friday's letters.

[my mom emailed me this picture today..ahah, no idea where its from!]

dear friday's letters: im back! missed me, didn't ya? dear may: where did you go? tomorrow is the first day of june...WEDDING MONTH! holy moly. dear weather: i know its still a month away and im not getting married outside, but i am starting to pray for a sun shiny day so we can have pictures outside! the weather here has been so back and forth from nice, to muggy, to rainy...hopefully the spring weather trend will be gone by june 29! dear house hunting: so glad were done with the hunt! we have officially started moving in the right direction with our soon to be home, and hopefully closing mid-july. now we'll just need to find somewhere to stay for about 2 1/2 weeks...

have a super duper weekend friends!

-e-

oh yeah, i blog.

well memorial day weekend got the best of me. 3 day weekend, friends in town visiting, working on wedding details, cleaning, bbqing. although it flew by, it was a weekend well enjoyed.

tonight i was planning to work on some wedding stuff, and i decided to stop and pick up a movie to watch while i worked. have you ever see the movie "the impossible"?? that's what i picked up to watch...and if you ever do watch it, make sure that you have tissues ready. its a story about a family who was vacationing when the 2004 indian ocean tsunami hit. tear jerker!! SUCH a good movie though, i'd buy it.

hope everyone else had a great weekend as well-even though i'm a little late on that one :)

-e-

what they don't teach you in school...

as you get older, life goes by faster. i remember sitting in school around this time of year thinking about how close i was to summer break. and entire summer off, to do nothing but play. it seriously felt like the the hands on the clock were not moving when i looked to see what time it was. when i went on a mission trip to columbia, we were working at a camp and during the second week there i expressed to one of my leaders that i couldn't believe how fast the weeks were going by while we were there, and he said "girl, the time just keeps flying by faster and faster the older you get". that is the truth. and that is why i always try to take a breather, as i suggested on day 8 of this challenge. as i get closer to my wedding, i keep reminding myself to enjoy this part of my life, because Lord willing, i will never plan my own wedding again :)

-e-

family style

i decided not to link up today for the "post everyday in may challenge". challenge failed i guess. but today's prompt was about my favorite blog posts from the past, and i didn't have just have posts come to mind right away, and wasn't about to skim through my archives. so what better to blog able something that happened last night? great idea, i know! so last night the anderson family (im including myself with them because in only just more than a month i will share that last name!) got together with the raatz family and we had a good ol' make your own pizza night. pizzas that were put together and then grilled. delicious. oh, so delicious. and such a good time with family and friends!

thinking and praying for those who have been affected in the tornadoes. i can't imagine the loss and devastation.

-e-

the wedding plan struggle fest.

i think i have probably said it before, but from the very beginning, wedding planning has been like a second job that i constantly call out sick from. i'm not a fan. and i know some girls out there have been planning their wedding throughout their whole life and possibly aren't engaged yet, wishing that they could be in my shoes. that was never me, i never had wedding plans. i never knew where i wanted to get married, what type of dress i wanted to have, what colors i would choose, or who would marry me. my gears did not start grinding until i actually got engaged. i'm a pretty organized person, so i was able to knock out a lot of the "big stuff" such as date, venue, dress, photographer, wedding party, bridesmaid dresses, colors, etc., in the first couple months. thanks to the genius of kenny and some close friends, my engagement pictures were done as part of his proposal. a 9 month engagement is a lot of time to figure things out and i pretty much have everything done and a schedule with deadlines for everything else. but it has been a struggle! i'm ready for it to be over, and for that day to be here-9 months has been too long! don't get me wrong, its an exciting time, and i don't have a bad attitude nor am i stressing about anything BUT i'm ready to have a good time and celebrate with family and friends and at this point i do wish that i could sit back and relax until that day comes. i'm over it :)

[source]

-e-

a favorite photo

i have two photos that came to mind today. the first is with some of my very closest friends from high school. we got together over one of our breaks in college and had such a fun time. this is one of my favorite pictures because being around friends and family makes me happy annd i look super happy in this picture (i had nice brown hair at the time, that's me in the yellow and grey striped shirt!).

this next one is just a classic. my older brother and i on halloween when we were younger. i love this picture because i remember this halloween exactly. it was raining and i was worried about my tights and super cute ballerina outfit getting ruined..and the fact that i had to wear a rain jacket OVER my costume. lame. i was also pretty mad about wearing my glasses. which i was mad about pretty much everyday when i was little and had to wear them. what ballerina wears glasses? (or has straight cut flat bangs for that matter?! seriously, bad hair cut.).

-e-

my lot in life

today's prompt from the blog everyday in may challenge was a little confusing to me at first. in all honesty i had to look up what the phrase "lot in life" meant because i have never heard it before. oh, oops. and after thinking about it for about 10 minutes and not making any progress, i think that i have come to conclusion that i currently am not facing anything difficult in my "lot in life". over the past year i have gone through a lot of changes: getting engaged, moving 12 hours to someplace new, making new friends, finding a new job, finding a house to buy, and planning a wedding. i started over. so if i was asked this question back in september,  i would have that long list of things that i am working to overcome. insecurities of being in a new place, and the frustration of not being able to find a job. but today i can say with complete confidence that i am settled in, and feeling like i fit into this new place and job that i started in december very well.

and even though i went through some big changes in the last year, i love my life, where i have ended up, and who i have become.

