did find one gem...drew lachey.

i whispered to ben and his brother, "its the guy from 98 degrees", i'm sure i spoke super suspiciously & with all the uncoolness that i have. i didn't have to guts to go say anything to him. i have no idea what i would have said. "nice day for the flea, eh?"

as we left ben said, "all i want to know is why drew lachey is eating hotdogs in an alley."

baaaaahahah to his credit, he was with his kids. and it was a nice 'alley'.

my only purchases were some $1 books [kind of the opposite of a bench] but i love them anyway. i love the covers. all books should be so lovely.

oh, and happy weekend friends. i hope it is filled with all things great. i have big and little plans for family time, painting furniture [perhaps], sweet time with benny & friends & even crafting for future parties. i'm still on a mission to capture life via film. i'll update soon.

why we don't go to the store.

2011-09-29T09:05:00.000-04:00

so about two or three weekends ago i got some kind of stomach bug. i mean i was real sicky. ralphing up a lung, all morning, all day. went to urgent care [thought i might have toxic shock aka i'm a hypochondriac], couldn't sit in the waiting room so i laid in my car until they called me. i got sick while mr. nurse was trying to weigh me / get my blood pressure. can't they see i'm dying! who cares how much i weigh?! laid on one of those hard beds in the dark, they gave me my first ever IV. after i felt better i thought "i should have brought my camera."

benny was so sweet to take really great care of me. he even made me a bed on the floor so i wouldn't keep sleeping on the bathmat. i really couldn't stand up. my sweet hubs also went to the pharmacy to pick up all my perscriptions [between a recent visit to the dermatologist and this stomach bug i had like a million rx's to get]. he finally made his way home, eventually i got to feeling better. i walk in the kitchen and find this:

what in the what!?!

my sweet husband apparently also has a sweet tooth [or teeth].

yes that is 4 boxes of little debbie snacks. yep as tall as me as they sit on the counter. maybe i cussed.

please note: the 'big pack.'

this is why we don't go to the store.

3 years of lovely matrimony :: anniversary weekend

2011-09-28T14:57:00.001-04:00

so as i mentioned ben & i celebrated three great years of marriage earlier this month. its funny how it can seem so short and so long all at once. i guess because we have known each other for so long [pre-marriage] that marriage just seems like an extension of that.

our anniversary landed on a tuesday this year so we took the weekend before, labor day weekend, to be 'our weekend.' this has been the tradition the past three years and i don't see it ending any time soon. benny had family [aunts, uncles & cousins] come in town for the holiday from chicago so for the first part of the weekend we got to be with them. it was really nice to see them & visit. ben went laser tagging with the kiddos, pop and uncle & i went to round up groceries with the ladies. its really fun to be a part of such a hospitable, fun family. we also got to go for walks and eat lunch with some of our best friends.

we came home sunday afternoon to have some date/alone/anniversary time. we each kind of planned things for the other & it was really sort of perfect. i kicked ben out of the house to set up a little something in the living room. its been something i've been scheming and wanting to give him for months and months. basically, ever since i saw these pics [below] i've been dreaming of building a fort to play in with my husband. is that weird?

[here & here]

anyway, mine wasn't nearly as perfectly executed or pretty but it didn't matter, a bundle of pillows and blankets, poms and sheets and we had a really sweet hangout spot for the weekend. we ate dinner in the fort, we watched movies in the fort, we slept in the fort [~~twice~~ two nights...hilarious correction for my friends whose minds are in the gutter, we literally slept, like rem]. quality time is something i really cherish so it was basically pure bliss.

monday morning wasn't exactly as planned since rain just kept pouring but we decided to move along with our day nonetheless. ben had planned a trip to the gorge for us, a little day hike. neither of us knew where we were going but it didn't really matter. it was a wonderful adventure together.

even in the rain, it was lovely. God made the great outdoors pretty stinkin' great. and since it was rainy we basically had the whole place to ourselves. other than a giant millipede crawling on the hood of my raincoat [i know, traumatic] i wouldn't change a thing.

i only have car pictures because of all the rain. i didn't want my camera to melt.

eventually we made our way out of the woods and back into civilization. ben had planned a fancy dinner for us out at malone's and gave me the sweetest gift by picking out a dress for me. he knew that i'd really love to see what he'd choose for me and he did a fantastic job. it fit me perfectly and is just my taste. i got to go out in my spankin' new dress on the arm of the most handsome man i know. so good. after utterly stuffing ourselves with some of the best food in lexington and enjoying sweet talks about life and the future we retired for the night knowing full well that we are abundantly blessed.

what a pretty dress right? i wish you could see the neckline & all but it was too cool to not wear a jacket.

i have a fantabulous husband. you are so dear to me! here's to a million more forts, adventures, dates, dances, laughs, drives & dinners together. you're the best.

