I've been tagged....

Amy tagged me, so I thought I would play along!



1. I don't purposely have a collection but I do have a lot of crosses! I started buying new ones here and there and people took notice! So almost every gift I received from family and friends for a few years was some type of cross! I absolutley Love all of them!

2. My favorite movie of all time is Beaches! My mom introduced me to the movie when I was younger and it is so good! If you haven't seen it, you should!

3. I can be both an early bird and night owl, it really just depends on the day or occasion!

4. I only listen to music when I clean house or when I am in the car! But most of the time I am listening to KLOVE. But I do listen to some country at times!

5. My dream vacation would be somewhere cold or maybe a beach! I don't really think about it much, but it would be perfect with my friends and family!

6. At the moment, my favorite tv show is Wipeout! Some of the falls are funny, BUT I love watching with Israel because he cracks up...and I love hearing him laugh!

7. I haven't worn jeans much this summer but I have 2 pairs..one from Target and the other from Old Navy.

8. I have to have Chapstick with me at all times! If I were trapped on a stranded island, and could only take one thing, it would be chapstick!




Just answer these 8 questions on your blog and leave a post in the comment section with a link to the post so i can see.
Take some people in your post if you like.

1. Do you have a collection of any kind. If so what is it?
2. Name a favorite movie or several?
3. Early Bird or Night Owl?
4. Music...who or what genre are your favorites?
5. Where is your dream vacation and why?
6. Do you have a favorite tv show at the moment?
7. Your go to pair of jeans....you know the ones =)....what brand are they?
8. What item must be with you at all times?

My life as of now....

So my best friend (Mic) jinxed me! I was keeping up fairly well with my blog and then, I stopped! It's been hard to update this thing because my life is CRAZY as of now! But I am slowly starting to see the light at the end of tunnel!

What's going on in my life you ask?!? At this point, it might be two of the BIGGEST things thus far!

1. Planning our wedding!
2. Looking for a job!

Wedding planning believe it or not has been amazing! So, not TOO much stress there!

BUT...

the job hunt has been stressful to say the least! I have recently become aware of 2 of my problems with the job hunt. First, I am constantly comparing myself to my friends and their success in finding a job or getting an interview! And second, I am so wrapped up in MY PLAN and how I think things should be as opposed to God's plan for me! I am constantly saying, I know God has a plan for me, but saying and believing are two totally different aspects!

I have literally lost sleep and made myself SICK worrying about a job, or lack of one! I know/knew this had to change if I wanted to be sane! So...

Every Monday, Israel and I try and make it to Monday Night Prayer Gathering at Church. And God always shows up, but last night, I felt Him in a way I never have before! I could hardly make it through the first worship song without crying! I could feel His presence the entire night. Through the different things and people we prayed for I knew God was talking to me, reassuring me of His plan! I walked out of that place feeling 100 lbs lighter!

Even today, God is continuing to reveal his plan for me by the people he has surrounded me with and the songs on the radio, preparing me for what He has in store! I think I know where I am being nudged, and I cannot wait to see what happens!

My new prayer...

"Take my life and let it be all for You and for Your Glory! Take my life and let it be Yours!"

Love this song!

Spring Break then and Spring Break now!

Israel and I really wanted to spend Spring Break week together last year, so he was going to take his vacation during Spring Break! Typically he has to work and I am home by myself! Last year, that was not the case! Last year was the first year Israel and I both were able to spend Spring Break together! Sounds pretty appealing, BUT he got laid off from work a few days before! So we didn't have another choice but to spend it together! We decided to go home to Snyder, TX, Spring Break central! ;D Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed spending time with our families, but we both had his job, or lack of one, in the back of our minds! How are we going to pay our bills? Where should he apply? I am about to start student teaching, should I do it in Snyder so we can move back? Millions of questions running through our minds!

A couple of weeks before all this, we started going to a different Church, Experience Life, and we had just joined a Lifehouse, (small group in your lifestage, so in our case for newly married/engaged couples) that meet weekly. Our first week there we meet two couples: Rachel and Larry and Doug and Colby! They were both going through similar situations and we saw how God was providing for them, and we were unaware that in a few weeks, we would be going through the same thing! When it happened we had to completely let go and let God take control! We kept hearing from everyone, it's all a part of God's plan but at the time it was hard to let go and just give it to God! Thank God we did, but it was hard not to feel sorry for ourselves and think we were the only couple who had gone through something like this!

On our drive to Snyder, Israel stopped in Post to apply at the Juvenile Detention Center. He took the application back a few days later and when they saw one of his references, Kenny Burns, they told him you are going to get the job! But we didn't hear from them for about 2 weeks but when we did, they told him he had the job, now it was just a matter of paperwork! So this meant we could stay in LBK, but money was going to be tight. Answered prayer one and two--CHECK!!

