Almost Wordless Wednesday...

I've never participated in Wordless Wednesday, but I think I'll begin this week with a picture of my lovely sister Bethany at the rock beach in St. Augustine. Enjoy!

We've Moved!

It's been WAY to long since I've posted! I just wanted to write a quick update to tell you all that due to a whole bunch of exciting developments in the last few months... WE MOVED TO FLORIDA!!! =D We're staying in our camper temporarily on my parent's property until we find a house, which is a bit of an adventure. Especially with THREE cats. ;) It's fun though... or it will be once we find places for everything so the camper is nice and neat. Still working on that one. ;)

I love living here again. I'd forgotten how much I loved Florida. It's a beautiful state. And I LOVE being near my family again. It's great to just be able to walk across the yard and see them. And Josh and I are both really excited about the main reason we moved down..... Josh is going into business with my dad and brothers Brandon and Ben. They're going to be designing and building outdoor living spaces - kitchens, patios, entertaining spaces with stone fireplaces... it's an exciting opportunity. So far things seem to be falling into place. =) I'm so excited about them all working together!

It was really hard to leave our friends and family in Ohio. We miss them a lot. I especially miss my dear friend- sister, really- Rachel. I'm just thankful for texting! =)

 Well I need to go get stuff done. I'll try and update more often so I don't have to shock you with big announcements like this a week after it happens. ;) Bye from sunny WARM DeLeon Springs Florida! =)

4 Weeks and 2 Days

In 4 weeks and 2 days, my little brother will be married to miss Emily Case. =)

I'd better get going on those wedding favors. haha

She Beautifies His Life

I read this today, and it was both convicting and inspiring. I wanted to post it here so I can come back and read it often, and also to hopefully encourage all you lovely ladies out there to join me in becoming a wife that beautifies her husband's life. 

"A true wife makes a man's life nobler, stronger, grander, by the omnipotence of her love 'turning all the forces of manhood upward and heavenward.' While she clings to him in holy confidence and loving dependence she brings out in him whatever is nobles and richest in his being. She inspires him him courage and earnestness. She beautifies his life. She softens whatever is rude and harsh in his habits or his spirit. She clothes him with the gentler graces of refined and cultured manhood. While she yields to him and never disregards his lightest wish, she is really his queen, ruling his whole life and leading him onward and upward in every proper path.

But there are wives also like the vines which cling only to blight. Their dependence weak, indolent helplessness. They lean but impart no strength. They cling but they sap the life. They put forth no hand to help. The loll on sofas or promenade the streets; they dream over sentimental novels; they gossip in drawing-rooms. They are utterly useless, and being useless they become burdens even to manliest, tenderest love. Instead of making a man's life stronger, happier, richer, they absorb his strength, impair his usefulness, hinder his success and cause him to be a failure among men. To themselves also the result is wretchedness.

Dependence is beautiful when it does not become weakness and inefficiency. The true wife clings and leans; but she also helps and inspires. Her husband feels the mighty inspiration of her love in all his life.. Toil is easier, burdens are lighter, battles are less fierce, because of the face that waits in the quiet of the home, because of the heart that beats in loving sympathy whatever the experience, because of the voice that speaks its words of cheer and encouragement when the day's work is done. No wife knows how much she can do to make her husband honored among men, and his life a power and a success, by her loyal faithfulness, by the active inspiration of her own sweet life."

---JR Miller from The Family; a 19th century preacher

The Wedding is coming.....

I love these two.

The wedding is in just FORTY days.

I think they're a little happy.... and just a tiny bit excited. ;) 

I am just bursting with excitement for them!! I can't wait to get to FL. =)

I've been working on my dress....

With a lot of help from my wonderful, amazing friend Rachel. =)

And LOOK WHAT CAME A FEW DAYS AGO!!!

I was so excited. =)

And check this out-

That's my kind of wedding reception. No shoes. =)

*happy sigh*

Love is in the air!

God is so awesome.  I'm STILL so excited I don't hardly know what to write!

If you've read this blog much, you've probably seen pictures of my little brother Ben.

I say little, but he's really not so little anymore. He's all grown up. And GUESS WHAT??!! He's getting MARRIED!!! Yes. He's getting married to the lovely Emily Case.

