Clap your hands!! Well, this girl is clapping! 

I am so stinkin' excited to have a little weekend get away next 

weekend and this is what I am picturing...

{The Hamptons} 

I'm very excited to attend the wedding of the sweet and so in love couple, Jordan and Lissa in Hamptons, NY. I've known Jordan for about 4 years now and I've never met Lissa in person but she is so precious. We got to know each other a little bit on Instagram and then we became Facebook friends. I knew she was a sweet heart when she left me a comment wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving. Seriously, who does that? 

For the past few months I have witnessed Jordan and Lissa's anticipation for their big day with the sweet comments and the countdowns between the two of them, I can't believe its finally here so of course I can't imagine how they must feel. I can't wait to celebrate and enjoy the beautiful views... and meet Lissa in person of course!! 

Prayers are appreciated for my flight to NJ a week from today... I don't have a happy history with flying alone but I'm going to stay positive. And pray. A LOT. Starting tonight. ;) 

Midweek Randoms

A little random time is always appreciated on Wednesday…. Yup.

1. I had lunch with the two best friends and one of their men (Adam is a lucky man) and I had some of the best chicken salad. Sadly this was not my meal… it was Jocie’s. I never order chicken salad because you rarely find any without onions. I loathe raw onions. I’m very happy to know where I can now find a tasty chicken salad sandwich. High Five Saffron’s!

2. Apparently a bartender from one of my favorite places (The Green Room) described me as the “Pretty Redneck”….? I have mixed feelings about this.

Pretty, thank you… redneck, excuse me? Larry and I will be having a conversation about this ASAP.

3. I woke up super early this morning and went to yoga. It was still dark outside when I pulled into the almost empty parking lot. The class was fantastic… I think I’m going to make the early AM class an everyday occurance so I won’t have to worry about my plans after work. I can do whatever I want… girl time, dinner, visit family, catch up on my dvr, take a nap, you name it and I can probably do it because my yoga will be complete for the day. awesome!

4. Invitations for Jocie’s Summer Shower were ordered today!!! The only thing I love more than weddings are showers and when they are for your best friend they are the BEST ever! Can’t wait for all the DIY fun for this shower. The Fall Shower for Katie was a ton of fun and I’m so thankful I have another sweet friend to celebrate with!

5. I’m officially obsessed with Game of Thrones. If you don’t know what that is then you need to check out HBO right this second. Woah daddy… its gooooood! I’m fighting the urge to finish the first season but I will wait for my man to come home this weekend. I’m a keeper.

6. Yes, man… he’s a keeper too. :)

Hope you all had a fantastic humpday… it was beautiful here in Greenville, SC & since I don’t have to rush off to yoga I've already taken my sweet pup for a little walk and now I'm going to paint my fingernails! Yoga. Cardio and Mani…. High five!

….yea, I like high fives. Haha!!

attention ladies...

I know I mentioned on the last post about the exciting conference at my church but exciting just does not express it accurately! It was so incredible... I know I can't explain everything I learned and tell all the amazing stories I heard but I thought I could share some of my favorite parts! 

"A woman, as an ezer, reflects God as an Ezer, as someone who comes alongside, nurtures, and lends strength.  Being an ezer is the core of who a woman is. It is not a role she plays, nor is it defined by her season of life. On the contrary, because it is who a woman is, it translates across all roles and seasons of life as mother, daughter, employee, employer, mentor, grandmother, single, widow, or empty-nester."

"Our Self Image has become our Body Image." - As a worldly woman we lose sight that our body and soul is intertwined. Our given beauty is from our Creater... He made us with purpose. God was sovereign in our conception and we are GOOD the way He made us. 

"The act of sex creating life is unspeakably Glorious." - It is a God-like activity within marriage and He made it to be good, powerful & necessary. 

"We are confessed sinners and we won't be perfect until we see the face of Jesus." - He wants to restore, rebuild and renew us but we will never find perfection here on earth. 