30 day challenge: update 1

2011-09-28T08:49:00.003-04:00

as of today i should have 11 photos [i think] for my 30 day photo challenge. i have 3, tomato .. potatoe, right? maybe we'll pretend that i started 3 days ago? agreed, ok. like i mentioned i have a bunch of learning to do & this challenge has already been mighty beneficial. i'm excited to see what else is in store as a fumble through capturing life. and just fyi, these aren't in order of 'days'. just shots as they come, from the challenge list.

duh. my hubs = someone i love. its really super fun to live with your best friend. benny was making din din, we had never made chicken in pan that wasn't going to end up as a fajita so he was being an experimenter. it was sweet. those blurry things in the bottom are tongs.

shot 17 is 'on a shelf'. my bestie cory got me this bad a typewriter for my birthday [that is juuusst around the corner] and i'm obsessed with it. it needs a little spiffing up [tape removal, box removal...it's currently screwed in?] but it is just darling. we were wandering around peddlers mall when i found it. i left it there even though it was the least expensive typewriter i'd ever seen and i super duper wanted one [or twenty]. i told myself that it wasn't a necessity and that i should just ask for one as a gift someday. we walked around more and more and i got to thinking, well what if whoever i ask can only find those really expensive ones, i don't want other people spending all that. the little flashing sign in my head kept saying "buy me! buy me!" cory and rach were conspiring with ben to get it for me covertly but after an hour of fixation they just had to go ahead and tell me that i was getting it, benny couldn't keep a secret. and it was awesome.

shot 1: self portrait is real awkward. i see blogging girls all over the place that can take pics of themselves or have their significant others take pics of them by themselves. they look fearless and fun and i felt like "uhh...i'm standing in my backyard taking pictures of myself. i'm awkward." oh, and second thought, i need lip gloss.

but i did learn a lot about focusing a picture on timed shots after taking about 20 out of focus shots [see below]. this was the blurriest i got, i'm kind of proud of it. i don't think i could have this much 'unfocus' if i tried. i had read how to do this a million years ago at under the sycamore but since i never put it into practice it didn't make sense. but after battling for a long while i remembered what sweet ashley had explained and it worked like a charm.

this is my life

2011-09-27T09:43:00.001-04:00

{here}

this morning. 6:50 am. grab snacks, mountain dew, bible, bag, purse, camera, keys. go to the car, the keys only go halfway in the ignition. the steering wheel is doing that lock thing where you have to jiggle it for the keys to turn. i keep jiggling but no good. i'm meeting a friend at 7, i really gotta go. i go wake up my sleeping bear of a husband. he's not really happy but he helps his struggling wife start her car, probably thinking i'm a dumb dummy. he jiggles the wheel. nothing's happening. he takes out the keys, they go to a different car.

hmm.

happy tuesday. here's some lionel richie.

{baaahhaha}

oh my sweet carolina

2011-09-21T11:36:00.000-04:00

after maybe the sickest weekend of my life i am back in action & PTL, health has come in the nick of time! tonight i'm hitting the road and heading to south carolina for a weekend full of 'matromony & merriment.' our sweet friends, andy & shannon are tying the knot & we're so excited to celebrate with them. i love adventures and am so hyped for this time filled with friends that i love, it will really be precious. my car is loaded & now i'm just waiting for the clock to say it's time to go.

and for kicks...my life is looking a little more like this [below] than that [above]. :)

example #1 this morning's conversation with the bride:

shannon:
i
get
to
see
you
tonight
!!!!!!!!

me: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
i wish you could have seen me the last 12 hours
you would have been laughin your butt off...i'm literally craaaaaazy
i cant wait to see you!

shannon: hahaha why so crazy?
me: well i mean just trying to get all collected to leave town for 4/5 days for a WEDDING...bringing goodies from all our friends, meeting with little girls, trying to buy hairspray and then getting scared (can we go to the store together?? ahahah)

Shannon: hahaha yes we can

me: there are just so many. and doni told me a good kind and said target might have it but they didnt so i didnt know what to do. i almost bought one brand that looked nice but wasnt outrageous priced and then i thought it might be for black people hair
fml
so i bought a shower curtain

images [in random order] a, b, car, fist pump, e, f

photo challenge

2011-09-16T16:03:00.000-04:00

i wasn't kidding when i said i wanted to challenge myself & my capabilities. i don't need to be a pro, i just want to be proficient enough to like my own pictures. so starting today [or tomorrow] this is my goal. the challenge originated here & i'm obviously a month behind the creator but here goes! i'm going to accomplish one a day, maybe in the order listed but maybe not. i don't have much time during the day and shooting at night is difficult [duh] so i may just have to get what i can or double up a few times on the weekends. maybe this should say shot 1, shot 2, etc. instead of 'day'...that just makes more sense for me, but still i'm going to try and accomplish it in a month. so on oct. 17 you'll be hearing me pat, pat, pat myself on the back for a job ~~well done~~ completed. i'll post my shots along the way, if i don't get too embarrassed. if anyone would like to join me...come along for the ride! i'd love to see creativeness my friends are cookin' up out there.

