happily ever after... {hillary & alex}

a few weeks ago we had the honor of watching two friends say 'i do!'  i took some pics of their big day. i know they had so been looking forward to becoming husband & wife.  i know that marriage will be such a joy for these two!

i wasn't attempting to be artsy with the amount of blank space at the top of the photo...i didn't have the best angle for picture taking. take what you can get people.

i didn't take pictures of all the sweet little details at the wedding like i wanted to.  i just kind of felt like a creeper but in reality i'm sure no one would have noticed.  i did spend an awesome evening with friends chatting,  laughing & enjoying each others company.  we did get out on the dance floor but didn't stay too terribly long out there.  sometimes ben's just not in a dancin' mood.  a few unexpected highlights for me that i'd like to remember: our server {hated our guts}, the dj {"if you're excited get...more excited" // "who brought their dancin' shoes?  wah waaaah"}, my b.i.l.chris's best man speech {"i'll drink to that"} and unity candle that would not stay lit.

...me & benny...

...friends...

great quality pic of chris toasting the newly weds.  favorite line: "boom roasted"

yay marriage!

one more favorite thing?  ok fine.  the photo booth.  oh my goodness, we all loved it.  and the sweetest part was that each strip printed twice and you kept one and left one to make a photo strip guest book.  i'm sure they will enjoy that for life.  here are the ones that we made.

this was our first and we really struggled knowing when they were going to take the pic of us.  eventually, we figured it out.  aren't you proud?

hillary & alex,

i know that God will be glorified in your marriage & that he will use you all in really big ways.we cannot wait to see what kind of adventure you have in store!

love-

b. & j.

a must-read & i'm very pinterested...

happy friday friends!  i am so pleased that another weekend is upon us.  we already have so much cookin' i'm not sure how it will ever all fit in.  i'll will come back with this weekend and the last few soon.  {i have to tell myself things like that}.

today i wanted a share a few things vying for my attention...

first of all, i have this friend named fran.  no, not my alter-ego cheerleading personality from club.  she's a real person, we've never met but i feel pretty certain about it. 

fran and i have about a billion mutual friends but have never actually ran into each other.  we were connected through blogland, one of the many perks of blogging.  she just began a new blog packed with her adventures seeing the world as a flight attendant & living in ny.  fran is an excellent writer, witty as can be & is truly full of life.  definitely check this girlie out & send her some love at being fran(k).  i would start with her first post on the new blog to see how the adventure began - for your enjoyment {HERE}.

and next is good ol' pinterest.  um, as if i needed one more way to waste my time.  i am mildly obsessed.  just the idea that you can collect all the inspiration you ever wanted in one place and then have it save all the locations where you found that perfect ______ or that awesome tutorial for ______. obsessed.  normally i resist change.  and i also resist being super plugged in to the matrix.  i don't need one more reason to sit in front of the computer but...pinterest.  i love.  and so i keep pinning.  if i'm not already following you and your life is full of great 'pins' - tell me where to find you!  and here i am.

ps - i don't know how to 'mention' people yet but that's something else i'd like to try soon :)

i hope you let these two little gems distract you for a bit.  a bit isn't too long to waste.

love,

jen jen

my most recent venture

i made these itty bitty tie onesies for my sister-in-law this week. 

don't mind the wrinkles hopefully they'll be gone by the time my nephew arrives :) 

they are certainly imperfect but the idea is just so precious i can't get over them.

and my brother is mr. professional so the thought of a tiny paul replica wrapped up in a onesie is just about too much!

we can't wait to meet you little man!

this idea was stolen from my bestie, cory who stole it from this tutorial.  sorry for my theft, who could resist?

