Friday, April 30, 2010

TMP

Here's a pic of Tay in the bridesmaid dress! It looks AWESOME on her, too! (I knew it would!)  And she's a great sport for wearing pink as a redhead- I gotta say though, I think she's rockin' that pink!!
Love her!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

An Eye-opening Weekend!

This past weekend one of my best friends from high school, Emily (who is also one of my beautiful bridesmaids) came up to visit me from Valdosta. We stayed up super late Friday night (as usual) talking, and it was SO great to catch up with her. She’s the kind of person who really tells it like it is & shares exactly what she thinks, which I love about her. I would definitely go to her if I needed an honest opinion about something!
She stayed the whole weekend & although we both had other plans while she was here, I REALLY enjoyed our time spent together. Sunday after church she had an opportunity to try on her bridesmaid dress and it looked fabulous on her, just as I knew it would! I am in LOVE with my bridesmaid dresses!!
She is actually the one who got me into this whole “blogging” thing. You should check out what she’s got goin’ on… She’s a brilliant blogger & so open and honest- it’s hysterical and always very interesting!!

On Saturday she & I both went to the Beth Moore’s conference in Woodstock called “So Long Insecurities,” though we went with different people. I went with some of my dear friends from church, Crissy & Becky. This conference was such an eye-opening experience for me. I SO needed to hear the message Beth Moore had for us…
I truly believe that most women, no matter how confident or “have-it-all-together” they may appear, struggle with insecurities in some area of their lives. Although I think I’ve become more grounded and confident since college, I naturally still struggle sometimes. I’m a fervent note-taker, so I’m going to type up the notes I took while I was there. Hopefully you’ll find them as helpful and applicable as I did. I truly believe if I can put this into action in my own life I’ll see a lot of benefits in my relationships, self-esteem, and stress levels.

Here ya go lovely reader!

-You have NOTHING to gain from your insecurity.

-Insecurity & humility are NOT the same thing.

-Insecurity is not a weakness, it’s unbelief. It’s unbelief that Lord is who He says He is and you are who He says you are- A wonderfully made child of the Lord.

A secure woman is:

S: Saved from herself!! We’re our own worst enemy & critic. Our insecurity is a twisted form of self-interest and pride. Secure people don’t have to self-obsess. Insecurity goes hand in hand with narcissism. With insecurity everything curves back in on us; we make everything about us when in reality it probably has nothing to do with us. After we’re infiltrated with the Holy Spirit and become secure, “stuff” no longer curves back in. It goes directly up to God and out to others through love.

E: Entitled to truth!! Ephesians 4:19. Perfectionism is also insecurity. We need to stop trying to manage our strongholds and be truly freed from our struggles by giving them to God. Ephesians 4:22 “You were taught with regard to your former way of life.” Our deceitful desires tell us “If I could just have this/that, I’d be happy.”

C: Clothed with intention!! Proverbs 31:25 “clothed in strength and dignity” JESUS is our security if we’ll let Him be. Security begins in the mind.

U: Upended by grace!! How much of our unforgiveness has to do with our own insecurity? The reason we cannot forgive is because we do not truly feel forgiven for our own sins and wrongdoings. Whatever measure of forgiveness we feel from Christ is what we’re willing to grace others with. We are made NEW creatures in Christ, but we are still convinced we’re our old selves. Grace is the only thing you can give away and still have enough to keep for ourselves. Unforgiveness is like a giant tapeworm that will eat you alive, so if you want to be a secure woman you have to forgive.

R: Rebounded by love!! Ephesians 5:1 Live like the dearly loved child you are. Be an imitator of God. If a heart does not heal, it hardens. We try to place our security in other people, but they will always let us down. God is the only one who loves us with a measureless love.

E: Exceptional in life!! EVERYONE has a need to feel significant. React to every situation with your “new” self. If you are secure, you WILL stick out.

For me, I’ve found that I try to compensate for insecurity through keeping myself as busy as possible, being involved in everything, and making sure it looks like I have it all together. And trust me, I don’t. I’m a people pleaser. I go through phases with my confidence/self-esteem, and my goal is to become more consistent. Our fabulous preacher’s wife/director of Women’s ministry/brilliant Bible study teacher always says that “The biggest threat to the enemy is a consistent believer.” I’m working on my consistency in all areas of life. The two points that resonated most with me are 1) Insecurity is a form of unbelief/pride/self-interest. 2) Secure women are exceptional in life.

It's okay to be a work in progress. 

Here’s to the journey of becoming a truly SECURE woman in the Lord.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Dinner with Friends

We finally got to hang out with some of our favorite friends, Dana & Ryan! They are SUCH a cute couple! They just got married in October & seem so happy and perfect and in love!  We love spending time with them.  We ate at the Melting Pot- which is to die for!  If you've never been you just have to go...I LOVE it! And of course the waiters provide plenty of entertainment. ;)
She is so goregous! And she is always dressed so cute!!!
Our handsome boys talking about "guy stuff"....

