Mary's Song

Sometimes I get worried about what I write about, whether it will be funny, interesting, or have some sort of added value to others lives. I get wrapped up in focusing on what it is I'm writing. But today, I'm just going to write whats on my heart and mind.

Today I read this...

And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, 

for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; 

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

~ Luke 1:47-55

Imagine, you were told that you were going to give birth to the Son of God. Woah. Yet, as you can see, Mary faithfully accepts what God has asked of her. She has such a beautiful heart and trusting spirit. She is humble and gracious for the gift that God has planned for her. You don't see her saying, "but that's not part of my plan." "Don't you know this is going to make people ask a lot of questions and they just won't understand." She simply says, "I am the Lord's servant."

Mary is someone who I know I need to be more like. To accept the path before me with no questions or concerns, but to trust and know that God's plan is so much greater than anything I can imagine. Even though, the future is uncertain. Even though, I am in a phase of transition and preparation. I need to adopt Mary's attitude.

Something to remember not just at Christmas, but all the time.

Blessings to you this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Vacation

Lately...

 

1. Christmas cookies -- Sugar cookie, dipped in chocolate with peppermint crumbles. Delicious!
2. Ornaments -- beginning
3. Wreath -- finished product
4. Salt dough ornaments
5. Homemade vegetable stock -- great to freeze for future use.

One more day til Christmas vacation!

Dreaming

Today, I can't stop dreaming. Dreaming of so many things. Dreaming of this past weekend. Dreaming of the unbelievably gorgeous wedding of this girl. Dreaming of my own wedding. Dreaming of the future. Dreaming of Christmas, which is coming oh so soon. Dreaming of a white Christmas.

Usually when there is less than a week away from Christmas, all I can do is think about Christmas and all the fun and celebration that lie ahead. But not today, today my heart is focused on something different. Another celebration. Today I am wedding dreaming.

I can't seem to stop listening to this song today. And it has me dreaming of walking down the aisle to marry Jake. I know I promised I wouldn't spend too my time talking about weddings on my blog, but today it's whats on my mind. I'm dreaming of forever today.

Ashley and Charlie's wedding was stunning...really...stunningly beautiful. It was a great celebration and I'm so glad that I got to be part of that day. It made me increasingly more excited for our wedding. If you want to see some of my wedding planning inspiration, you can check it out here.

No matter what though, at the end of the day as long as I'm married to Jake...it will be a successful day.

PS- 6 days til Christmas...are you done shopping?

My newest fondness

I have taken a recent fondness to jewelry. I've always enjoyed it, but never really spent much time focusing on what I was wearing. I usually wore pieces that were given to me that had a lot of sentimental value. But, (my future) favorite Aunt Sheri has started selling this. After collecting a few new pieces to my collection, I have really started changing up my jewelry style.

I find myself deciding on my outfit by what necklace I want to wear that day. It has completely opened my eyes to my awareness of jewelry. Today I am wearing this...

I love putting on something simple and jazzing it up with a statement necklace. So fun! And I'm almost to the point of needing a new jewelry box. But thanks to this site, I can just find one on there and DIY!

Speaking of doing it yourself, I have really started to take a liking to finding new craft projects. I always liked them in theory, but I have started attempting new creations and I'm having so much fun with it. It probably helps that it's Christmas so everything seems just that much better.

In honor of these last 12 days of Christmas, I have been doing a Christmas craft or activity each day to celebrate the season. I have made salt dough ornaments (which still need to be painted), made sugar cookies (which still need to be decorated), and made a gingerbread house.

We attempted to make a beautiful gingerbread house, but it came out looking like this.

It's a lot harder than you think...at least to make it look good. At least we enjoyed it. Also, please take note of the the roof (he's my favorite part).

Tonight, my craft involves paint, ornament, a hanger and some hot glue. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Until then, celebrate the season. Merry 9 days til Christmas!

A Christmas movie or two...

This weekend was filled with Christmas, relaxing, great food and great friends. It's one of those weekends that leaves you feeling refreshed and ready for the week. It was a much needed success.

Every year when Christmas comes around, I always tell myself I'm going to do all these different Christmasy things. I usually don't nearly accomplish as much as I'd like, I swear Christmas comes faster every year.

One of my most favorite things to do during the holidays is to snuggle up, drink something warm and watch Christmas movies. This weekend, I did some of that. I got a few marked of my list and it doesn't seem to matter how many times I watch them, but there is just something about movies that gets me in the Christmas spirit.

Here are some movies still left on my list...

• The Nativity Story
• White Christmas
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Frosty the Snowman
• The Family Stone
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
• Elf

So, if you have a desire to watch any of those, just let me know!

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Time to pack up...again

It's funny how quickly life changes sometimes. There are just some things that are out of our control. Ok, scratch that...most things are out of our control. And I like to have control, or at least that is how I've lived most of my life. But I feel as though I have taken a turn for the best. I have slowly started to let hold of my life and the desperately need/desire to keep it "in control" and am slowly learning to ride the waves.

For example, I have to move. Yep, that's right. I'm moving again. Where to you ask? Well, I don't know yet.

You see, I had a really great set up going. I was subleasing a house from a man who was serving overseas in the military. Good news...he came home...5 months early! I am extremely glad for him to be safe and home. But now, that makes me...home-less. The old me may have just about flipped a brick, but not this time. Did I mention that I need to move by the beginning of January? No, ok well I need to move by January 1.

There have been or could be some other slight changes in the picture, too. I'll let you know if any of those things change. But for now, I am in need of finding a place to store my stuff and lay my head for the next 8 months. This is my newest adventure. I am just assuming that God has something interesting in the works and I am just not let in on the secret yet.

But that got me thinking today, about how quickly life changes and just how you never really know how you or someone else's life may change in a simple phone call. So remember this today...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

It's time again to pull out the dusty boxes. Hang the garland and lights. And of course, put the ornaments on the tree. This is what we did last night. Although, I didn't have a Christmas tree, so we picked one up this weekend as we did Christmas shopping (which was wildly successful!). So, we found a 4 ft. pre-light artificial little tree to suffice for this year. (I'm a real tree kind of girl).

This year as I pulled Christmas ornaments out of the box and slowly unwrapped them, anticipating what memories laid inside the tissue paper, the feeling was a bit different. Even though, I love Christmas and everything that comes with it, something felt a bit different...not quite as Christmasy as I remember. Then I realized, this year is different. This year I am unwrapping ornaments at my house; not the home I grew up in. This year, I was surrounded by my fiance and puppy; not my mom, dad and brothers. This year, I wasn't listening to Alabama Christmas playing loudly. Although the ornaments were the same, it's just wasn't the same.

This season of life is one of transition. As I am preparing to marry the man of my dreams and create a new life with him (which I am so excited about), it is a time of transition. This is the last year I sign my long last name on Christmas cards, and exchange it for a shorter, more historical one to share with my future hubby. This is a year of starting/thinking of some new traditions for my future family and remembering the traditions that hold such deep joy in my heart.

I am truly excited for the new stage of life, I will be entering. But as someone very wise once told me, "To every Yes, there is a corresponding No." And even though I am not married yet, it is a time of preparation and transition into that stage of life. There is great joy in what is to come and deep sadness of what used to be. It's one of the unspoken challenges of making this life altering decisions.

Yet, it is a blessing to have such great joy and people in my life no matter what season I am in.

Top left - One of my first Christmas ornaments

Top right - The reason we celebrate

Bottom left - Winnie's first Christmas ornament

Bottom right - Another first Christmas ornaments

Middle - The Angle at the top of my tree

The finished product

 And to end...always a picture of this precious pup.