Surgery was a SUCCESS!

Chris' umbilical hernia surgery went very smoothly. The hernia was smaller than they originally thought so they ended up just sewing it up instead of inserting the mesh. Chris did well under the anesthetic and was pretty well drugged most of the day yesterday. They gave him Darvocet so outside of being sore, he's feeling pretty good.

After surgery yesterday, the brought me back with Chris' mom to chat with him while he was in recovery. When they decided it was time to discharge him, they gave me his clothes and told me to help him get dressed. It CRACKED me up. Partially because I felt like I was doing something wrong being asked to dress my husband in front of his mom (I didn't dress him in front of his mom, just asked to dress him...ha!) and partially because it's EXACTLY what I expect our lives to be like in about 60 years. Me helping my husband put his drawers on every day...HILARIOUS!

My mom and dad are heading to Dallas as we speak (or type...whateva) and should be here in a few hours. I'm sure it will be an eventful week with Steve and Debbi =)

Two end of November prayer requests

Alright ya'll. Chris and I are in need of your prayers. Lots going on at the end of November.

About 6 months ago, my ultra competitive husband went mountain biking with some guys. My husband....not a mountain biker. He doesn't have a mountain bike so he used on of the guys old, beat up bikes. After a few hours of riding, he came home, about to die. He, of course, wanted to hang with the guys that actually ARE mountain bikers so pushed himself till near death. A few days later, a little lump appeared on his belly button. Yup. Umbilical hernia. So Chris decided to schedule his surgery for Thanksgiving so he would have the time to heal while off work. Alas, the time is here. Chris goes into surgery Monday morning. It's a minor day surgery but my husband has never had surgery. Pray that everything goes well.

Prayer request number 2. We're going to see another infertility specialist November 30th. We've been to one and just didn't feel good about it. She immediately wanted to start injections and IUI's without really checking anything out. I'm not exactly comfortable with pumping my body full of hormones without knowing exactly what is going on with us (we still fall under the "Unexplained Infertility" category). A girl I work with has been trying SEVEN years, went to this fertility doctor, and got pregnant on Clomid and an IUI. For those of you who are not well versed in infertility talk, that costs about $2,500 less than the injections our first doctor wanted us to do. I'm not expecting for that exactly to happen to us but it's comforting to know that her doctor didn't automatically ask her to do the high ticket treatments. All this to say, we're going to her doctor. I'm hopeful and praying that the Lord is planning on giving us our miracle soon. Please be praying for guidance and comfort for us during the next few months as we are working with this new doctor.

A Visit from Costello and Microwave Explosion

One of Chris' old roommates and best of friends, Costello, was in town from Nashville this weekend. Holy moly have we missed that guy. He is the king of randomness and made us laugh SO hard. Here's a few things he did that made me crack up (hopefully these will be funny even if you weren't there)-

• He tells us that one Sunday at church, a girl standing next to him randomly started holding his hand during worship. He freaked out....does that really happen????

• He told us a guy gave him a bed because he's had the same one since college (with no box spring, laying on the ground). We asked why he doesn't just buy a bed and he said "because I don't know how big my wife is going to be!" HA!

• He's laying on the floor and randomly says "I can be a piece of bacon." Then he proceeds to CONVULSE on the ground like he's having a seizure. He said it's similar to bacon hopping around in a frying pan. After he was finished with his seizure, he sits up and says "it looks much better without my shirt on." Weird....

Speaking of bacon...I had Chris' family over for dinner to celebrate his mom and dad's birthdays. I thought it would be really fun to make each make our own little homemade pizza (and it was!) so I chopped, drained, and cooked all the toppings. I put some bacon in the microwave on a ceramic plate and BAM! The entire plate EXPLODED in my microwave. I'm talking shattered into a thousand pieces. I have no idea how it didn't damage the microwave but the only casualties were the plate and the bacon. Weird.

One more week of school and then off for a WHOLE WEEK! I'm doing a Thanksgiving play with my 3rd graders for their parents Friday...pray I can make it until then. Planning a play with 8 year old kiddos might give me a mental breakdown! HA! They're so excited which is awesome...hopefully it goes well!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary, House!

Today we have lived in our house for 2 years. CRAZY! I remember being so excited while they were building it...we would drive by nearly everyday to see what was going on. We've loved being home owners-even mowing the lawn has been a fun, new adventure for us (ok, mostly Chris. I've mowed the lawn twice). I'm so thankful for our home and all the memories we have in it.

All about the Crowder's

I haven nothing much to say but I actually have TIME to blog so here's a little survey I stole from my friend, Lindsey's blog. Enjoy getting to know "The Crowder's."

♥What are your middle names?
Renee and Carroll. Guess which is mine and his.