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Laura threw a surprise birthday dinner for Brian earlier this week, & we went to help celebrate.  He had NO idea- it was classic!  They are both in the wedding and some of our best friends. Jon & I love both of their families too, so we had a ball celebrating Brian's 27th!
Timmy, Bean, & Brian
The birthday boy & the love of his life!
Me & Big Jon look really pale compared to them...

Thank the Lord for good friends! 

Monday, April 12, 2010

House Shopping vs. Bridesmaid Dress Shopping

House hunting is not all it's cracked up to be....Jonathan & I are SO over it! We have seriously looked at hundreds of houses....& haven't found "THE ONE" we want to make our home.  We both admit we are super picky, but this is something you should be picky about it, right?  No, we don't plan on making this our 'forever' home, but we still know what we want & don't intend to settle.  I think Jonathan is just frustrated and feeling the pressure from the time crunch.  Me on the other hand, well, I'm super decisive.  I don't like to "shop around" for anything.  I despise doing that actually, & it's driving me crazy. Even when it comes to big things like my car & my wedding dress, I just KNEW.  I didn't enjoy any of the shopping around business.  So, on to the more FUN shopping stuff...bridesmaid/junior bridesmaid/flower girl dresses!
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On Saturday I met my wonderful mom, lovely sisters (missed you Ragan), my adorable little nieces, & four of my goregous bridesmaids to look for dresses. Of course I missed my girls that weren't there, but everybody is so busy & spread out.  I'm lookng forward to seeing them try theirs on too.  The bridesmaids all looked SO smokin hot in the dress!! I ended up going with the one from the picture I posted earlier (the long one on the left- but in fuschia).  They happened to have it in the color we're using, so we really got a good feel for how it's going to look! OMG. They all have such great figures, & the dress is really flattering.  I'm actually a little jealous...I want one too! Ha! (But I do for real!)  Here's a few pics....didn't get one of Laura, but she looked GREAT in it!

Chelsi's NOT lookin' too happy...
Dana looked AWESOME!
Chelsea crackin'  me up about something...
I don't know WHY I didn't think to take more pics....but they don't do it justice anyway!


The little girls were so so precious! You could tell they thought they were princesses...totally hamming it up,  posing, staring at themselves in the mirror.  It was darling!  I can't WAIT to see how they are on the day of the wedding because they were such a hoot trying on dresses!
Chloe pretending like she's a little angel...Carsyn doing ballet twirls, & Morgen checkin herself out in the background in a dress that's WAY too old for her!
Me embarassing Madison....haha.  (The dress had cups.)
Gracie being Gracie.
Morgen checkin herself out again while Carsyn says "CHEESE!"

Love, love, love all my girls!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Wishin we were...

Here!
or here....
Or even here!

My Spring Break Update...

- Met with another caterer- loved him! My reception is going to be the BOMB!! I'm just sayin'!

- Booked the venue.  Whew! 

- Talked with a mortgage person from the bank.  In the process of being preapproved.  Still looking for houses-- keep praying for us (or for an extension of the tax rebate)!! I have complete faith the Lord will reveal the right one to us, in HIS timing.

- Did pitching lessons on Monday.  Got a little sunburnt. Have several more throughout the week.  So much for that one! At least I have some GREAT girls that make it worth it.

- Got to hang out with Chelsi & Chad- FINALLY.  I really love them!  And for the record, I spanked everyone's tail in the second game of bowling. :)  Sorry, had to throw that out there.  I'm trying to put my competitiveness behind me.  I'm still a work in progress.

- Went on a walk with sweet Claire & got to talk wedding stuff.  We got engaged one day apart.  She & I have known each other since 1st grade!!  I chickened out that day, but I'm going to ask her to sing in my (I mean OUR! Man, I need to stop saying MY and start saying OUR...) wedding.  She's got an UNREAL voice, & it'll be special to have someone who I have known forever & respect so much sing.

- Started Insanity.  Day 1 was a near death experience.  Day 2 was even worse.  I thought I was going to throw up.  It took approximately 4 1/2 hours for the nausea to go away.  My face hasn't been that red since RBI week playing college softball.  I can barely walk.  All I can say is I better look like a supermodel/fitness model/Jessica Biel look-a-like/Victoria's Secret model/size 0/totally toned, 0% body fat bride on my wedding day.  Okay, so I'm exxaggerating, but it is a FO REAL killer workout.  In a good way.  (I am only saying that because I have just finished it.  If you asked me about 15 min ago I might have had a different opinion!)  I'm excited to watch my body change & get in shape.

- Got to spend some QT with my whole family on Easter.  One of my favorite parts was getting to sit with all my boys in church on Sunday morning.  And FYI:  My mom is amazing!!  She does such a jam- up job getting all the food together, decorating the house, & coming up with fun, creative ideas for all the kids.  I hope I can be a truly do-it-aller like her when I grow up (haha, that's cute huh?).  It's true.

That's all for now...Still have 5 days, which I know will fly by!  I wish I was in Disney World with the Hursts or in the Keys with Dana!!!  But at least I'm getting some stuff done, right?!??  Back to knockin' out my to-do list  & soaking in an Epsom salt bath (wow!)...

By the way, I am SO in love with Jonathan this week. Even more than normal.  Gosh, he is really such a wonderful man!!