I have one wedding under my belt. I planned mine in 3 months. Yep, 3. We knew we wanted to get married and so the preparations were going to be squeezed in as little time as possible. We couldn't wait to be together after dating for 4 years. So, planning one in 9 months sounded like nothing to me.
Most of the little details have fallen into place. My sister in law is the opposite of a bridezilla and has mostly told me "I love your style, I trust you". I can't tell you how fun planning and finding so many fun things and not paying for them myself has been :) Its been so fun, except for the bridesmaids dresses. You see, when we started looking in September-October all the summer stuff was gone, and when you're looking for a khaki dress, you need summer options. We looked and looked and looked. Everything looked so "bridesmaid-sy" which is not what Lauren wanted. She wanted matte khaki. Simple, classy, casual. And we found everything but that. We finally settled on a dress that would do, and when I bought it they told us it would take 20 weeks to ship. UGH. Fail again. So we cancelled the order and went back to the drawing board. I finally got desperate and googled "Khaki dress" in images and this baby showed up!
I frantically called and emailed Lauren and it was an instant yes! Finally! The great thing about this awesome company is that the prices are amazing, and when you sign up you get a $20 credit! That means this beautiful i-cant-wait-to-wear-it dress was less than $60 including shipping! Hooray!
As for now, I tried my dress on and immediately put it back in the bag and box, so as to not be tempted to wear it before June 2 ;)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Things We Love: Frank Hurd
We love music around here. We have it on most of the time. Our kids already have favorite songs. We. Love. It. The Lord has let our paths cross with some amazing musicians over the years. Most of them are in the hip-hop genre, but this one....not so much hip-hop. But, OH so good!
Meet our friend Frank Hurd. He is a singer song writer who writes some amazing ballads and has written a couple of the most worshipful songs I've heard in a while! At our recent national (5,000 students) Campus Outreach conference he won a "CO's Got Talent" by a landslide. So. Stinkin. Talented. And he loves the Lord. He has an EP coming out this spring so keep you ears open!!
Here is one of my favorite Frank Hurd covers..."To Make You Feel My Love". You're Welcome :)
Meet our friend Frank Hurd. He is a singer song writer who writes some amazing ballads and has written a couple of the most worshipful songs I've heard in a while! At our recent national (5,000 students) Campus Outreach conference he won a "CO's Got Talent" by a landslide. So. Stinkin. Talented. And he loves the Lord. He has an EP coming out this spring so keep you ears open!!
Here is one of my favorite Frank Hurd covers..."To Make You Feel My Love". You're Welcome :)
"like" Frank on Facebook to stay in the loop!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Nostalgia
There is something about knowing a season, a time, a place is coming to an end that makes you appreciate it more. The past week I have cleaned (and cleaned and straightened and cleaned) this sweet little bungalow so that it will be in "show condition". As I've swept from room to room, I have become more and more aware of how much I will miss living here. Its not that I haven't appreciated it for the past year and a half. I have, a lot. But when you are faced with an end, that appreciation seems to become more intense. I will miss the big rooms, the picture window we play in every day. I will miss the sun rising in the dining room, and sitting with E on her bed watching it set and discovering all the colors it makes. I will miss students randomly stopping by, and waving at my girls going to class out the big window. I will miss my uh-mazing kitchen.
I am sad to leave this place. This city, this life, but more so, this home. We have made so many memories here. And we've only been here a short while. But, in my sadness, I am thankful. I am thankful that I know the Lord will give us another place that will become "home" and that it will be perfect in its own way. Im thankful for a new season of life and new memories to be made. But most of all, I am thankful for the reminder that this world is not our home. It is a passing, fleeting season. One God has been gracious enough to make enjoyable for us. But we were made for a different world, a heavenly one. We are here to know Christ and make Him known, and then we will leave. It will be over, and we will go, in joy, to our real heavenly, perfect, with-Christ home. And it will be glorious. Far better than any home we attempt to make here. "This is just a stop on the way to where we're goin."
The first time I heard this song I wept....like a baby (and just did again!). Its a good reminder (and MAN....can this girl sing! What a display of the Lord's creativity!).
I am sad to leave this place. This city, this life, but more so, this home. We have made so many memories here. And we've only been here a short while. But, in my sadness, I am thankful. I am thankful that I know the Lord will give us another place that will become "home" and that it will be perfect in its own way. Im thankful for a new season of life and new memories to be made. But most of all, I am thankful for the reminder that this world is not our home. It is a passing, fleeting season. One God has been gracious enough to make enjoyable for us. But we were made for a different world, a heavenly one. We are here to know Christ and make Him known, and then we will leave. It will be over, and we will go, in joy, to our real heavenly, perfect, with-Christ home. And it will be glorious. Far better than any home we attempt to make here. "This is just a stop on the way to where we're goin."
The first time I heard this song I wept....like a baby (and just did again!). Its a good reminder (and MAN....can this girl sing! What a display of the Lord's creativity!).
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Would Jesus listen to Jay-Z?
