May132012
Tired puppy after a sleepover with his future brother, Murphy :) (Taken with instagram)

Tired puppy after a sleepover with his future brother, Murphy :) (Taken with instagram)
May22012
April242012
A little late on this post…but now it’s less than 2 months until I am Mrs. Avery Clay. I can’t wait! Avery’s gift came in the mail yesterday and I am so thrilled and excited for him to open it!  We met with our deacon and his wife Sunday for dinner. (At 6:30 on April 22…Exactly 2 months before the wedding!) It was a fantastic night and a really great opportunity for our deacon to get to know Avery and I better as a couple. I’m really looking forward to hearing what he has to say at the wedding :)

A little late on this post…but now it’s less than 2 months until I am Mrs. Avery Clay. I can’t wait! Avery’s gift came in the mail yesterday and I am so thrilled and excited for him to open it! 

We met with our deacon and his wife Sunday for dinner. (At 6:30 on April 22…Exactly 2 months before the wedding!) It was a fantastic night and a really great opportunity for our deacon to get to know Avery and I better as a couple. I’m really looking forward to hearing what he has to say at the wedding :)
April192012

I would buy a whole album of Phillip Phillips covering Usher songs :)
April182012

Can I do this every weekend?

Thanks to my incredible mom, wonderful sisters, and fun friends - I had the best Bachelorette weekend ever!

I got off work early Friday and went home to nap, because I knew I would need rest for this weekend. I woke up to Michelle, barging up into my house like she lived there…typical. :) (Side note…yesterday I saw a quote somewhere that said - Friends knock on your door, your best friend walks right in and starts looking for food - so I’m glad Michelle walked right in!) 

We ran a couple errands before we picked up Callan, our third musketeer, from Marta. Even though she smelt a little bit like poor people (joke joke), I was so excited to see her. We all went to dinner that night, along with Avery at my favorite mexican place, Verde. I don’t think Avery got 4 words in with all of our chatter, but hopefully he still enjoyed being there with my besties!

Saturday started early with MaryEllen coming over to help make me look beautiful. Seriously, she’s a miracle worker with that curling wand. After everyone got beautified, we were off to the Swan Coach House for my Bridesmaid Luncheon. A perfect day in the courtyard, filled with my absolute favorite people. I am so blessed that friends who live far away sacrificed so much to come to this event. Thank you soo much to Rebecca, Liz, and Callan for flying down/up to see me and to Michelle for the long drive!

We enjoyed some mimosas, the best chicken salad of my life, and amazing company filled with many laughs. 

It’s so much fun to get dressed up with your best friends and enjoy a beautiful day outside!

After lunch, everyone broke to rest up for the night. Well, I rested, I’m sure MaryEllen and Elizabeth ran around getting everything ready for the night, because, well it was PERFECT! We arrived at the hotel around 6 to start the Lingerie Shower. There were so many cute details that Elizabeth and MaryEllen put together! I know they worked so hard on making it so perfect for me, and I still don’t think I’ve said thank you enough for everything that they did. 

Modeling all my gifts from Callan & Michelle - Loved them! I didn’t want any of this, but sometimes your best friends know you better than yourself. Having all my accessories made the night so fun!!

My Beautiful Bridesmaids:

Everyone!

And the best sisters in the world…

We had dinner at Cellar 56, so yummy, not the brighest staff though…Still lots of fun! We spent the night at East Andrews and Churchill’s and I’m so happy that everyone had a great time! It made me so excited for the wedding to see how well everyone got along!!

I don’t have any of the crazy pictures from that night…so if you have any - please send them my way!

Thanks to everyone for making it the perfect Bachelorette Party! I couldn’t have imagined it any better! 

March222012
3 Months! I can’t believe how quickly our engagement is flying by, but I am so excited to marry the love of my life!!

3 Months! I can’t believe how quickly our engagement is flying by, but I am so excited to marry the love of my life!!
March82012
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

For ME, the 2nd strongest person I know, only next to my mother: 

I found this great reflection and thought I would share…

Give your burdens to the LORD,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. {Psalm 55:22}

Psalm 55:22 was one of the first verses of Scripture I memorized as a child: “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you” (55:22a, RSV). The NLT captures the sense of the original Hebrew with “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.”