While we were home, my cousin Michael was talking about needing a place to stay in LBK while he was finishing up school, and luckily was willing to pay rent--wow, is this really happening?!? So we invited him to stay with us and that weekend Michael moved in and gave us our first month's rent! Answered prayer three-CHECK!

It's amazing to look back and see how God was working in our lives! A few months ago Israel and I read "Purpose Drive Life" and one of the questions asked if there was something that happened in your life that changed your personal relationship with God and I shared my answer with Israel and then he shared his with me! He told me that when he had gotten laid off, his relationship with Christ changed! It was so uplifting to hear that in that "terrible" time, God was working on His plan for us, rather than our own!

This year, Spring Break was different than last year! Thank you God!!! My nephews came to stay with us for the week! We played laser tag, putt putt, baseball, went to the park, went bowling, to the movies, and skating, among many other things! We had a blast! BUT, I wouldn't have changed what Israel and I went through last year! Last year was definitely one of the BEST SPRING BREAKS, even though at the time, it didn't seem like it!

Save the Date!!!!!!!!!!

So last night I went and picked up our Save the Date cards from Brandi Natividad, our photographer, and they are absolutely amazing! (you should check her out at www.bellcreation.com)

So if you know me, you know I get right to work, I have to get things done right then! So when Israel and I got home, we were going to get right to work...BUT I forgot to get the envelopes, so I had to go to Wal-Mart to see if they had what I needed! I could not wait to make the trip to Office Max in the morning! (Luckily Wal-Mart had what I needed!)

I could not quit looking at them once I got home but I finally did, and we got to work stuffing the envelopes, labeling the envelopes, and then this morning, my nephews helped me put the return address labels on, and seal 'em shut!

I was supposed to take them to mail today, BUT Israel has my debit card (and of course, he is working late today and will not be home until 2 or 3 am) so I will be at the post office bright and early tomorrow morning! Be checking your mail! Until then, here's a sneak peek! Let me know what you think!

(Mic, I hope you don't mind, but I chose to post your labeled envelope to show, if you start getting junk snail mail, let me apologize now!)

Meet our nieces and nephews!

Not a lot of people know that Israel has older siblings, but he does! He has two older brothers and an older sister! This also means he has a lot of nieces and nephews, who unfortunately, we do not see that often! This weekend, we had the privelage of hanging out with them all day Saturday! Israel's niece Destinee had a volleyball tournament this weekend so we spent mostly all afternoon in the Frenship gyms watching volleyball! I absolutely LOVED it! (She is the one in the black shirt and #8 in the other picture)





The girls (Destinee and Desiree) are an absolute riot but they LOVE their Uncle EI (not sure why they call him that).






This is Israel's others niece Daja. (All 3 girls will be flower girls in the wedding)



And his nephew Rudy! This is the best picture I could get!



That night my sister and my nephews came to LBK and we went to Main Event! Here are a few pictures from that night!



I am convinced that Kabryn is going to be in the military when he's older!



We had an AMAZING weekend with both our families and I CANNOT wait until we get married and our families become one.

Your wisest decisions will come out of your prayer closet.

For those who don't know, I am tying the knot July 31...finally, I know!

With that being said, almost every thought that crosses my mind has to do with the wedding! One thing I realized very soon was how expensive everything was/is! I knew a wedding would cost money but I guess I never realized how much money, if that makes any sense. Any who, God has amazed us (like He does everyday) and has allowed our families to provide for this wedding in ways I never thought possible! So of course, a little stress and worry comes along with the territory! So last night I thought, WHY ARE YOU STRESSING?? My favorite scripture after all is Ephesians 4:6-7, Do not worry about anything, pray about everything, and God will give you peace of mind. God has always proven faithful! So I prayed about the wedding (which to be honest, I hadn't done in a while) and put it in God's hands.

Then this morning, I get a phone call from my sister, who is amazing, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "I am going to deposit $$$ in your account for the wedding, what is your account number?" SO of course I gave it to her! WOW! After I hung up the phone, I called Israel (which shouldn't have been my first action) and told him, then I thanked God! It should have been the other way around, God FIRST, then Israel, but I am working on it! I know in my heart, but somehow, lose sight of it, that God should get all the praise and glory, because we do not do anything on our own!

Then, as if God really wanted to get his point across, I saw this on Chris Galanos' (our pastor) facebook status, "Your wisest decisions will come out of your prayer closet." Couldn't have been put any better!

All the cool kids are doing it....

I have been wanting to create a blog for the longest time but never did! So here it is! I love reading everyone else's so I hope once I get used to this, maybe someone will love to read mine! I need to think of a catchy title so let's see what I can come up with....bear with me!