"see i am doing a new thing! do you not perceive it?" {+ extras}

 

this is emily.  i can't wait to tell you about her.  but first some background.  this picture is from the first week that we met.  i went with a middle school here in town (jessie clark) that feeds into the high school that i was transfering to that fall with a group of 8th grade girls on a wyldlife summer camp trip in 2008.  it was such a blessing to get plugged in with 10ish girls that would be starting high school at the same time that i would be joining the mission at that school.

if you would have told me that week that i would be walking with most of those girls for the next 4 years as great friends and/or sisters in Christ i'm not sure if i would have believed you.  not because the week wasn't awesome, it definitely was, and not because i don't believe that God can do mighty things, i do!  i just don't think i could have dreamt this story up.  if you would have told me that a few of those girls in particular would get it and want Jesus like crazy and would lay down their lives for their friends, well i would probably still be just as floored as i am now.  i wasn't prepared for this.  you pray to see this but i've never actually experienced it myself like this. 

if you would have told me that those few girls would introduce me to such a broad circle of friends at the school, i would probably cry {and i have}.  i have been so blessed by knowing this group of junior girls.  i obviously have a heart for the entire school to know God's unfathomable for them but there are about 30 of these junior girls that my heart just breaks for; i think God has given me His heart for them.  just knowing these girls & their lives, living without hope, makes me more dependent on God every single day.  i so desperately want God to grab their hearts & give them eyes to know true things.  i am spurred on to know the Lord more because of these girls who are clinging to death.

i am also encouraged beyond words because like i said, there are those few - those who have heard the gospel & have responded to the grace that has been lavished on them.  they live as new creations.  and they are our partners, battling for the salvation of our friends, asking God to let us be a part of what he is doing. running with people like that - joy.  extreme joy.

emily is one of those people for me.  this year Christ has fully become her treasure and you can tell.  she is so hungry to know God.  know him for real.  God is doing something big in her life and it is so awesome to be a witness to that.  i have been meeting with her and some other girls over the past 2 -3 years and this year something clicked for her.  i really feel like God became her Lord.  she became passionate about his word.  and passionate about the things God loves {like people}.  she even asked if we could meet an extra morning in the week so that we can talk more about life & scripture.  she's 17.  how awesome is that?

two mondays ago we had our last club of the school year.  each week a leader gives a talk clearly laying out the gospel.  in the back of our mind this year, our theme has been redemption.  it was our absolute honor to be able to let one of our students give the last talk of the year, their personal story of redemption.  God buying them back from the slavery of sin at a great price. emily got to share her testimony with her friends.  she was real and bold and honest and my favorite part of it all...as she stood in front of 60-some of her peers claiming Christ as her King she told them that she wanted them to have it.  she wanted them to have life like God intended for them - full real life...forever.  God is so good.  i know that he is doing something big and that he will use that night for the kingdom & for his glory.  i'd like to remember that night always.

in much less important news...

we made this ridiculous video for club as the finale of our run-on for the year.  i don't know why i'd subject you {or myself} to this but here it is just in case.  casey & fran have a life-long dream of joining the lafayette cheerleading team to be a part of some pep, have some friends, catch the eye of a special guy & get to go to summer camp.  warning: fran is pretty squeeky & casey has a lisp - that is all.

{watch here}

and for this week we had the grand idea of a mall scavenger hunt.  kids try and find as many leaders in the mall as they can in 45 minutes.  and we don't look quite like ourselves.  enjoy.

ben hates me right now.

around here

i can't blog quickly enough to stay on top of life.  you always think it will slow down soon, and then you'll get to it.  but that doesn't really ever happen. 

here's a little bulletted update of our life & home:

 welcome to lexington

{driving & taking pictures.  not my finest idea but the sky looked so cool.  i can't do it justice}

baby parker is growing & precious.  thank you ridd's for letting us stop by, always.

itty bitty baby smile

shannon came to town to surprise rach & meet parker for the first time.  i liked being on the inside of that secret.  i think it was a big blessing to both of the girls!

