My Best Friend's Wedding

One of my best friends, Brandi got married this weekend and I was blessed to be one of her bridesmaids. It was unorganized, chaotic and random but a complete blast of course!
Brandi getting ready to get married

Me and Noel getting ready for the big event! =]

The Beautiful Bride

Happy Couple

Me and Noel waiting to get pictures taken

Me in the car on the way to the reception

Nate breaking it down with Brandi for the dollar dance

Nate and Me

At the end of the day there was a beautiful bride, an excited new husband, happy family and friends dancing and it all brought me back to my wedding day, before all the drama that would soon follow there was Nate and I...unbelievably happy to have each other forever. Astounded by God's grace that He should choose us for each other, not perfect, but perfect for each other. We danced the night away last night just as we did on our special day, and I welcomed the reminder of such an amazing day and an amazing love that has brought us through so much in such a little time and I was just blessed all over again. I guess you could say I love weddings. hehe

CONGRATS to my dear friend [even though she does not read this blog] I'm so happy for her and her new husband, and pray that they have lovely weather for their honeymoon cruise in Jamaicain waters this week, that their life would be a blessed one together, and that their love would never die.

To everyone else that may be married, I challenge you to think back to your wedding day [if it was pleasant] and remember how you felt during your first dance, in your brand new husband's arms, feeling more inlove than you ever thought possible, knowing that you could mold your future into ANYTHING you wanted, having the security of forever along the side of an amazing man, and feeling certain you would never feel anything different. Sometimes in our busyness we forget that passionate love we felt for our husbands during those first few hours, days, months and even years...I know I'm going to try and never forget and if I do, I hope I attend a wedding and remember all over again. =]

Blessings to you this wedding season!

Things have been okay. I wonder if my heart will ever be less fragile. I wonder if life will ever truly come together and not just look like it for weeks at a time and then fall apart.

Some things I know,

God IS good & faithful.
My husband is amazing, faithful, strong, inspiring and kind.
I have a great family.

& I know I must keep hold of hope or I won't survive.

Guess this isn't so happy, but that's just me...sometimes happy sometimes down but always real.

An Attempt & a Mountaintop

So although it's not Friday I want to praise my husband for just being the love of my life. If ever two people were made for each other it was He and I. I could never put into words how much I love him, but I promised I would spend the rest of my life trying and here is yet another attempt...

As the first few years in newlyweds lives usually are pretty hard, we have followed suit in most ways. Financially we are finally getting control back after bad decisions or learning opportunities, as far as communication we have traveled miles, he uses more words and I walk away less often and have calmed my loud voice b/c he has started listening more, as for an organized household, yeah I'm much more of an organized mess kind of gal and he leans toward the OCD neat freak we are finding middle ground and it feels just as good as I thought it would be if not better...life is good simply because I have Nathan by my side. He is faithful to me, and loves me unconditionally and unashamedly...it does a lot to me to hear the nice things he says about when I'm not around and when it really doesn't matter...I would never know what he talked about at work if it weren't for all his co-workers wanting to meet me "b/c Nate just talks about you all the time!" it makes me blush and I tell him to make sure he doesn't annoy anyone...lol but it blesses me in a way I could never explain to have someone be so proud of me that isn't a parent...my heart swells with happiness.

So as I was saying things have been pretty rough, but we have been making leaps and bounds spiritually this year, rekindling that fire in us for God that was there when we first met and we allowed to slip away and our focus changed to surviving, our focus switched to the storm outside our plane called life and we are finally focusing on the right things and it's making SUCH a difference in our life I can't even begin to tell you!

We are moving next month to Lakeland, found an apartment that is the same size as ours but with more windows for like $250 less than what we pay now! I got a job down there and started this week, it's amazing AND it's doing something I LOVE take pictures! It's so inspiring and thrilling to start doing something you love. Then this last Sunday I met up with a gal at church that I found on facebook, anyway we were talking about her kids and she mentioned her daughter played soccer I immediately lit up, I LOVE soccer. I told her and was like yeah I was captain of my team when I was in high school I totally love it! She said OH! our high school is looking for a girls coach! I laughed...but am actually thinking about it! Can you imagine me getting out of retail taking pictures, coaching soccer, and singing in choir! Doing all the things I love!?!? Wow. Just the fact that the opportunities are there makes me smile at God. Sigh a big sigh of relief and thank him that my mountaintop is coming. I'm ready, boy am I ready.

Meanwhile Nate and I put into to transfer to part time and to the same location at Disney so we could work together, I'm excited about that, I think it would be a LOT of fun. He just put in his application for his transfer with the OG today, and it's literally within walking distance from our apartments, it's amazing how much gas we are going to save, b/c we are right across the street from church and my work as well! YAY!!! Making our one car workable yet again.

So I will part with a song by my girl Avril whom I love [and share a wedding anniversary with hehe]It is for my husband, to encourage him in his current endevours and for anyone else out there that needs a little pep talk!

Keep Holding On

If things are rough right now in your life, keep holding on, know that you aren't alone, and your mountaintop is coming, but only if you keep hiking, keep pressing, keep holding on!

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No I won't give in

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late, this could all disappear
Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend
I'll fight and defend
Yeah, yeah

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
[Keep Holding On lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Hear me when I say, when I say I believe
Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

La da da da
La da da da
La da da da da da da da da

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Keep holding on
Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

I hope this blesses and encourages you! Have a blessed week!