#failedattempt

2011-09-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

72 hours and no pictures to show. ironically, after carrying my camera around nearly non-stop for days [in my purse not meant for carrying nice cameras] i did not take a single picture. i was even looking to take pictures of the most mundane tasks but when it came down to it i was either embarrassed because i was in public or just didn't feel inspired. i was even prepared to take a pic of me eating my fazoli's kids pizza but the tables full of strangers deterred me. i know what you're thinking, 'didn't you just walk around kroger as a horribly dressed man?' yes, yes i did. but i guess its just different when you're all alone taking pictures of pizza. i need to get over it and just go for it.

there was an opportunity for the most gorgeous picture 2 days ago, but i left my camera in the car far away. [go figure] i was walking through the park with a friend - a loop i had never done before and there were hills & hills full of tall grass. the sun was setting behind them so the tops of all the little fuzzy heads were glistening. it really was such a pretty scene. i'm going to swing back by soon, maybe this weekend, and hope that they haven't mowed all the 'pretties' away. oh, and that i don't get lost trying to find those hills. i don't think you can put "hills" into a tom tom.

here's to better luck next time!

and here are some fails that weren't mine to brighten your day.

well you know what they say...

2011-09-13T11:01:00.003-04:00

...me neither.

just stopping by for a little chat. i felt like heidi klum just then "we're going to have a little chat and then we'll have you come back out". i don't really have anything poignant or witty or deep to share today but since my posts are so infrequent these days i thought i should record something even if its not the somethings that i really hoped to capture.

so maybe a little recapping & 'chatting' will do until i can really post [whatever that means].

people without iphones are really at a disadvantage when it comes to pictures on the go. right now my husband is likely screaming at his screen because he desperately wishes he had one. but as you may know i am real anti the whole data-package-we-can't-afford-slash-being-on-my-phone-all-the-time thing. the only thing i wish i did have is a sweet camera like that, that fits in my pocket, that i could capture little moments without having to have a bigger camera around, sometimes its just not practical. but since that is not my reality, and the reality is that i have a super sweet camera that i'm still getting acquainted with i am going to challenge myself a bit more. i'm going to start lugging this beast around and capture life with it. those are my favorite pictures, life ones. that's why i wanted it in the first place. remember?

sure i'd like to capture extra special events and all but i really just love the pictures that 'tell a story' like ashley ann says. i'm not really good at doing that [yet] but how will i ever get better if i don't practice! next monday i'm going to link up [here] for this blogger's photo challenge, i figure that's a great place to start. i just stumbled upon her, dear lizzy and i kind of love her & her hubs. they really make me want photoshop. a lot.

we had our first club of the year last night. i always kind of get a pit in my stomach before club and feel a sense of pressure / stress in preparating for it. i know the true things about what club is for but i still struggle. i know that it is just a hangout [a divine hangout] where kids can come, feel well loved, have fun, break down stereotypes about Jesus & hear about a God who loves them. its not about program, its not about being funny enough or having kids think that we're awesome, its not about putting on a show or being the most popular thing - but i get caught up in it being successful or going well [with a distorted, unbiblical view of what is success and what it means to go well]. i'm well aware that i'm living out this flawed thinking but i still have the pit. i'm praying a bunch that God will renew my mind in that and that for the next 13 weeks my team and myself can go after kids for the Kingdom and not let our own insecurities and pride get in the way. i hope that God gets all the glory! if you lead young life and need an awesome reminder of why we run club listen [here]. it takes a long time to load, just wait for it. i literally could listen to it once a week.

and way more awesome that my pit, was that God was so faithful and sweet to us last night. there were about 50 kids piled into tommy's garage and it was a beautiful thing. there were four or more things [events, games, etc.] going on up at the school and i just worried that we had picked a night that people would rather be somewhere else [note insecurities above]. even if it had been 15 kids we still would have been truly blessed to be in the presence of these friends, preaching the gospel of grace. there were lots of new faces and we had fun together.

ben thinks we have a ghost in the house. well there may be two, we've had two encounters. one was about a month ago. ben kept waking up and asking me if i was awake [which i wasn't, its the middle of the night]. then he claims the bed shook [the same bed i was in] and he heard footsteps, maybe like baby footsteps. a baby ghost? is there anything creepier? once i thought there was someone chainsawing our deck around 2 am and insisted that ben go check and ask them to stop. so we may have learned that sometimes when we think we're awake, we may not be. this most recent ghost siting was 2 nights ago. there was a big 'boom' in the corner of the room. ben saw that there was lightning outside but insists that the boom was not in fact thunder but instead a ghost or possibly aliens - like an adult not a baby one. of course.

in other news, two benches i'm seriously coveting:

[here]

i have the perfect place in the living room for one of these. it needs to have a vertical back, or no back at all because it can't stick out very far from the wall since it is pretty close to a doorway. this needs to happen!

i spent most of saturday this past weekend wearing a mustache and drinking milk while adorning giant boy hightops and a tee that says "i'm here lets party." we did see family and friends as well as stores full of strangers. i don't know if embarrasment is the right word.

at least i got to be a man with my good friend ang :) aka mang

posts to come:
anniversary weekend
dresses i'm excited to wear
[a delayed version of] my favorite excerpt from narnia
a crapton of pictures [this will happen, mark my words...once i take them]

a mini-blog tour

2011-09-08T09:39:00.004-04:00

so a ~~short~~ while ago my sweet friend ang updated my bloggity blog for me through her new design business. i couldn't be more excited with the way it turned out. it really makes me genuinely happy to look at this place where so many memories are & will be collected and know that even the tiny details kind of sum up who i am and what i love.