[below are pictures from kenny's birthday dinner last night]

-e-

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a day in my life

around 7 am every morning i try to wake up. on weekdays i have a hard time getting up, and on weekends, i seem to wake up right at 7:30...and feel wide awake.

after waking up i shower and get ready for my day.
i do work at home most days, so even though i do my hair and make-up, i usually wear sweats :)
next is breakfast, my oatmeal and coffee staple. just some time alone and and prepare for my day.
right at 9, or a little before, i start work.
workity.
worky.
work.
around noon i take lunch, usually just something i make at home unless kenny and i have a lunch date.
during lunch is when i usually try to get my blog on, and blog surf my fav. sites.
after lunch i go back to work and finish my day around 5pm.

for dinner, i usually head to kenny's house, unless i already have plans with friends, or we are house hunting.
my night are filled with wedding planning, relaxing with family, and enjoying the nice spring weather!

-e-

happiness

happiness, in no order.

1. long summer days, the kind when the sun doesn't set til 9:30.
2. the beach, with smell of suntan lotion and salt water.
3. springtime when the flowers are blooming and color sets back into life.
4. getting married in less than 2 months and starting my new life with kenny :)
5. breakfast time in the morning, its my quiet time with coffee, and oatmeal before the day starts.
6. all of my family and close friends will be here soon!
7. thunderstorms, and the peacefulness that seems to follow them.
8. going to dinner and a movie
9. baking
10. taking time for a nice warm bath to relax.

[photo cred.]

-e-

sorry, i'm not sorry.

like a HUGE chunk of other bloggers out there, i absolutely love macaroni and cheese. it's probably the first thing i look for on the menu when i go to a restaurant. adult mac and cheese? double score. i'm having mac and cheese as one of my food options at my wedding. no jokes here. so i apologize to my body for more than likely always over indulging in mac and cheese. so many carbs, but so much cheesy goodness. sorry, i'm not sorry!

[source]

-e-

happy mothers day!

living 12 hours from home and friends, i could make a long list of all of the people i miss. today, on mothers day, i am really missing my family! my younger brother posted this gem on facebook today, gotta love the 90's!

happy mother's day to all you mothers out there who have the most important job ever!

-e-

me

patient
organized
hard-working
caring
loving
laid-back
independent

[this is of course a nice sophisticated picture...yea?]

boom.
less than 10 words?
take me as i am.

-e-

just shake it off

i am clumsy. i trip over myself alot, and have had plenty of embarrassing moments. i'll never forget the time i tripped up the steps...at the movies. so, i was home on one of my first college breaks and i was going to meet a bunch of people i had gone to high school with to see a movie. me and two of my other friends were running just a little bit late, but i was still so excited. i don't even remember what movie it was but when we got there, the previews were about to start, so naturally the theater lights were dimmed, but not completely off (not an excuse, i know). so everyone was in there saving us seats, and the theater was pretty full, and i just frolic across the center isle to the other side toward the steps. those darn steps. as i'm rushing up the steps, there i go falling right up the steps. i fell hard. really hard. and all i heard was a lot of "omg"s and "is she okay?!". all i could do is just laugh at myself and pick myself up to go to my seat. and just to elaborate on how hard i fell...there was a hole in my jeans and a scrape on my knee that drew blood. ugh, how embarrassing!

   

have a super weekend!

-e-

a look into my day

today's prompt form blogging every day in may is "a moment in my day". so immediately i think of breakfast. oatmeal and black coffee. that is a staple moment in my every day. my time to relax before my work day begins.

yesterday after some more house hunting, kenny and i had dinner downtown rockford and then walked around for a bit because we're fatties and ate so much we had to walk it off it was such a beautiful night out. we stood by the water and just watched a swan dive and swim around. as silly as this sounds, it was pretty fascinating to watch... and it made me think of the swam princess ;)

-e-

just take a breather!

[find here]

i have been known to always be the "laid back" person to my friends and family. i tend to be pretty organized, and don't like it when i'm late for something or feel like i don't know what is going on. does that mean that i like to always be in control? not necessarily. if i could give once piece of advice, it would be: learn to sit back and smell the roses for a few minutes, and take a breather! this is something that i have learned to do, and i am so happy that i have. i would find myself over thinking things to an extreme, which only creates more drama than necessary and not to mention major stress. if you're ever not sure about something, confused, have to make a big decision or are diving head first into something big and tend to get easily overwhelmed, try making a plan, scheduling, thinking about how you can organize, seek counsel from a friend or family memeber, and pray about it. relieve some tension before it even builds up! don't get caught up in the haps of life and stress out like crazy. sit back, relax, enjoy the little things, and take a breather! :)

happy hump day!