Cancer, Provision, and a Rockin Hubby

It's so strange to me how many people around my age are being diagnosed with cancer, or are having surgeries to remove lumps and bumps that could possibly be cancer...or are finding out if they have cancer it just seems like it's all around me lately. Time to start kicking the prayer up a notch!

Today specifically a good friend found out she has thyroid cancer. Please pray for her. It's just unbelievable, they told her the bump wasn't cancerous, took it out tested it more and found out it was and they have to remove one of her thyroids now.

Another friend just had lumps removed from her breast, supposedly benign, I pray the story stays that way. The thing that creeps me out is THEY ARE MY AGE! If not just a couple years older...I'm coming against fear. =]

So today I got ANOTHER job! I'm now a paid professional photographer! I'm so pumped, I start this week. So busy week ahead, three days at new job, one day at Urban, wedding in Ft. Myers tomorrow, church Sunday, we have free tickets to Blizzard Beach so we are thinking about maybe going on Wednesday [my one day off], then Saturday I have a bridal shower and bachelorette party, not to mention choir practice Thursday night...and trying to find time somewhere to continue packing which might take place of Blizzard Beach...but keeping fun in your life is important too so who knows! It will be a week where a lot is accomplished and I'm excited!
OH! and MY husband rocks this week because he went running! AND completely organized our desk so it's all clean and tidy! YAY for him stepping up and helping me bring more order to our home! He has some OCD tendancies, that I honestly really appreciated when we first met, some are a little much but with balance I knew he would be able to help me be a neater person like I desire to be, things kind of went the other way on that one and this week we had a nice chat about how I would love for him to help me be more organized and he got really excited! So YAY for him like I said stepping up and letting something he's naturally good at benefit our home!

Here are a couple pics of us from this week, feeling good about ourselves and being healthier! =]

I guess that would be about it! I mean there is plenty more going on but not ready to share yet.

Hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend!
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Blessings and Boxes

So things are...crazy and yet awesome. Yesterday church was AMAZING! Oh, it is every Sunday and I just love how much God is speaking to me, and then reaffirming me on Sunday. Pastor Scott talked about being the Top Gun Pilot of your life. He talked about how when you are a pilot you have to stay on the runway for awhile running and running...but you need that resistance you get to be able to fly. Then when you get into the air and come into the clouds, you can't see anything you have to rely on your instruments to know where you are and where you are heading, those instruments in our life is the Word of God. Although they're may be a storm outside your window, focusing on it won't help you, you have to keep your eye on the instruments! He even dressed up in a flight suit...

one of the key lines of the sermon was, "going to church can give you direction, but obedience is going to give you stability." You can be heading the right way and still be up and down and all over the place, I want a smoother ride, I want to be obedient. What a challenge but one that is surely rewarding!

As always you can listen to the pod casts at http://www.withoutwallscentral.org/

So after church we had a nice lunch with my rents, Nate and I were looking mighty swell, clothes aren't as tight anymore, I've lost a total of 14lbs since the beginning of the year, Nate is gaining muscle so going by weight isn't that encouraging but he went down to a size large in his shirt and is down a belt hole or two, he's looking NICE meow!

Today Nate went to work, and I sorted, condensed, packed, and cleaned. It was a VERY productive day! Nathan is going to be SO excited he has been bumming out because he couldn't find his pc study Bible so he could put it on our computer [it was on our old computer and the laptop that crashed] well today I found it!!! It's already installed and everything, he is going to be SOOO excited! I also found some pictures I can't wait to go through with him, and I found the sweetest note from his Grandma, it said "Hi Nathan Will you be my valentine? Love Grandma E xo" it is just the sweetest thing, I think it will definately bring a smile to his face. I just love going through boxes and remembering times in my life, reading through journals, looking at pictures it takes me forever to get through a box but it's still SO much fun! So anyway I took a few pictures of myself with things I found while sorting and condensing. =]

This is me and Nathan's Ewok - Wicket

This is me in a shirt that I found in one of Nate's boxes, I believe it was his Grandma E's it says "I'm OK God Doesn't Make JUNK" I love it...

Me with the bear Nate won for me on our First Anniversary. ::happy sigh::

Me in a random hat from one of Nate's boxes

So I suppose that is it, been missing his family a bit lately...desiring to be close to your inlaws and having to wait for it to work out in God's timing is a hard place to be in. So please pray for me and Nate.

Been listening to Kirk Franklin today...Oh How I love the Name Jesus, oh you must listen to it if you have a minute, allow yourself to be inspired and touched by the Spirit of God it really does have a way of melting everything away! Thank you Jesus!

Blessings to you all.

A Posse of Pictures

Mom right after church

Nate right after church

Me in the car on the way back to Orlando
[my new sunglasses! Which are a total blessing, I haven't had any for over a year and the ones I like finally went on sale for only $10! YAY Go God!]

My Mum and Me at City Walk I love this lady.

Some of my favorite fellas.

My Popa! What a handsome happy guy!

Nate and Me on the moving sidewalk.

My amazing husband!

Us Happy Together

My Beautiful Mother

Happy Rents

So there you have it, pictures of yesterday as promised! It was an amazing day, not any pics of Justin b/c he wasn't in a getting his picture mood. =] I love him anyway! Hope you all are having a happy Monday and remembering all the blessings you have, even the smallest ones. Because He is a good God!