♥How long have you been together?
Married for almost 4...together for almost 7.

♥How long did you know each other before you started dating?
A couple of weeks.

♥Who asked who out?
Chris asked me.

♥Who made the first move?
Chris. Definitely moved in for the kiss after I ate Taco Bell. I'm sure that was tasty.

♥How old are each of you?
I'm 26, he's 28.

♥Did you go to the same school?
The same college.

♥Are you from the same home town?
Nope. I'm from St. Louis, he's from Dallas.

♥Who is the smartest?
That's not a very nice question! We're both smart in different ways. He's a GENIUS when it comes to money and I'm an idiot. We're just different =)

♥Who majored in what?
Me, elem. education. Chris, Kinesiology/Health Science.

♥Who is the most sensitive?
Me FOR SURE. I'm ultra sensitive!

♥Where do you eat out most as a couple?
It use to be Corner Bakery but we hardly ever get to eat TOGETHER now that we're in football season.

♥Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Probably Mexico. Or California. Mexico isn't that far from Texas.

♥Who has the worst temper?
Me. Not good.

♥How many children do you want?
As many as God gives us. I'm hoping that's at least one.

♥Who does the cooking?
Me. Poor Chris can hardly boil water.

♥Who is more social?
We're both pretty social but Chris is a little more than me.

♥Who is the neat-freak?
Me. Chris has no problem being messy.

♥Who is the most stubborn?
Chris. I'm pretty stubborn myself though.

♥Who wakes up earlier?
Me. Not fun. at. all.

♥Where was your first date?
We went to see the movie Signs. Super romantic, huh?

♥Who has the bigger family?
Me. By about a thousand people.

♥Do you get flowers often?
No and I'm not complaining. I would rather have a Starbucks or a little present than flowers.

♥How do you spend the holidays?
We split. If he gets Thanksgiving, I get Christmas. If I get Christmas, he gets Thanksgiving.

♥Who is more jealous?
Neither of us are very jealous people.

♥Who eats more?
Chris. But don't be deceived, I can put some food AWAY!

♥What do you do for a living?
I teach third grade. Chris teaches Inclusion and coaches football/baseball.

♥Who does the laundry?
We share it. But mostly me.

♥Who’s better with the computer?
Me. Chris could care less about electronics.

♥Who drives when you are together?
Chris. Even though I'm usually scared for my life and am a TERRIBLE backseat driver.

♥What is "your" song?
No song. We danced out of our wedding to "Everlasting Love" which was pretty fun. I think that officially just became our song.

Now you know everything you never really needed to know about us. You are SO very welcome.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Here's how our spelling test went down Friday morning-

Me: Boys and girls, remember our spelling words have an "ow" or "ou" pattern in them. If you don't have an "ow" or "ou" in your word, it's going to be wrong.

Sweet little TEXAS boy: Don't you say "OU" to me...I'm a Longhorns' fan!

I COULD NOT hold it together after that. Only in Texas!

2 years of infertility

I was reminded quite a bit this past weekend about us still not being pregnant. I very rarely check my email at home but I checked it randomly on Sunday morning. Apparently I signed up when I found out I was pregnant on some website that tells you what's going on with the baby/your body and received an email from them. The email title was "Today you're 32 weeks." I lost it. I would be having showers, the nursery would be set up, I would know the sex. I have done SO well at giving that to God but I feel like grabbing it back now, ya know?

I have a friend who has been trying to get pregnant for as long as we have (did I mention this month is our 2 year anniversary of trying?). She is 35 and getting very impatient. This month they did IVF and found out this weekend that she is pregnant (not blood test confirmed yet but positives on 5 HPTs). I was SO happy for her I cried. I've never been so happy for another person in my life. Then the bitterness and greed set in. I now have no one on this journey with me. I HATE being that way because she is my friend and I'm SO happy for her but I want it so badly for myself. The longer I struggle with infertility, the more I see my sinful nature.

After the kids left today, I put my ipod on. A song came on and IMMEDIATELY sent me into tears. It's exactly how I feel about my sinful nature and why God allows us to go through these things. I thought I would post it...maybe it will help you where you are at too.

Let it all out
get it all out
rip it out remove it
don't be alarmed
when the wound begins to bleed

cause we're so scared to find out
what this life's all about
so scared we're going to lose it
not knowing all along
that's exactly what we need

and today I will trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
but tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
oh, inconsistent me
crying out for consistency

and you said I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there

and I'll let it be known
at times I have shown
signs of all my weakness
but somewhere in me
there is strength

and you promise me
that you believe
in time I will defeat this
cause somewhere in me
there is strength

and today I will trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
and I'll try my best to just forget
that that man isn't me

reach out to me
make my heart brand new
every beat will be for you
for you

and I know you know
you touched my life
when you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Bad Blogger and CAAAUTE Shoes

I've officially become the worst blogger ever. It's IM-POSS-I-BLE to keep up with it and work at the same time! I'll try harder.

