They didn't think they should be allowed to do this! ha!
They finalized invitations, boys attire, and cake stuff.
He started his job.
And is adjusting to it and really enjoying it.
She had a lot of ups and downs.
He was super encouraging.
She subbed a bit.
They are grateful to be seeing the Lord's provision in their lives in every situation.
They started marriage counseling.
They are less than three months from the wedding! Ah!
((p.s. we are not kissing behind this paper...literally, I waited until the 31st to take a he & she picture and we weren't looking too awesome. I think this is cute anyways....haha))
When South started school last week I kept seeing facebook statuses about Jag Bikes and I got curious. After finding out more, I was totally bummed that I had graduated and not gotten to participate the fabulousness that is a jag bike. haha. Well, Julie and I hadn't hung out in a while and we made plans to last week. She said, "Well, have you heard about Jag Bikes?" To which I responded, "YES! Let's do it!" haha. I knew I could count on her. I had to document this because we just went and found them and road around. So much fun.
Jag Bikes are Jag Smart! Totally.
They are pretty much awesome.
love....
Love you friend! Thanks for a fun afternoon! We will do it again soon! Oh, and Sarah, we missed you!!
Hello and happy Monday! I hope this one has treated you well! I just wanted to check in quickly and briefly share a few pictures of a couple of photo projects I have been working on. I planned on creating an album using the pictures that Brett's roommate took of our engagement day and that album is just about complete! Only about 6 months later!! I also decided to create an album of the pictures that Bayleigh took of us! I have printed everything at home and each album is going to be completely different!
I am loving the way they are turning out and cannot wait to share more as soon as they are completed!! I have a few other posts planned for this week before Thursday because I am heading to New York for the weekend. Gosh, that sounded so ritzy...haha. While I may not be going to the big city.....I'm heading to Buffalo, New York to be apart of a wedding of two very special and dear friends and I cannot wait!! Again, I will share more on that later as well!
Well, the last couple of weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. There have been lots of ups and downs. My emotions have been all over the place. I won't go into a lot of detail but all I can say is that I am so thankful for the Lord and His faithfulness. I am thankful for His provision in every situation. He is faithful when I am unfaithful. He is good to me even when the way that I respond is not always great. I am emotional, fickle, I sway, and I am inconsistent.....but my Lord is not any of those things.
I will be back soon!! I plan on enjoying my Saturday!
Well, I'll be honest....The past couple of days have been full of unexpected news, excitement, anticipation, nervousness, and disappointment. As most of you know, I graduated in December with my degree in elementary education. Y'all, I loved my major. I loved going to class and doing observations. It is just what I have grown to love. Now, ultimately, I want to be a wife and mother but, I truly want to teach. I was blessed to get an interim in the spring to finish up the year. I knew that finding a job would be tough in the fall but didn't have too many fears or doubts.
Fast forward to this past Friday, I get a call about a possible kindergarten position. I am ecstatic. This teacher retired Friday and they needed someone quick. I was recommended and things seemed to be going in a positive direction. No one else was being considered really. The principal called me and set up an interview for Tuesday. I knew it would be tough because school would have started but I was preparing and trying not to get too excited or ahead of myself. That is a tough thing though!! Anyways, the interview ended up being cancelled today because of some bumps in the road, mandatory transfers, etc. I don't know all of the details honestly. All I know is, I felt disappointed and hurt today.
In my head and heart, I instantly wondered who would be hired. Would they be better than me? Why them? Why was I not given a chance? I, at times, have felt entitled and like I deserve a job. Who am I to think that though? This did not surprise God. My flesh is sinful and is quick to be upset, sad, disappointed, hurt. I am not saying that those feelings aren't natural, but, why am I not instead, quick to remember that EVERYTHING that happens to me is for my good and His glory. His word PROMISES that He will work ALL THINGS for MY GOOD!! It's a promise. My plans are not His. His are better. I have to look at all of the MANY, MANY blessings that God is pouring all over my life during this phase of my life. Seriously, it is amazing. I am getting married. Brett has a job. We will have somewhere to live. We will have furniture. We will not starve! :) I want to look at this time as a blessing, not a burden. Sure, an extra paycheck would be so helpful financially. However, I only want to be in the center of HIS will. I do not want to be outside of it for some extra money.
I promise you, I do not have it all together. God is using this time that is tough to stretch me and mold me and test my faith! It reminded me of this song by Laura Story. I am sure you have heard it because of it's recent popularity. The line that was brought to my mind was....
"What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst, this world can't satisfy? What if trials of this life, the rain the storms, the hardest nights, are Your mercies in disguise?"