I love them.

Don't they look SO happy? =)

So here's how it happend. Ben and Emily have known each other for a couple of years now. Their families do church together. Neither of them had thought about the other one as anything more than a friend until early this year. Sometime in the beginning of the year Ben felt like God was showing him that Emily was the One, and so he was praying about it and he started talking to our mom and dad about it. Now here's the really cool part- around the same time Emily started feeling like God was laying it on her heart that Ben was the one for her! So they were both praying about it and thinking about it, and neither of them knew that the other one was thinking the same thing!

Mr. and Mrs. Case, and my parents were feeling the same leading, and in April my parents started talking to the Case's about the possibility of Ben & Emily getting married. At some point around this time, Emily came to her parents (not knowing any of this was going on) and told them she felt like God was showing her that Ben was the one she was supposed to marry. She was continuing to pray and think.

Finally in July, Ben sat down with Mom and Dad and told them he was sure that Emily was the one God intended for him to marry. Of course they were SO happy! They love Emily. =)  Next Ben talked the Mr. Case, who was also thrilled. They love Ben. =) And SO they went right into talking about the ring and the proposal! They decided to keep it a secret from Emily so she would be surprised. =) 

Josh and I (who they ALSO kept all of this a secret from!) were planning to go down to FL for a visit in August so Ben, being the sweetheart that he is, decided to propose while we were down there! The whole church had planned a day at a beautiful park and spring that everyone loves to visit, and so on Saturday August 6th, most everyone from church, except Ben, Brandon, and a few who couldn't make it, walked down a boardwalk through the woods at Alexander Springs, and came out onto a dock on the river. There was a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on the bench, and a card that said Emily Case. Now, up until then, most of us (including Emily!) had just thought we were going for a walk. haha. And now I'll let you watch the rest, because we got it on video!!!! =D

The Asking! from Emily Case on Vimeo.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wasn't that SO AWESOME???!!!! =) God is awesome.

Needless to say, Emily was shocked. And thrilled. And it was SO sweet. I even cried. And I was shaking, so I can just imagine how she felt. =) It reminded me of when Josh proposed to me. =) Click here if you want to read Emily's perspective on it all! =)

They sure do love each other. They're a testament to the blessing of God on those who wait for him.

And you know what ELSE I'm excited about?? I'm going to be a bridesmaid!!!!!!! =D I couldn't be more happy! Josh is going to be a groomsman too, and my older brother Brandon is going to be the best man. =) I just might die of happiness. God is so good. I love my family. 

Oh yeah, and the wedding? It's going to be on NOVEMBER 19th! That's 66 days from today people. * Does a happy dance *

I'm SO excited about the wedding!!!!! I'll be telling you about it in the next few weeks.... it's going to be beautiful. And sweet. And I'm going to cry. I already asked Jean to bring tissues. She's a bridesmaid too. =)

Dear Summer...

Dear Summer,

I miss you. I knew it wouldn't last forever, but I thought you'd stay with me a little longer than this! Did I say something to offend you? I know I complained a few times about the heat, but that didn't mean I didn't still love you! And, you probably heard me say that I couldn't wait for Fall, but that was just a figure of speech! I didn't mean I wanted you to go away! It's only September and already I've had to wear a jacket.
 Please come back Summer. I'm sorry for what I said. I'll try and make it up to you. We can go fishing like we said we would. Maybe we could even do some camping, since we never got to that either in the short, sad time you were here. Please come back?  We can go swimming! Just for a few weeks? I'm not ready to meet Winter yet. It's too soon.

Ormond Beach Fl, August 2011

The Story Of The Dogwood

I saw this on a friend's blog and had to share! =)

The story goes that when Jesus was awaiting crucifixion and when the crosses were being made the trees begged God to spare them, but the Dogwood begged not for it's life but for the life of Jesus. 

The Roman soldiers picked the Dogwood.

The Dogwood pleaded with God to use another wood but God did not intervene.  The Dogwood would now carry the body of Christ to his death and the Dogwood knew that for all eternity Dogwoods would be known for this horror.