i couldn't get my act together quickly enough to launch the new blog and all the little pieces i had wanted at one time. it still isn't fully complete but rather more complete than before so i thought i might as well give a little overview for those of you who haven't poked around yet, those who looked around and found blank tabs up until this week or just if you didn't know how [perhaps you're my grandma and never heard of a navbar :)].

i made a little key for you to follow but really if you just click through the pages i know you'd get the jest. i don't mean to over-complicate. i'm just wordy. so so wordy. so anyway....the navbar

[1] home: self-explainatory. this will bring you back to the home page of {with grace & lace} should you get lost in a jumbled cyber-space knot & not know how to get out.

[2] life with b & j: this is kind of like an 'about us' section. an overview of who we are and what we're about. i wrote this months and months before i had made any other tabs [aka 'pages'] so it likely needs some updating. i feel like its just a quick snapshot into our lives, hope to make you feel like a friend around here.

[3] built on rock: here i share some details about our faith and really the heart of what we're all about - the intention behind how we live. i hope to write out some specifics of God's story [which is far more important than our story] very soon in this section - perhaps someone may get to hear it for the first time!

[4] into the kingdom: since so much of our life revolves around our ministry i just wanted to give a little background about young life and why we do it.

[5] contact: how to get in touch with us, we love people!

[6] unlisted: heck yes that is a little bike built for two. so stinkin' precious.

some other little tid bits located on the sidebar:

this button will just take you to my blogger profile. nothing too fantastic to see but if you'd like to check out a full list of the blogs i follow you can find that here. my 'daily reads' & 'my sweet friends' listed on the right sidebar are a more condensed version of my favorites & besties' blogs too.

and this next little button is especially special to me. as i'm sure you can read, this will take you to our story, all that lead up to ben & i becoming mr & mrs.!

my facebook & pinterest accounts are also linked on the right sidebar. look at me being ms. social media. [i actually hate computers, what a twisted web we weave].

other than that i'm sure you can find your way around, it's not real complicated around here. my middle name is simple [it's actually ann but you know]. i was just excited by some of the new & updated features and wanted to point them out. i may add more along the way, who knows what that may mean but yeah, talk a walk around!

am i missing anything?

three years ago today...

2011-09-06T13:54:00.010-04:00

three years ago today i was on my way to this church...

to primp and prepare

take care of all the little details

try and be just right for my waiting groom

with help & support from so many family & friends

we were 'ready' to become husband & wife. for always.

the wait, the anticipation

was finally coming to fruition.

we exchanged vows, promises, prayers & praise

i say again to you today: i take you, ben, to be my husband, before God who brought us together; to love and respect you out of reverence for Christ. i promise to follow you as you follow the example of Jesus, serve beside you and share in this life the joys of knowing Christ. that through His grace, we may grow together into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. ever honoring God’s guidance by His Spirit through the Word and throughout our lives I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful wife.

we may have exchanged a kiss as well.

in the presence of many witnesses we made a covenant with each other & the Lord to be united as one. and have been celebrating ever since.

colossians 3:12-17

"therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. forgive as the Lord forgave you. and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. and be thankful. let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

1 john 4:7-12

"dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.this is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

benny-

i was looking at you yesterday and in our fort and you asked me if something was the matter. i was at the brink of tears because i was [am] so incredibly thankful to have you as my husband. it's overwhelming really. how is it that God has so graciously saved us from so much and on top of that has blessed me beyond measure with a partner like you? i don't deserve your sweet patience and your servant's heart. thank you for the grace & love that you pour out to me even when i'm difficult. thank you for growing with me, serving with me, dreaming with me and chasing after Christ with me. [apart from grace itself] you're the best gift i've ever gotten.

i love you dearly. happy anniversary.

generational blessing

2011-09-02T12:54:00.001-04:00

i am incredibly blessed to have an amazing family, especially parents. my own are incredible people and then i also married into such a loving & encouraging group of people. recently some really precious encounters with the Lord have happened with benny's mom & one of his aunts. sometimes i think i miss out on these interactions with the Holy Spirit because i get too caught up in the temporal details in front of my face. the words of promise delivered to my mom-in-love were such a gift & i want to make sure that our families remember them always.

from mary brzinski [my m.i.l]:
I am a 49 year old woman, however, I would consider myself a mere youth as far as a sojourner maybe 10, maybe less than that. I went to church on a regular basis but never really got it until I woke up at 40. As a relatively new Christian, I am trying hard to do the will of God. I continually pray to God that He reveal to me what his will is so that I can do that instead of my own will. It is often difficult to hear His voice amid the noise I expose myself to on a daily basis. Not just audible noise but visual noise as well. I wake each day with the same eagerness to do God’s will and as the day progresses I begin to see where I had gone astray either in thought or deed or neglect. I do hope that before I die, I will be able to complete a day doing entirely God’s will, more importantly, that God’s will is so enmeshed with my own that I can’t do anything apart from his will.