But something is lost in this more contemporary rendering. The Hebrew verb translated here as “give” (shalakh) and in other translations as “cast,” is not the simple Hebrew word meaning “to give.” Rather, it’s basic sense is “to throw” or “to hurl.” It was used, for example, in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Genesis 37:24 says that they “threw” him into a cistern, using the verb shalakh. Even the verb “cast,” which is stronger than “give,” doesn’t quite get the sense of the original Hebrew. Casting could be too calm, like fishing in some idyllic forest stream. I prefer a more robust “throw” or “hurl” or “toss” for shalakh.

The use of this verb in Psalm 55:22, therefore, paints a powerful picture of entrusting our burden to God. We’re invited, not just to hand over our concerns nicely, but to hurl them upon the Lord. It’s as if we’re shouting, “I’ve had it with this burden. I can’t handle it myself. Here, Lord, you take it!” In throwing our burden to the Lord, we’re really letting go of it. Once we’ve tossed it to him, it’s gone. It’s no longer ours to carry.

Notice the promise of Psalm 55:22. It does not read, “Toss your burden on the LORD and he will take care of it.” This is implied, surely. But the text says, “Toss your burden on the LORD and he will take care of you.” God is there, not only to help with our challenges, but to sustain and nurture us. What a wonderful promise, and an even more wonderful reality.

Prayer:

O Lord, how good you are to me, again and again and again. Thank you for this marvelous invitation and promise in Psalm 55:22. Thank you for encouraging me to toss my burdens on you. I cannot carry them alone. Indeed, I’m not supposed to. You are there to bear my burdens with me, and, indeed, to care for me in the process.

Help me, Lord, to trust you with everything in my life. May I trust you especially with those things about which I am apt to worry. By your Spirit, help me to hurl my burdens to you. May I only pick up that which you give me to carry.

All praise be to you, gracious God, because you carry my burden … and because you carry me. Amen.

(21 plays)
4PM
This calendar make days better, and having my chocolate lab at work doesn’t hurt either!

This calendar make days better, and having my chocolate lab at work doesn’t hurt either!
February262012

I love Productive Weekends!

This whole weekend was great! 

After a great week at work, we had our monthly 4H - Office Happy Hour! One of the Account Reps that I work with has started a Brewery with some of his friends. The last Friday of every month, he brings in two kegs and we have a little office bonding time! It was so great to socialize with my co-workers in a casual environment and get to know everyone. 

After that, Avery and I went on a fun date night! Dinner and a movie at Movie Tavern! We saw The Vow. (He loves Rachel McAdams, so it wasn’t hard to drag him to it) We really enjoyed the movie and oddly found a lot of similarities to our relationship. 

Saturday I spent a little time at my parents’ house with Liz & EK before my mom and I went to check out wedding chairs! We found some great ones and I am so excited that everything is coming together! I spent the rest of the afternoon writing thank you notes from my first shower last weekend :) (post coming soon) Finally, that night I got my first extended babysitting experience with EK! Best night ever! Avery joined me and we had a fun aunt & uncle night with our little niece. Absolute perfection.

Sunday was filled with more wedding fun-ness. First, picking out and finalizing the tux that my handsome fiance will wear on the happiest/luckiest/overall best day of his life. Then we had our second to last meeting with our sponsor couple. I really love these two people. They have helped Avery and I immensely in our journey into marriage. They both have so much love in their hearts and are really invested in our relationship, which allows us to openly discuss the ups and downs of our relationship. Finished off the night watching the oscars! Can I just say how much I love Emma Stone and Christopher Plummer? Too darn cute. 

February232012

I realize I might be the only human being left that’s watching American Idol, but that’s not going to stop me from talking about it. I have some serious love for Phil Phillips from GA. A remake of Usher’s Nice and Slow? Genius. I wish he had an album I could listen to already! Watch the video and I guarantee that you’ll agree with me :)
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