God in his wisdom spoke to the Dogwood and understood the tree; in that time Dogwoods were tall straight trees that provided sturdy timber for homes and vessels, safety for the animals. bowls for food, utensils to cook with; and God spoke.

God told the Dogwood that the burden that was carried would be carried only one time, and from that time on Dogwoods would be knarly small trees with poor timber size so no Dogwood could be used in this manner again. God told the Dogwood that the Dogwoods would now be responsible for eternity to help people remember.

The Dogwood would only bloom for a very short time before and after the date of the crucifixion, the flower would have just 4 petals representing the hands and feet of Christ, they would be marked with a hole and the blood of Christ and the center of the flower would be circular raised and represent the head of Christ wearing the crown of thorns.

And so it is today, the Dogwood is a small twisted tree, it blooms at Easter and the flower....well look for yourself.

Happy Resurrection day! =)

Happy Birthday....

To the man who is my best friend.

To the man who loves me no matter what.

To the man I'm blessed to spend the rest of my life with.

To the man I love with all of my heart.

And secondly!


Happy Birthday to the best Mom in the world.

The one who showed me what it is to be a godly wife and mother.

The one who I know loves me unconditionally.

The one who I can always call and talk to when I need to.

Mom, you're an amazing woman and I thank God for you. Thank you for setting such a wonderful example for me and my sisters to follow! I love you.

Photography Contest ~ Through My Lenz Photography

Hi everyone! My talented friend Olivia recently started a blog for her photography business, and she is having a photography contest! I know she would love it if any of you entered! You can check out the contest post here.

The photo challenge is "Best Self Portrait."

Here is my entry!

Yikes blogger really pixilated it.....  Anyway, I took this picture driving home from work with my husband. The sunset light was really pretty and I was just playing with my camera in the mirror. I edited it slightly to enhance the lighting and give it a more vintage feel. =)

I look forward to seeing the other entries!

A Very Late Going To The ZOO Post!

This is several weeks late, but I figured it's better late than never, right? :-) A while ago we went to the Columbus Zoo! I had never been there before, and Josh hadn't been since he was little. If you ever get the chance, I recommend it. It was really nice! I'm sure it's even better in the summer time though. =) 

This will be mostly a picture post, because I had a TON of pictures! Don't worry though, I won't share ALL of them. =) 

Flamingos are SO interesting! Their skinny little legs look like they might break at any moment! These particular birds looked a little cold. After all, it was in the middle of February in Ohio!

The Aquarium is really cool! 

They even had a huge tank with manatees in it! It's neat to see them underwater like that. I'd only seen them from the surface.

This Cheetah (?) Was really beautiful! There was a man with us that was carrying a plastic grocery bag, and kitty was VERY interested in it! He walked right up to the fence and started pawing at the bag like a kitten! =) 

The Gorillas were the most fun! They actually seemed to like having their picture taken, and kept posing for the camera. Every once in a while one would run up to the glass wall and pound on it with his fists and scare everyone. =)

He looks like he's thinking about something. =) 

Look at that arm! Those guys are strong!

This was a lady Gorilla. Once she walked over and sat against the wall right in front of me. It was cool to only be separated from them by the glass!

This was one of the best pictures I got during the entire day. =) Isn't he cool looking?

The tiger! This was exciting. He walked over when he saw us and paced back and forth in front of the glass. Probably because he was hungry and wanted to get through the glass to eat us! =) 

It was really thrilling being this close to him! They are really beautiful animals!

He looks hungry!

He was a pretty good looking cat! Lions are one of my favorite animals. I think they're beautiful!

The lady lion just lay there and watched us. She seemed pretty board. She's pretty though isn't she!

And here's our very own little tigress. ;-) She's a mighty hunter too, of small bits of paper, my hair scrunchies, and her little toy mouse.

Well that's all for now. =) I hope you enjoyed the pictures! 

Prayer Request For My Niece

Hello everyone! I am very happy to tell you (a little late) that my sister-in-law had her baby Thursday a week ago! My adorable niece weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. Her name is Ashlynn Liberty.