In my quest for God’s voice, I read the scriptures daily and sometimes attend lectures or talks that I think may bring me closer to hearing what it is that God wants to tell me.

A friend told me of an amazing scripture scholar who was giving a talk one night in a neighborhood clubhouse not far from my home. Not only did he give teachings, but he also often gave prophetic words to the attendees of his talks. I decided on the spur of the moment to attend this lecture to experience this myself. When I got there, this man who looked extraordinarily ordinary began to teach. He could have been my neighbor or an acquaintance that I would not have given a second glance. His teaching though began with such enthusiasm. He began with a story that told of an experience of hearing the voice of God and how it manifests itself in his life. Not an audible voice, but a voice in his head and heart that prompts him to do or say something. As the story unfolded, he shared how this voice led him to minister to a group of people that had been praying at that moment for God to send them someone who would minister to them. It was very convincing and in my heart I knew that what this man was saying was true, because I had experienced the same sort of voice several years ago. When his teaching was done, he began to call the attendees up one by one to give a prophetic word to them. He called me up and began to speak to my heart in a way that I hadn’t experienced. I will share what he said but I must first tell you that I had been in constant prayer and pursuit of God asking that he let me know what his will is for me. I want to do His will and not my own and needed confirmation that I was doing just that. When this man began to speak to me, he said the following:

“Mary, you are one special lady. You are very blessed. You have had a good life. God has done this for you. He has put the right people in your life at the right time. You are doing just what God wants you to do. You are walking with God. And, God wants you to know that your blessings will be handed down to your children and your children’s children.” As he said this, I didn’t know what to say except thank you. He continued, “I don’t believe I have given this word to more than 20 people in my entire ministry.” How special did I feel? I was on a cloud. I hope I never do anything apart from his will.

Glory and Praise to God forever and ever. Amen.

mary, this is beautiful. thank you so much for recording it [with such eloquence] & sharing it with our family. what a testimony to God's goodness & faithfulness. i pray that our whole family will follow your example of fervently seeking the Lord. i also pray that 'blessing' doesn't mean power, earthly comfort or gifts; i pray that the blessing poured out on you, your children & your children's children will be the gift of knowing God intimately deeply - always.

the long awaited buffet

2011-09-01T10:27:00.005-04:00

if you've been around here long you've likely noticed that it takes me about a million years to do projects, find pieces for the house or make anything look nice. lets just say that it's not my forte. i'm a procrastinator and to make matters worse i'm terribly indecisive. it's a lethal combination. oh wait! and i'm cheap too. could it get any worse? basically if i finally muster up the courage / energy / desire to start in on a project i'm soon after [if not immediately] paralyzed by all the decisions that would have to be made in order to make my idea a reality. once i finally have all that laid out i still have to see if i'd be willing to pay for it [why isn't everything free?]. what's wrong with me!?

so after two years of looking & scouring craigslist & garage sales, making blog pleas for help & everything short of begging someone to 'donate' a beautiful buffet to a poor soul i got this little guy. rachel had sent me this listing from c.l.; it was a little grainy / hard to see but definitely worth a go-see-ski. the seller was asking $50 for it and my searching had shown me that no one asks $50 for buffets. they are all at least $150, usually much much more. i liked the size, the casters and the hardware. things were looking good.

one of our friends was having a big ol' back to school / welcome home cookout so we spent our evening there before our furniture appointment. after losing all track of time we had to rush to the next town over to meet up with the seller to see the piece. unfortunately we were running late and then got stuck in double diamond traffic for 30 minutes at 9pm. [if you live here you know what i mean] at nine at night!? insane. by the time we got to georgetown it was almost ten and dark outside. the fella had pulled the piece out into the driveway for us to take a look but we really couldn't see much since there was no light on the subject. i didn't want to pass up the deal so we made the sale! after seeing it in the light, we found more imperfections than i had hoped but i'm pretty certain that we can spiff her up to shine!

here was my first attempt. if you'll notice some ~~flaws~~ 'character':

with some lemon oil provided by my sweet neighbor [aka mom]:

it was pretty amazing. i kept shouting to ben in the other room...it was so amazing! it was like a miracle potion; a definite winner for anyone who loves instant gratification. although the top and sides of the sideboard shined up really nicely there are still some issues that are really pestering me:

that top drawer is really my nemesis. if those chips weren't there i think i would love to keep the natural wood as is. i love all the little details that you can see in the woodwork. it's really neat up close. maybe there is a way to incorporate paint & bare wood. any thoughts out there on how to make that look good? if i can't figure that out, we'll likely paint the whole piece. the dining room table and barren walls are still in need of a lot of love but i think we're off to a good start. just having the piece in that room makes it feel homier already! [ps - please excuse all the shadows. i work all day and after 530 there is really no such thing as good natural light in this room].

if we do decide to go the painted up route here are some inspiration pieces. [i have no idea on the color i'd like or how to clean up the hardware that is already on the piece - i'd love to keep them] all suggestions are welcome.