"A man's desire to pursue is not wrong- but when it is broken from faith it is lost." - When men use what God has equipped them with to love and protect we {women} become the winner. 

"What we do with our bodies does matter" - It shapes who we are, it shows how we feel about God because we do not own our bodies. He does. {1 Corinthians 6:15-20} Who we are in Christ does matter... righteous, holy, blameless & spotless, heirs to the Kingdom and we should live up to all of that. He is not ashamed to identify with us so we must live to what we've already attained. 

"We are created as women in the image of God to be helpful and we don't have to wait for a husband to serve that role." - we are able to have a healthful expression as a woman in many ways. We need to fully engage and impact the world with our womanhood. 

"Jesus is Lord and King, not our boyfriend." - If we try to make Him that we are robbing Him of saving us. We must submit and rely on God, not come alone beside Him

"God will give you the desires of your heart." - BUT we take this verse and switch the meaning so often, He will shape the desires of our heart to match what He desires. Our legitimate desires doesn't mean we are entitled to them. 

"Purity is not our highest goal- Worship is." - This should help us sustain from our wants as a single woman because our bodies are made to worship Him, not ourselves. 

Mmmmm, everything I learned on Friday night and Saturday morning will stick with me forever. I absolutely loved it. If you enjoyed the little bit that I shared I encourage you to take a look at the Ezer Blog that my church so generously updates frequently. I also heard that they were going to have the audio added so you can even listen to what I heard over the weekend. Happy Tuesday, friends!! :) 

The day before Friday

Today is Thursday which makes me feel all sorts of happy inside! Yes… all sorts!

I took this picture while I was taking a little walk outside to meet my beautiful friend Katie for lunch. Sadly Jocie couldn’t come because of wedding planning and then I found out that she COULD come but she got her days confused. Tragic.

You see, it’s hard for the 3 of us to find time together. We are constantly trying to squeeze in some lunch, or a happy hour or maybe a weekend brunch and movie but something always gets in the way. Even confusion with what day of the week it is.

We missed you, Jocie… and just so ya know, it’s Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday. And yes, I am pretty darn happy about it!

The Last Month.

……has been a happy one.

Looking back on my posts from the past few years on this little blog I’ve realized a few things….

1. I’m such a GIRL.
2. Girls blab way too much sometimes.
3. Blabbing can make you sound kinda silly.
4. Silly can be annoying.
5. I don’t want to be annoying.

In the past year I’ve grown up a lot.

My faith is grown, my trust in my faith and Lord has grown and my relationships have grown. I’m so thankful for everything that has happened in the last year and it’s funny to look at where I am now.

Where I am now is beautiful.

So, for a recap in the past month I have learned….

1. God’s plans are the most important plans.
2. Prayer and reading His Word is the key to understanding His plans.
3. Actions speak far louder than any words can. 
4. Love really should protect, trust, hope and preserve if you want keep it from failing. {1 Corinthians 13:7-8}
5. Any relationship that is secure in His love can grow to something even better than you could hope for.

I’ve always been excited about any kind of change so I can’t wait to see what the next few years will look like. No rush, I’m taking my time day by day to evolve into the woman God wants me to be but I definitely plan on enjoying this journey! It’s fun to be a giddy girl at times but through prayer and trust in His plan I look forward to the Godly woman I will become. 

4 day weeks!

I’m sure we all agree that four day work weeks are most definitely appreciated, yes? Well… I’m pretty darn excited about this week AND next week because they are both only four days of work!

This weekend is the long awaited Charleston Trip with some of my favorite women! I know it will be such a fun, relaxed and beautiful weekend!!! The weather forecast on Friday-Monday looks to be perfect and I’m going to try my best to TAN and not BURN! Crossing my fingers. I’m also a little bit excited about my adorable sun hat I recently bought from Forever21! It will be just right for the beach!!!