My prayer request is: Ashlynn has Down Syndrome, and today we learned that she has a hole in her heart which will require surgery. She is a precious, beautiful baby and has already stolen our hearts. Please remember her in your prayers! ♥

Adventures in Laundry

Last week, my dryer broke. Now, if it had been during the Spring, Summer, or Fall, that would have been ok, because I have a (somewhat small) clothesline. BUT, it's in the middle of winter. I decided to try the clothesline anyway.....

.... and by the time I had these few things hung up, they were already frozen stiff! And so were my fingers! :-) I WILL say that even when your laundry hangs on a line in single digit weather for roughly 24 hours, and gets frozen solid, and THEN you bring it in and hang it from your ceiling fan (which is turned on), EVEN after ALL that, it still smells good, like laundry hung out on a sunny summer day to be dried in the fresh air. :-)  

 I WISH I'd taken pictures of our laundry spinning slowly around on our bedroom ceiling fan, but I didn't. It was pretty funny, and more than once it scared me when I glanced down the hallway and saw movement where there usually isn't any. ;-) 

 The point of this post, however, is just to say that God is good, and blesses us with even the unimportant things at times. Our landlord found a brand new dryer for a great price and got it for us, and now I can do all of our laundry without overloading our ceiling fan. :-) 

And before I go, Cleo says hi!!! :-)

About: Going to the Gym!

Josh and I just started going to the gym. We are going to try and do it everyday for the foreseeable future. I'm happy and excited about it! I really am. I am SO out of shape compared to how I was when I was working on my family's farm every day.


HOWEVER. 


After two days of going to the gym, I feel like this:

And I want to do this:

I know things will get easier as we go along, I just hope it gets easier fast! 

Just a note to say..........

I am MADLY in love with this man!

I'm still here!!

Were you starting to wonder?? I've fallen behind badly in my blogging!

I hope you had a WONDERFUL Christmas and New Years. I sure did! Josh surprised me with a trip to Florida to be with my family down there for the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years, and we had a great time. We spent precious time with family and good friends, did some fishing, enjoyed the warmer weather, and spent more wonderful time with family and friends. :-)

(My very excited little sister on Christmas morning) 

I have some great news!!! My brother Brandon ( the one who has been in Afghanistan) is supposed to be home in 34 days! :-D They are letting him come home for the birth of his first baby. ♥ His wife Amanda is Very thankful, as are Mom and Dad and everyone else. :-) The pregnancy is going well for Amanda. The baby is a girl, and her name will be Ashlynn Madison. Pretty, isn't it? ;-) Please pray for safekeeping for my brother this last month that he will be in Afghanistan, and a healthy end of the pregnancy and birth! It's an exciting time!             

                                     

(Amanda and her daughter, Keylan)

Are you ready for a LOT of pictures?? :-)

 (The Christmas tree on Christmas morning)

 (My brother Brason just a few days out of a body cast that he had to wear for TWO MONTHS after he broke his leg in October!)

 (My brother Boaz)

 (My handsome brother Ben)

 (My sister Bethany passing out presents :-)

 (My sister Brianna)

 (Dad opening his airsoft rifle from Ben)

 (My two littlest sisters, Beri and Providence) 

 (My cutie-pie niece Keylan with her teddy bear from my brother Brandon, which says " Someone in Afghanistan loves me!" ♥

 (My sister-in-law Amanda, and Keylan again :-)

 (My handsome fisherman husband!)

 (Me. Aaaaannd a BEAUTIFUL sunset!)

 (My handsome man ;-)

 (My handsome brother Benny ;-)

 (My beautiful/handsome wonderful amazing parents) ♥

(Us. Not the BEST picture, but it's the only one of both of us from the trip. ;-)

I have TONS more pictures, but I don't feel like uploading anymore. ;-) It's almost 2:00 am and I SHOULD be in bed. 

 We have been getting some snow for the last two days. It's pretty outside! :-D I'll try and get some pictures tomorrow to share with you. :-) Tomorrow I'm also planning on making some soap. Kelp and Lime with a loofah sponge in the bars. I'm hoping it turnes out good! I noticed this evening that my fans have big dust balls on them. :-/ I'll be cleaning those tomorrow too. Fans collect a LOT of dust! 

 Anyway, I will REALLY try to be more consistent with my blogging, so you should be seeing more of me. :-) Bye for now! ♥