[here]

[here]

[here]

[here]

[here] - this space is one of my favorite crafting/offices i've ever seen

[here]

family time!

2011-08-31T09:16:00.000-04:00

so this may be a few weeks [or maybe months] behind. its' all kind of a blur. i'm pretty sure this little fella is still an itty bitty so hopefully weeks is close enough. its too early for math or i'm sure i could figure it out. benny and i got to go meet the sweetest lil nephew in the whole wide world when he was about 2 weeks old. i was super sicky so i didn't want to go running through the hospital nursery spreading my germs all over the place. two weeks was too long but it was worth the wait. what a cutie.

nana. cormac. proud poppa in the back.

.handsome hubs.

.me & my momma.

i really like him a whole lot. if you want to see more updated pics of the cutie go here.

can't wait to see you all again!

and remember these, little tie onesies? they're even more precious once they are filled up with baby!

[pic from greta's one month update]

hair today, gone tomorrow

2011-08-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

i've been an admittedly terrible 'post-er' lately. i don't really know what the deal is. i think lots of thoughts {hahaha} and then keep insisting, 'i'll write them down when i have time to upload my pics.' and then when i have time to upload my pics i think, 'well i don't have any time to write now.' and thus nothing gets accomplished. what a sick cylce. so, as i have a million times before, i want to be a better record keeper for our life. i want to do one of those challenges where you take a picture everyday for a year or something to keep myself accountable & creative. maybe that starts today? if my camera wasn't at home this would be a less challenging challenge.

annnnyway, i am itching like crazy to get things accomplished. my calendar looks like a schedule monster ralphed all over it so i'm not sure how much 'task accomplishing' i'll actually be up for when its all said and done. it always sounds so good in theory {checking things off my list, actually making my house home-y, projects, etc.} but once the opportunity finally presents itself i find myself saying 'maybe i'd rather take a nap instead of organizing the hall closet'. 'maybe i'd rather cuddle & watch a movie than repaint a dresser.' that's basically my life.

today holds lunch with a friend {good fellowship & breadsticks}, a date with jenna to practice wedding hair before we're maids in september & a lhs girls soccer game. it should be pretty fantastic - except that i might be showing up a soccer game with an updo. this past weekend we practiced hair on a blanket in a field with only bobby pins and a small comb so having other tools {like a mirror & hot iron} tonight should only make us better hair dressers. i think we'll actually be able to do a pretty great job. our only downfall is our aversion to all things hairspray. i'm not sure what we'll do about that - hard hair with those little frizzies that stick up on top...i just hate those.

to get the creative juices flowing, here is some inspiration hair from pinterest for ya.

{sources attached here}

notice a trend? i love messy low buns. i can't help it, they're my fave.

watch out uk

2011-08-24T09:42:00.000-04:00

it's become tradition around here that every first day of school i get to post my most favorite picture of benny as a student. and since today is in fact the first of the school year for my hubs, here i am!

it is actually the first day of your last year of school babe. i'm so excited for you. i know you're not excited about sitting in a classroom or doing busy work but i know that you're excited to someday [very soon] become a teacher that cares for & invests in the lives of kids. just keep the end in mind, i know the rest will fly by. i'm so proud of how hard you work and i wish you still had a backpack with green straps. i love you dearly boo!

new & improved {blog by thirstyhearts design}

2011-08-22T13:27:00.001-04:00

i am crazy excited to announce, my blog no longer looks like a homemade mess-tastophe! my sweeter than sweet friend, ang, is starting up a lil design business and i was blessed to be a guinea pig of sorts. i sent over all kinds of things that i love and she mixed them up into a photoshop blender and created the most wonderful, blognificant beaut, lovelier than i could have ever imagined! she perfectly captured all the little details that i love so much. i look at my blog now and think, "that looks like me". i'm so proud of the way she's learned so quickly & with such determination. she has many gifts but this one has been especially fun to watch grow. i'm so thankful for her time, energy & creative talent; she made something she knew i'd love & that is really special. if you'd like to have an 'i have the cutest blog in the world moment' too, you should probably stop by thirstyhearts design right about now.

just so you know there will be some other updates around the blog as well {other than the look}. i'm going to try and get them all wrapped up this week and do a little recap just so everyone can know what's what.

ang, thank you so much my dear friend. i'm just going to go and stare at my blog now. just let me.

[ps. i'm going to adjust this post font to something that's a little easier to read soon. right now blogger just hates my guts & won't let me do anything i want.]

i'm terrified of / weekend plans {not related}

2011-08-19T11:00:00.002-04:00

greatest fears {that don't have eternal consequence}:

having ugly kids - you just never know what you're going to get. i know if we have kids that i'll love the begeezle out of them no matter how they look or act but what can i say its an irrational phobia. and just so you know, if i do end up having less than adorable kids i really don't want you telling me how adorable they are whilst thinking "that kid looks like lyndon johnson" {think seinfeld in the hamptons episode}

walking out of the ladies' room with my skirt tucked into my undies in the back. i always triple check but i fear that in a rush i'll wash those hands and scoot on out the door {drawers showin'}.