this also means that i got to spend time with shannon {who lives in south carolina...hopefully not forever...wink wink}.  i LOVED it.  we visited together with some of our bestest girlfriends {jenna, holly, purdy, rach}, slumber partied, went to a late night movie {bridesmaids}, a lunch date {pazzos} & laughed our faces off.  maybe we cried too.  i don't know.

recently we got to celebrate our friend hillary as well.  we love celebrating.  she is getting married in uh 3 days...holy moly and we had got together to shower her with girly things.  i made a little bunting to dress up my bag...i think its awfully sweet!

everything about it was absolutely hilarious.  michelle {the hostess} surely knows how to throw a good party.  here's hil enduring the embarrassment.

since then, ben & were able to see two other amazing people begin their marriage.  congrats brad & lauren.  rain couldn't damper this awesome day.

{photo by natalie hagen - we love her}

in the next two weeks i get to celebrate my sister-in-love, greta & her babe on the way twice!  i had the pleasure of sending out the invites {see below} to one of the showers...treat! and am helping with little odds and ends from here on out.  i am so excited.  and i'm going to be an aunt!  i'm an honorary aunt to a few little babies out there {belonging to my besties} but this will be my first real-deal-aunt-ship.

stationary kit from target and i just printed on them at home.

august marks 2 years of living in our first home!  yay!  and this past weekend marks the hanging of 3 things on our walls.  it only took 20 months to get here.  our room instantly feels more cozy to me and it just took a minute to do - well, 20 months and a minute.  i hope that is the catalyst i need to finally work on other spaces in our house.  hopefully.  we desperately need it!

 

{hooks from pier 1 bought over a year ago but i saw them there still recently. 

jewelry organizer from urban outfitters, christmas gift from my nana from before i was married i'm pretty sure & mirror from hob lob, used to sit over the mantle in our little house}
our last club of the year is tonight.  i'm going to post on that this week {promise}.  i really need to reflect & jot down all that God has done in this season of ministry.

my entire neighborhood is covered in flowers.  everyone has the most beautiful pretties and i have been tempted way more than once to go snip a few buds when no one is looking.  instead i'm going to go buy myself a few plants and get them in the ground.  then next year i can steal my own plants & and fill vases all over the place without guilt or a trespassing charge :)

just so you know we're a mess in real life {as if you couldn't tell from this all over the place post} - a peek at chores. our laundry.  like a million loads.  ben washed dishes, i folded clothes.  forever.

waah waaaah

our living room

and last but not least, i found out some amazing news about other bestie, cory this past weekend.  find out for yourself {HERE}. aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

team libby celebration {the after-party}

no, r. kelly wasn't there.  {which was probably a good thing} but we did have one awesome after-party to celebrate victory over cancer, victory 13.1 miles & the victory that we have in Christ.  above are most of the runners from our team.  missing about 5 or 10 of you but here's a good chunk of them.  and that's libby in the middle :)

qdoba catered & we had a picnic all together with our friends {old & new}, sun just a-shining.

lib thanking everyone who came, ran &/or supported them.

{5 am and no shower does not suit me well.}

after most of the crew had headed out, we hung out inside for a short bit before heading home. 

silas & ava.  presh.

REJOICE!   AGAIN I SAY, REJOICE!

to see all pics:

{before & during}

{after}

baby parker

two of my favorite people in the whole world just welcomed this little guy into the world.  i'm pretty sure he will be added to our 'favorite people' as well.  parker is an absolute doll and i'm so excited to watch him grow.  he's brand new and itty bitty.  he has a bunch of hair but he likes to wear his hat so you'll have to wait to see it.  when ben & i went to meet him we were in such a frenzy to get over there before visiting hours ended that we didn't have time to go home and get the camera, so i stole from cory.  {what's new?} please go look at others from her post today {HERE}.  oh & jenna's too {SEE HERE for hair}

we love all 3 of you so much & are so happy for your little family.  i can't wait to snuggle you, parker.  we're praying for you all: for patience, rest, wisdom & for God to be present in big ways - especially as you bring this little man home.

love you dearly-
b&j