one month

dear future mr,

one month from now, i will be your mrs. can you even believe it, because i can't. i can't believe that its already been almost ten months, let alone the two years we've been together. time goes so fast. i'm excited for all the first that will come in the next year. our first address together, our first vacation, our first christmas as a married couple, our first joint bank account. so many firsts to be had. as excited as i am about all those firsts, i'm more excited about the everyday. coming home to you everyday, sharing your last name with you everyday, cooking for you (almost) everyday, waking up to you everyday. i'm ready to share in every day with you. the good ones and the bad ones too, although i may not feel that way in the moment. because when it comes down to it, there isn't anyone else that i want by my side on a bad day. you know how to make me smile, even when i don't want to. you make me laugh harder than anyone else. you make me feel like i can overcome the world. your are exactly the person that i need to be with me to get through every day. and that is exactly why i believe that God has brought us together. not for all the big moments, but to love each other through the everyday moments. to share together in the little joys of life. yes, there will be many big moments, too, but not as often as the other. life for the past six months has really been, well, crazy and its not going to slow down just yet. but when it does, i am excited that you will still be there each and every day.

love,

me

lately, again

Apparently, I went completely MIA for about two weeks. Sorry about that...but I can show you what I've been up to.

 

1. My new DIY studio (aka my garage)

2. Road trip to the future in laws

3. Date night with the future hubs

4. Our new (to us) kitchen table

5. Back to Illinois

6. Got to hang out with this week girl for 5 days

7. I did this. Yep. Pretty proud of myself. 

8. Baby cow at the fair

9. Draft horse heaven

10. Draft horse heave part two

11. Gentle giant

The past two weeks have been packed full of events and it seemed to just fly by! With the wedding quickly approaching, I am finding that the days are slipping away so quickly, hence my lack of blog posts. I am also finding that the busier I am becoming the less my thoughts are flowing which also contributes to the lack of blog material. Hopefully I can conjure up a few more posts before the big day.

But I did manage to take sometime and venture back home to Illinois to the good ole' county fair. If you don't already know, it's probably my favorite time of the year, read this. This year I was reminded so much of how many good people there really are in our world. So often we're bombarded with bad news, but being back in the small town, county life style, life was slower and gentler. It was good to be in an environment where people have such passion for things such as family, 4-H, agriculture and a lot of the basic foundations of what our lives are built on. I think that's while my heart often aches for the simplicity of small town life. There is a certain type of wholeness and goodness that exists there. I'm so thankful I got to experience it again this year.

time

The past five days seem like such a blur. So much has happened and it seems like I just blinked and it was all over. I traveled north to my future in-laws for the weekend. I enjoyed Friday's blazing 100 degree heat in pool, finally getting some sun kissed skin. Jake's family from the east coast had traveled in for the weekend and it was great to spend some quality time with them.

Saturday everyone else rolled in to celebrate at my second bridal shower. Our family and friends really outdo themselves, I tell you. The women in Jake's family put so much energy and time into the details of this day and nothing went unnoticed. It was such a tremendous celebration. I feel so honored that they all care so much for Jake and I that they would throw such a wonderful shower.

just a few of the details

 On top of it all, my mom was there to celebrate the day with us and I am so glad that she was able to come and enjoy. Jake and I are truly so blessed by the people in our lives and there aren't enough words to express how wonderful they are. I am so thankful that God has put, not only Jake, but his family in my life. It's such a treasure to be surrounded by them.

Thank you all for feeding my spirit with such a beautiful weekend celebration.

Happy July 2nd

Yes, according to everyone else it is the great summer holiday, Independence Day. For me, I am only considering it to be July 2nd. Why you ask?!?

Well, because I spent this glorious holiday in my office...working. Albeit, I volunteered to work today, but it doesn't make me any less envious of everyone else enjoying being poolside, eating yummy grilled food, and catching candy at the parade. Yet, since I worked today, I get to have Friday off, which is when I have declared my July 4th celebration to take place. So while everyone is back in their offices, I'll be poolside posting pictures to Facebook of my floating raft in the pool and my awesome umbrella drink. (And no, I'm not bitter)

Anyway, today is great day regardless of whether your working, serving, or enjoying. It's our yearly reminder that what we have in our county didn't come without a fight. We had to declare our independence and create something completely new. I am a big history buff and, as uncool as it is, historic events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, make me excited. A couple years ago, I visited Independence Hall. I just stood in awe thinking of the events that had taken place in that very building. Thinking of those incredible movers and shakers who would discuss their ideas and make plans.