also associated with bathrooms, walking into the men's room by accident. i think the embarrassment alone would be enough to knock me over and while falling i'd likely hit my head on the sink {or worse, the urinal} & be passed out on a men's room floor which should be another fear all on its own. it's not only unsanitary but double embarrassing because then even more people would have the opportunity to find out about my unfortunate error.

i'm terrified of becoming that couple that doesn't talk at the dinner table. i'm sure you've seen them at restaurants. they aren't doing other things like reading or being on the phone, they are just sitting in silence. it doesn't appear that they are just 'enjoying each others presence' either. i always hope i've noticed them right after a fight and that that's not real life for them.

decisions. not decisions that matter. decisions like where should we go to eat tonight? should we buy this ice cream or that ice cream? should we hang the picture here or about 1 inch higher? seriously, who lives like this?

and finally / of course...clowns, spiders & things that are unsafe.

[updated] one more. one day living out the show 'i didn't know i was pregnant.' i don't even really know how that is physically possible but if that doesn't scare you, i don't know what will!

what about you? what are you most terrified of that doesn't actually matter?

*****

and now on a completely unrelated note...i can't stop thinking about the weekend. so much that i'm excited about. lots to get done, people to see, resting to be had. i made a little to-do list and i hope to do it all! happy weekend friends.

::leah's two::

2011-08-17T08:31:00.001-04:00

a few weeks ago my little cousin, leah turned two and i was so happy we were free to go celebrate with the family. some of my favorite pics of the fam and of course, the birthday girl!

her dad & grandpa {my uncle & grandpa} built her the most precious little house for her birthday. it has a little window with a bar & stools so she can serve all her food {fake for now, maybe real later}. all the kids {big and little} really loved it.

mom & pop

my little brother, nicky boo boo

my hair is stuck in ben's armpit. treat!

"i'm two!"

watching the birthday girl blow out her candles

happy birthday sweet little girl. i know you won't remember but you ate about 400 blueberries and a plastic ice cream cone on your birthday this year. and all your family was there and gave you hugs and kisses. you're so big!

cooking out with the babes

2011-08-15T22:30:00.002-04:00

hi friends. i'm back as promised and finally think i'll share all the things i've been holding for forever. starting now. here are some shots from last saturday night. our sweet friends, the poston's, had us and friends over for ribs in a fancy smoker & sundaes. they were bomb awesome and the company was my favorite. the three couples {besides us} all had babies there. it was great. and then there was a gigantic thunderstorm to top it all off. it ruined our campfire but i still love a good storm. here's some of my favorite shots from the night. i'm so thankful for our sweet friends.

some of my favorite si pics. the silas show

face.in.a.plate

give.me.back.that.cell.phone.face

happy.because.i'm.probably.holding.a.cell.phone.face

i.will.eat.all.your.popsicles

readin his baby bible

now for din din

the ridds

and their cutie

marsh & jenna, i needed a pic of you all and eden. next time please! here's baby eden chatting it up on the phone. i wish you could see her little ruffle top.

forever

2011-08-11T09:21:00.001-04:00

i haven't checked in all week as i thought i would. i found out on monday morning that my papaw had passed away. that along with some other unfun & fun things have consumed my thoughts and time for the past few days. my papaw was an incredibly sweet & strong man & he will be very much missed. please be lifting up my mom & family in prayer - its hard to lose someone you love a lot even if means they are now without sickness or worry or ailment with their loving creator. the visitation is tonight & the funeral will be tomorrow. i hope it will be a joyful celebration of life.

pic from our st. john honeymoon, one of the most peaceful places i know.

"i will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
psalm 23: 6b

reflecting: the ryder's

2011-08-07T13:23:00.001-04:00

if you've been reading our little blog you likely know that our friend, libby fought through cancer this past year. i had the pleasure of writing out a little bit of how that affected me/us - witnessing their faithfulness & God's goodness for her to post. if you'd like to take a look visit libby's blog {HERE}. even if you don't want to read my long-winded-ness at least go check out their story, you will undoubtedly be encouraged.

one extra thought that i didn't include there but really weighed on me after i wrote that was this:

in the past few weeks we've read through daniel 3 a couple times. we've focused on different aspects of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego but one part stood out to me so distinctly. in case you don't know, here's the jest: their king had erected an image of gold that everyone was to bow down and worship throughout the country. these three men were confident that their God, our God, was the only one worthy of worship & refused to bow to the golden idol. to the king this disobedience deserved death in a blazing furnace, so he called the men in to deliver their fate.

daniel 3:13-18
^"Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

their response: we know that our God is more than able to save us {rescue us or heal us} but even if he does not - he is still God and he's the only one worthy of our praise.

that reminded me of libby & justin during cancer, during treatment. full trust & confidence that God is more than able to bring a miracle but should he not, should their story turn out differently - he is still worthy of praise.

happy weekend

2011-08-05T23:35:00.000-04:00

..happy weekend friends..

i am so crazy excited for it.

this past week we were so blessed to hangout with a crapton of students nearly every night. they wanted to be together as much as possible since school is starting next week. house full of friends, watching movies, playing games in the park, ice cream & dinners. it was good for the soul. staying up every night past one a.m. however, makes me a bit of a sleep-deprived crazy. perhaps needless to say, i'm going to be catching up on that this weekend. ben & i have already had sweet time together & with family this evening. i hope the next two days are a perfect mix of fun, productivity & relaxation.

this weekend will also hold blogging. woot woot! i have several things i want to write / complete / publish but just need a second to sit down and get to them. i feel like i've been learning, dreaming & playing a lot lately - now i just need to record it.

and now for your enjoyment...road signs hacked in northern ky {where we're from} and lexington {where we live now}. this kind of vandalism makes me really happy.