-e-

my fear

with today's questions there are a lot of things i am afraid of...spiders, snakes, heights...but what am i really afraid of? my fear is pretty similar to our blogging challenge originator, jenni. i currently live 12 hours away from my family. since i moved away from home to virginia 6 years ago, i have always been a little worried that something may happen, and i'm inconveniently far away so i would need to travel 6 hours to even get to my family in new jersey. now, living in michigan, i live the furthest away that i have ever been. what if something happens to one of my family members? what if i don't get to say goodbye, or something unexpected happens and i haven't even talked to them for a couple days, or weeks? it has really been a challenge to keep in contact with those i love, even when i don't live close. i can't just drive over to my grandparents house and be there in 2 minutes like i used to be. so i am afraid of losing someone i love, and not being able to say goodbye and telling them how much i love them.

i can't believe that i have made it so far in this challenge, and i like the accountability it has given me to sit down and create a post. i think tonight i am just making the cut with posting about 15 minutes before midnight :)

-e-

dare i catch up?

so the weekend provided me an opportunity to break the "blog everyday in may" challenge. that didn't take much. so since for today's question the answer is simple, i will catch up from my weekend absence. so first thing is first: what do i do? well..i unfortunately don't "do" what i went to school for yet...so currently i am a college recruiter. although it is not my dream job, and not something that i would like to do for the rest of my life, it was a good job opp. to take when i moved to michigan back in september, and is flexible and allows me to work from home.

[annd this is a picture, just because it's spring time and beautiful out.]

favorite quote:
 “God is God. Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.” Elisabeth Elliot

i love this quote because to me, it is not just a quote but also a challenge. simply, God is God. i know that. it would be silly to say that i don't know that he is worthy of my trust and obedience. i'm an challenged always to remember to find rest no where but in his "holy will". it is so easy to rely on myself and give credit to myself when things are going well, but then if i am going through troubles or a down time, then i look to God to see what is going on and what the deal is. "unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to"...i love that part. i don't know what God is doing in my life, unless he reveals it to me. my faith should not be asking questions. my faith is looking to God and searching the word for direction and wisdom. i could honestly list a whole lot more from Elisabeth Elliot, and if you haven't heard of her look her up, read her stuff! 

-e-

feeling a bit uncomfortable

when i think about what makes me uncomfortable, two things come to mind: talking in front of people, and sweating. and sometimes those two go hand in hand. maybe sharing the sweating thing is a little too much information, but HELLO, i swear i do not just "glisten" like most girls like to say they do. i am terrified that i will be sweaty on my wedding day and it will make me feel uncomfortable that whole time. gross. i also despise talking in front of people...aka any type of public speaking. i get so nervous and my heart races to like a trillion beats per second. i don't like standing up and being the center of attention. talking in front of people makes me shaky, sweaty, super anxious, and feeling like i want to barf. and that's that.

my freshman year of college, i had to take a speech class. i dreaded going to it every day. Our teacher was not even american...which is another story for another day (but seriously, how can you teach speech if you have broken english?). with one of our speeches we had to video tape ourselves and watch and grade ourselves. i couldn't even watch myself, so i completed the assignment by just going by memory. i couldn't even watch myself. i'm not kidding, i loathe public speaking.

-e-

what do i know?

so im a day late, but i decided to link up for blogging every day in may. so today i will be blogging about what i am good at, or what i know a lot about. well...call me out for having a lack of confidence but i am really having a hard time thinking about this. i have always done a wide variety of things in life, but i really can't pin point one that i'm good at or one thing that i know a lot about...except maybe t.v. shows. only joking...i kid. so i will take the take a bit of a spin on this one and let you all know that i am good at being a "laid back" person. yup. i have more patience than a person should, and probably put up with more than i should sometimes. i love just plain relaxing by either reading a book or chillaxing with friends and family. my friends have all observed that while kenny could be running circles around me, i would just sit there and watch like "whatever". being patient has sometimes granted me good listening skills. being patient and laid back is just another reason why kenny and i are a good fit. speaking of kenny and i...we're getting so much closer to making it official!

and let me just give my man credit for this one...that's the actual proposal ^ high fives all around! 59 days till the wedding also means...60 days until our 10 day cozumel trip!! BOOM.

-e-

i am not a picture taker

i love pictures, and i love having them. i love the idea of going places and taking a ton of pictures and then look back on all of my fun memories. but who is the girl who takes her camera along and and forgets to take pictures? me. i invested in a decent camera one black friday a few years ago, and love it! but i have realized that maybe im just not a picture taker. especially when i try to take pictures of myself. so yesterday no my lunch break i went outside to eat a grabbed my camera to search for some flowers-i live in michigan people...we are just started to see flowers up here! so in between the awkward pictures of myself that make me "lol" when i look at them, there are some pretty purple flowers. i dont even know what kind they are, so they might even be weeds! again.."lol". i can't wait to have a house of my own and have flowers, and possibly plant some of my own! I have never had that opportunity to do it myself because I have always rented but both of my parents have green thumbs, so heres to hoping i have one too!

cheers!

-e-