I mean, this was a disappointing day but if this is one of my greatest disappointments, I think I will be okay. Bottom line....what happened today was for my good and my Father's glory and because I say that, I am choosing to believe that.
Those of you that have prayed for me....thank you! I am blessed to have you in my life!
On Tuesday we had our last Bible study for our summer study. As I have mentioned we have been going through Beth Moore's study through the book of Daniel. I so enjoyed being in this study with all of these girls! It was a really tough study but I learned so much. I had no idea that the book of Daniel tied in so much with the book of Revelation. I was so encouraged by Daniel's life. He was so steady in the midst of living in Babylon and surrounded by so much sin. We were encouraged to be Daniel's as we are living in our own Babylon. I pray that I will be consistent in my walk with Christ. I pray that people will see a difference in my life. I am so thankful for the example of Daniel.
Since it was our last night together, we also decided to have dinner together before we started and I made dessert. I had been wanting to try one of the millions of desserts I have seen on Pinterest. I decided to go with mini peanut butter cheesecakes.
Mmm....they turend out so delicious. I did end up changing to regular sized muffin pans and not mini ones. It made exactly 12 regular sized cheesecakes so definitely double it for a bigger get together.
Crust:
1 cup of chocolate cookie crumbs (I used oreos)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. sugar
Cheesecake:
12 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
Dash vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
Ganache:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (room temperature)
Now, everything turned out great when I made it. I have this tool that I got from pampered chef that you can use to pipe icing and it makes it look so pretty. I have used it many times already. For the ganache, I don't know if I let it thicken a bit too much or should have just put it in a bag instead of my pampered chef tool? It tasted delicious but wouldn't pipe right to look pretty so I ended up just putting chocolate chips on the top. No one seemed to mind but the ganache tasted so great and would have been so pretty!!
Here is the printable recipe! They really were delicious!
In other news, Brett has started his job and is enjoying it but it will definitely take some getting used to! Not only did he start his job but we did one more "adult" thing this week. Brett bought a new car! Sadly, he had to part ways with his truck. The boy loves his truck so this was not a fun decision but the deal was too good to pass up. Plus, we are going from getting 11 miles to the gallon to 23 miles to the gallon. We really knew it would be smarter in the long run with us getting married and everything. He got a Ford Fusion. He will be driving that right now and we may trade eventually!
So, lots of exciting and scary things happening. It has been a big week for us but it's definitely been good! It's almost Friday people!!
Brett and I had such a good weekend. We headed to Phenix City on Thursday to see his parents. I had no idea we would be celebrating my birthday but when we got there, his mom had cooked spaghetti for dinner. She knows it's my favorite! Then, I was surprised with a chocolate on chocolate cake. Wow. She knows her future daughter-in-law! I felt so very loved and special!
We had such a nice weekend catching his mom up on wedding plans and finalizing a few more details! We also registered at another little shop in Phenix City so we are officially done with all of that for now! It was just nice to be able to be with his family and for them to be more involved with the planning process since it can be a challenge to be in two different cities!
Today we finalized what the boys will be wearing and invitations! We will order those later this week or next week!! eek!! That will make it all official!
Also, tonight I created a wedding website for us. I wasn't planning on doing this since I would be putting a good bit of information on the blog but I did it so that people can see where we are registered and directions to Camp Grace and all that jazz. It's nothing fancy and not completely finished but it will do!
Tomorrow Brett starts his big boy job! We are so blessed and excited about this job! Also, we may have another exciting announcement in the next couple of days!! This growing up stuff is exciting, challenging, confusing, and fun!
Today I am officially twenty-three. The celebration started this weekend when family was all together. Eric, Linds, V, and my cousins were all here. Since my birthday is the 1st and hers is the 3rd we celebrated together!
My parents got me my mixer. Wow. Being excited about this must mean I am getting old! :)
Eric and Linds got me some plates and tervis tumblers with a K on them....I'm excited to be adding a K to my monogram!
Brett always asks me...."Does everything have to be monogrammed?" My response....."Yes!"
Today I woke up and soon after Brett came over with Chick-Fil-A, flowers, and a present.
He got me my cake stand from my china!
We had a fun day and night! It is always good to be with family...
Sam showing us some tricks...
Pudge....
Uh oh...trick and a fail...
Ouch..
Brett, Palmer, and I...
Thanks for the platter Mangs!! I LOVE it!
Love you Mangs!
All in all....a great day! Cannot believe it was my last one as a Blackman!
I am thinking my twenty third year will be the best one yet!