Stories seen here & here

calligraphy musings {updated}

2011-08-01T15:57:00.023-04:00

if i could write & design like kate forrester or with even just a smidge of talent or creativity i would certainly launch that into my full-time/part-time job. i could have quite a bit of fun prettying up invitations, placecards & love notes for everyone i know from the comfort of my home. can this be taught? i'd really like to know.

updated: i wanted to add a few more of my favorites. and my momma raises an interesting point about being taught. but i can learn anything on youtube right? i'm going to find me a pen, some ink, a tutorial & get to work. see if i've got any hidden talent {wink wink}. if i don't have great penmanship or creativity in real life, what do you think the chances are of having gorgeous penmanship & wild creativity once i have a special stick in my hand?

nevermind, don't answer that.

{found here}

and i'm mildly obsessed with this girls' work {shown in the last 3 images}. i desperately want one of her gorgeous address stamps but they are ~~a bit~~ out of my price range {see here - or don't if you don't want to be sad that you can't afford it either} it looks like a lot of people use her calligraphy for letterpress invitations as well. they are absolutely lovely.

{here}

..i have a lot of words, but none for a title..

2011-07-29T15:22:00.001-04:00

i was reading back through parts of my blog today. i don't know if i've ever done that before in {wg&l}. have you ever gone back through your blog or old journals? it was so interesting and awesome. i don't know if i just always thought 'a million years from now this will be so great to look back on'...but in reality i started blogging about 2 years ago and there are already milestones & tidbits that i found myself completely pouring over that didn't happen that long ago. i'm so glad that i have so many memories & moments recorded here. i forget all too easily.

so that's my encouragement to you today...go back through that tattered journal, click back through your last year of posts online. how cool to reflect on the season of life God had you in, what you got to be a part of, what you were able to see, do, enjoy, experiece & learn. if you haven't spent the last few years documenting life now would be a great time to start!

i think i've shared this before here, but i always think of this scripture when i think of looking back:

"When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

...“In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”
joshua 4:1-7 & 21-24

take note of what God is doing and where he's moving. write it down, make a 'memorial' so when your kids/friends/family say 'what do these stones mean?' you can tell them what the Lord has done & who He is. it will serve to point people to Christ...forever.

*****

so some things that i didn't document yet because i only have words...not images.

life has slowed down a little bit this week. it is a great feeling. i feel like i can pursue people again. and i have time to read. i love both of those things.

last week ben & i had the opportunity to go on a date. sometimes we're able to have dinner together but i really was wanting a whole night where we could just hangout and connect again. i crave that a lot more than him - really good quality time. so we got to go to dinner & movie. its kind of our normal date night routine but i really enjoy it. we went to texas road house which might sound pretty greaseball but we've never had a bad time or bad food so i'm really for it. we had a surprise 1/2 price app, the nicest server & yummy steak. we had a gift card but thought it only had a few bucks on it. it turned out that we only paid $10 on our whole bill & just getting to talk about life was my favorite. then we went to see harry potter 7. i was really exited about it coming out. i'm not sure why i was so expectant but i was. no we weren't dressed as wizards but it did cross my mind. a whole evening with my best friend - i'll take it!

the following night we had our annual drive in movie night out in winchester, ky with our lafayette friends. there was a smaller crowd than we normally have which initially really got me down & none of our other girl leaders were able to come so i just felt kind of alone & discouraged. i was disappointed that this really great opportunity was going to be missed since it just didn't feel like there was much interest kid-wise. but then i remembered -the 15-20 kids we got to be with were 15-20 more kids than we would have gotten to see otherwise so it was a perfect time for bonding & loving them lavishly. and it was. and what did we see? harry potter 7. so hp7 x 2 = hp14 & that happened.

this past weekend we traveled up to chicago for a family reunion. it was a really sweet time to visit everyone. one of my favorite parts of the weekend aside from the road trips, awesome thunderstorms, trips to the family's d & d itailian deli's {you must go} & madda's breakfast was talking about what God is doing in the lives of people in ben's family. i hope to dive in to that very soon here on the blog {maybe even with some special guests - fingers crossed}.

and finally, tonight we get to meet our nephew. ahhhhhh! i hope we haven't missed too much in his first 2 weeks of life. i can't wait to hold him. don't worry, i'll be taking my camera to document all his cuteness, unlike my picturelessness of all the other adventures i just mentioned.

if you're still reading this...you're a saint. all my love & happy friday.

{image found here}