My hubby officially has his own blog (mostly because this one was too "frou-frou"). :) So I'm claiming this one and may make some edits accordingly :)
His first post is one that has been brewing for a while. He has great insight to some cultural blind spots in the area of entertainment. Hop on over and take a look. (He's awesome)
www.clintdarst.blogspot.com
His first post is one that has been brewing for a while. He has great insight to some cultural blind spots in the area of entertainment. Hop on over and take a look. (He's awesome)
www.clintdarst.blogspot.com
Monday, January 9, 2012
Happy New Year! (a tad late)
We spent this last week in Chattanooga TN with 5,000 Campus Outreach students and staff! Some of the best preachers in the country were there. It. was. amazing. It was time well spent for us, ministering to college students (with no babies!) and enjoying the city. We are really tired(physically), but refreshed (spiritually) as well. And SO VERY glad to be home!
2011 was a year of refining for us. The Lord's commitment was evident. Many life circumstances were difficult and unexpected, but the Lord used them to make us more like Him. And so, it was very very good. 2012 will have its' difficulty for sure, but we are excited for a fresh start. This year will be different than any other. In ways we know and in ways we don't know just yet. The Lord has been up to a lot in and among us.
If you are on Facebook you may have noticed some chatter about some "news" for us. Though I still can't share ALL the details, I can let you in on a major part of it. As of tonight around midnight, our house goes live online, for sale! This is long in the making for us. We have known it was going to happen since last summer, but the reality is setting in. We are excited and anxious and hopeful for all this means!
The full news about whats up will be posted later this week. ;)
May the Lord be made great in 2012. In transition, in moving, in parenting, and in a new normal. Happy New Year!
2011 was a year of refining for us. The Lord's commitment was evident. Many life circumstances were difficult and unexpected, but the Lord used them to make us more like Him. And so, it was very very good. 2012 will have its' difficulty for sure, but we are excited for a fresh start. This year will be different than any other. In ways we know and in ways we don't know just yet. The Lord has been up to a lot in and among us.
If you are on Facebook you may have noticed some chatter about some "news" for us. Though I still can't share ALL the details, I can let you in on a major part of it. As of tonight around midnight, our house goes live online, for sale! This is long in the making for us. We have known it was going to happen since last summer, but the reality is setting in. We are excited and anxious and hopeful for all this means!
The full news about whats up will be posted later this week. ;)
May the Lord be made great in 2012. In transition, in moving, in parenting, and in a new normal. Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Oh, December
December has been a little chaotic for us. With the end of Clint's first seminary semester, crunch time for our ministry schedule, sickness running through the house, and preparing for Christmas, its been a little nuts. We have been trying to usher in the baby Christ by doing daily (ha) devotions and crafts from Truth in the Tinsel (which I highly recommend!). Though it hasn't been as "Christmasy" as I'd hoped, we are still making memories. I feel like Christmas is never as ideal as I hope...I keep hanging on to the hope of next year being less crazy. Hopefully this time, that will be true.
I was encouraged by my friend Carrie's blog recently. She says it so well, and I think our ideals can be unfair because of what others holidays look like. Hello, Pottery Barn December catalog! You know why its unfair to look at those pictures and think "I wish my house could be like that during Christmas"? NO ONE LIVES IN THOSE HOUSES! It's an epiphany I had this week as I attempted to wash dishes, make a Mary popsicle craft, read scripture to a 3 year old and balance a cranky 14 month old on my hip. This is what Christmas looks like here. All day Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy marathons because the whole family is too sick to do anything else, half done advent devotions because I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, no lights up anywhere in the house (except the tree) because I can't find a drop cord, and no. Christmas. cards.
But you know what? My baby knows which Little People is Jesus, my 3 year old knows about an angel named Gabriel visiting 2 women with news of babies to come, and believe me, we know the story of the little drummer boy. Baby steps. And though I may not be living up to the mom bloggers I read, I know this. We are being faithful in the chaotic, sick, clingy, imperfect reality that is our life.
So, here are a few pics of the (few documented) December happenings around here.....
I was encouraged by my friend Carrie's blog recently. She says it so well, and I think our ideals can be unfair because of what others holidays look like. Hello, Pottery Barn December catalog! You know why its unfair to look at those pictures and think "I wish my house could be like that during Christmas"? NO ONE LIVES IN THOSE HOUSES! It's an epiphany I had this week as I attempted to wash dishes, make a Mary popsicle craft, read scripture to a 3 year old and balance a cranky 14 month old on my hip. This is what Christmas looks like here. All day Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy marathons because the whole family is too sick to do anything else, half done advent devotions because I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, no lights up anywhere in the house (except the tree) because I can't find a drop cord, and no. Christmas. cards.
But you know what? My baby knows which Little People is Jesus, my 3 year old knows about an angel named Gabriel visiting 2 women with news of babies to come, and believe me, we know the story of the little drummer boy. Baby steps. And though I may not be living up to the mom bloggers I read, I know this. We are being faithful in the chaotic, sick, clingy, imperfect reality that is our life.
So, here are a few pics of the (few documented) December happenings around here.....
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| We love shatterproof ornaments... |
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| Decorating the tree. |
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| playing together. One of my most favorite things in life right now. |
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| Nias learns to watercolor. What a big boy. |
Thursday, December 8, 2011
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