The first time I went to Washington D.C., I was enamored by the history and overwhelmed with the magnitude of what events take place in that city. It opened my eyes and made history so much more real. Then about six year later, I went to Egypt. It was during my time in Cairo, that I came to realize just how valuable our freedom is to us. It was such a different world in Egypt, especially as women. we were treated in such a way that I have never been more thankful to be an American.

And as I am just 59 days away from having the same last name as one of the coolest people in history, not that I'm biased or anything, it is such a sweet reminder today make sure we say thank you and pray for our country.

Happy July 2...err...4th!

celebrate

If you've turned on the news lately or read the recent headlines, it's nothing but depressing. There are such negative things going on in teh world around us; violence, fires, floods, money troubles. It breaks my heart. I can easily get brought down by the weight of the world. I quickly can get wrapped up in what is going on around me and can sometimes be consumed with depressing news articles. There's not a lot of joy in that.

Coming home after a absoluetly, wonderful week of celebrating the marriage of my brother and his beautiful bride, the last thing I want is for my joy to be stolen. Sometimes I just want to close my eyes and pretend all that stuff isn't going on and live in the world of wedding celebrations, good friends, time with family and enjoying this beautiful season.

So maybe that's just what I will do. Continue living in the joy of this life because we're only given a short amount of time on earth and what fun is it to live in the negatives that surround us. Let's celebrate each day, whether there is a wedding, a baby, a new job or just another day. Let's us rejoice and say thank you for another day and share the good that is going on in the world.

I'm so thankful that my hope is found in something other than the world. That I have a reason to be joyful and have a future full of hope.

what I'm reading

Summer is such a great time to catch up on all the books you've collected and have yet to read. Whether its by the pool, on the front porch or lounging at the beach, it's the best time to get lost in a good read. I have a habit of starting a book and not finishing it before I start the next one. I'm almost always reading two or three books over the same time frame. This is what I'm reading right now.

I started this book after I heard about it from another blogger. To be honest, there is nothing super amazing about it. However, it's a really great story. Its told from multiple perspectives but centers around the main character Ramona. She is a baker who has had an eventful life. There is a lot of feeling to the story and whenever I pick it up, I end up reading for much longer than I meant to. Also, there are tons of recipes at the ends of the chapters. I can't wait to try some of the breads.

First off, I love pretty much anything Gary Chapman writes. He writes mostly book regarding human relationships, personality types, and marriage. Since those are my favorite topics, you can probably tell why I like reading his books so much. This book was no different. I found this incredibly insightful, honest, a bit unsettling, and really hard to put down. Now it could be because I do love the topic so much and its pretty relevant to my stage in life, but I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is dating, seriously dating, engaged or newly married. It's definitely eye opening. There are even questions and exercise for you to go through, if you want to take an extra step. Jake is probably glad I'm done reading this book because a lot of my sentences started out as "So you know what I read in that marriage book..." Gary Chapman goes though the major topics, areas of conflict, areas of untruth,  and biggest points of frustration that he and his wife went through during the beginning of their rocky marriage. Don't worry though, he is also a licensed counselor so his advice comes with some validity. I realize that by reading this book it won't make our marriage perfect but at least it opened my eyes to what may be normal that may not always seem normal and help us build a solid martial foundation.

I started reading this book because it is one of my favorite authors, favorite authors. I assumed that I would probably love it because if she was anything like her writing style it would be awesome. It definitely was different than I anticipated. It was significantly more edgy than any other "faith" books I've read before. The beginning chapters really took me for surprise. It was a bit hard to get into it but every now and then I find myself really enjoying it. It has taken me much longer to read than I thought but I think at the end of it I will be pleased. I'll keep you posted.

These are the books that are filling my nightstand these days. Tell me...what are you reading?

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I would also like to briefly mention that today is my sweet grandma Norma's birthday. And although she isn't physically here to celebrate with us, it doesn't take away the fact that a beautiful, special woman was born today. She is forever loved and missed.

life lately

according to my iphone pictures

1. my favorite kind of saturday morning

2. pile of doilies

3. 10 hours of invitation building

4. my first bridal shower

5. flying cupcakes wedding cake - the best

6. dinner of choice

7. sleepy puppy

One week from now I will be heading south for my brothers wedding. I cannot believe that it is already here. It seems like the past year and a half just flew by. I am so excited for this wedding. I may be a bit sketchy here in the next couple weeks but I promise I will return from time to time and with lots of pictures.