I'll be spending the weekend in Chucktown with these awesome ladies...

Peggy – Laura – Mom

Yea, they are always like this and I’m sure a few more similar pictures will be taken. I’m so glad that I have a Mom and adopted Aunties that are also such incredible friends! Brentley (Peggy’s daughter) and I will have our hands full as usual but we wouldn’t want it any other way!! I'm so excited to take a trip with just the 5 of us! 

I’m sure this week will creep by since I’m patiently waiting for the weekend away but I plan on filling it with a lot of healthy eating and hot yoga in hopes that my swim suit will fit a teensy bit better, haha! PLUS, I know I will indulge and have some “Vacation Food” that doesn’t exactly fit in the “Healthy” category.

Hope you all have a wonderfully awesome week!! 

Attitude of Gratitude

The last time I did an “Attitude of Gratitude” was a nice little way to remind myself of the things I’m thankful for. On this midweek day I thought I could use some little reminders… Today I am thankful for:

• The lovely Jesus Calling devotional book, a constant reminder to seek His face daily. 
• My bright pink $1 finger nail polish from Old Navy that lasts much longer than any $8 essie color. 
• Voxer :) It makes me happy to receive random messages from those I love. 
• Water, I realize that many people around the world don’t have the freedom to drink clean, fresh water every day. 
• Psalm 23:3    

“He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.”

Green Thumb.

Last night during my quiet time with the Lord I read my daily devotion from Jesus Calling, it said: “I have planted Peace in the garden of your heart, where I live; but there are weeds growing there too: pride, worry, selfishness, unbelief.”

It’s neat to look at our hearts and think of them as God’s beautiful garden. With faith and persistence to make Him a constant part of my daily life my garden will thrive. That’s the only thing I want in my life… to thrive for His Kingdom and not my personal worldly heart.

He is such a loving Maker and wants us to grow and become His beautiful children. I can’t even express in words the affection that He has for me and that is such an amazing feeling. I feel so calm thinking of the light He wants to shine through me every day, giving me peace so I can share His love and devotion.

“You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, His generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” 

Philippians 4:19 {MSG}

The picture above is from Saturday when I sat and watched a garden being planted. Let’s be honest, I don’t have much of a green thumb. I've killed a cactus before, along with many other helpless plants, but growth is one of the most beautiful things. I can't help but think that God has the most PERFECT green thumb to prune and shape us. That makes me feel beautiful. I instantly think about one of my favorite David Crowder Band songs…. “A certain sign of grace is this, from a broken earth flowers come up pushing through the dirt”.

Yes, I am thankful today for His mercy and His grace because without it I would be a poor cactus dying with no green thumb to save it.

Fantabulous!

Fantastic + Fabulous = fantabulous

Two of my favorite words that must be put together to make an even better word that describes my week ahead!

Seriously, this week is going to rock my socks off. :)

·    I had a (much needed) hair appointment tonight which always includes some girl time with the amazing Amanda and as a special surprise Katie had an appointment right before me!!! Anyways... Amanda is such a great hair stylist, that woman is the best bang shaper upper I could ever find!

·    I plan on enjoying a few hours of sweating this week on my yoga mat. Last week was a bit hectic and I only got 1 hour and I can seriously feel it. No bueno!

·    Wednesday night is the SERIES finale of One Tree Hill. I will cry. It will be so sad but I know it will still be amazing! The two bestfriends will also come over for some dinner and chilled beverages before OTH for moral support and a little shower planning for Jocie! Eeeeek, oh the fun!

·     My favorite holiday is this weekend! YAY for Easter! I’m pretty excited about it!! Good Friday service, church on Saturday night, cooking Easter lunch on Sunday with Mom. Beautiful weekend celebrating the reason for this life I have… Jesus and His amazing love. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up a fantabulous week.

So… Happy Monday, Happy Easter week and I sincerely hope you had a perfect weekend full of love and sunshine!