After church this morning, Chris and I went shopping around. I've been eyeing some cute slouch boots for a while now (okay, since the weather dropped below 90 which has only been about a week) so we headed to Rack Room Shoes. Wouldn't you know, they're having a "buy one get one 50% off" sale! So I bought a pair of cute pumps for school and these beautys....

Hello LOVEEEEERR! Obsessed. I love these boots with a cute little fall outfit like this one...

Super cute, right? Now to find the perfect pair of skinny jeans....

No work tomorrow (thank you Christopher Columbus!) so maybe I'll fill you in on the rest of my life then!

Ants and Books

We've been getting a TON of rain here in Texas (hello Mother Nature...my kiddos need to get out and PLAY!!!) and it helped these friends to build a nice new home in my backyard...

Yes friends, that is an ant pile. My camera battery was dead when we first found it so here it is with ant killer covering it. I have NEVER seen such a huge ant residence in all my life (which is saying much because fire ants don't exist in STL....this is big right???)

This gives you a little better idea of exactly how humongous it is. It's nearly as big as our sweet dog. Majorly gross. I'm pretty much like a 5 year old when it comes to ant piles. I like to put a stick in there to get them all fired up and watch them come to the surface. That's why you see all those holes in the mound...I was playing =)

In more meaningful news, I'm currently reading two books.

I'm almost finished with this book and it is hilarious. It talks about all the funny stuff elementary kids do and say at school. One of the stories is the author talking about having an AMAZING lesson planned, executing it perfectly, and then a kid farts. The whole class roars with laughter and you never get them back. SO TRUE! HA!

Just bought this one today and I'm SO excited to read it. I read the introduction today and I think it's going to be awesome. I'll let you know as I read it.

Divine Appointments

This weekend was one of those times in my life that I could just really feel God working. He's such a God of details and this weekend definitely confirmed that. Try to follow along because it's an "all over the place" type story.

This weekend we went to what our church calls Experience. It's basically a meeting for people interested in knowing more about the church and possibly membership (or as they prefer to call it, partnership. Membership is for golf courses, partnership is to stand along side the church). It's kinda a big hoorah because they only have it about 6 times a year. We've been at this church since March and are really trying to get planted and decided it was time to take that step. We tried to go to Experience during "Swine Flu Break" (remember that post???) but they cancelled due to schools closing from the virus. They rescheduled in June but we were on vacation so we signed up for the next available class, this past Saturday. So we get seated at our table and our "table host" as they call it starts chatting with us. Turns out he's a coach turned administrator and she's a SAHM. We instantly connect from being in the coaching field and the boys know a lot of the same people. The next couple that comes to our table is slightly older than us but we make a random connection with them because we're going to the same small group that started the next day (and there were only 5 couples in the small group, 2 of us being at the same table at Experience.). So we all get to talking and somehow get into our infertility struggle. Now this is not information we just share with anyone but we definitely don't keep it quiet either. We need the prayer. Turns out another couple in our table hosts small group went through 4 years of struggling, went to this doctor in the area, and now have a 9 month old daughter (and they live right down the street from us...crazy!). He gives us their number and tells us if we're comfortable to give them a call-if not, us 3 couples would get together for dinner. Chris and I went home really encouraged that God had a plan for us at that table. We felt like God had a definite divine appointment for us there-especially after all the times we were suppose to be there and got cancelled!

Sunday morning we were at church and got to talking to one of the pastors in the atrium in between services. We talked about the connections we made last night and about how we were going to give this couple who struggled like us a call-and that couple "RANDOMLY" walked by right while we were talking with the pastor! So we spent about 15 minutes talking with them and they were SO encouraging. We talked doctors and heartbreak and God's awesome plan. I really feel like that's another relationship that will be blooming soon.

The other couple from our table who were in our small group as well have really been a great encouragement as well. She came up to me before small group started and said with tears in her eyes that the Lord had laid me heavy on her heart last night and that as she was praying He spoke for us to get ready to be blessed. That was one of the first times during this battle that someone had said that and I truly believed it. None of what happened this weekend is a coincidence. God doesn't just lay you heavy on someone's heart or put other couples who struggled in your path for no reason. I know this weekend was full of divine appointments and I'm excited to see what comes from them.

He Loves Us

Love, love, LOVE this song. We sang it Wednesday night at the Back to School prayer service and again this morning. I've seriously been sitting on my couch with my laptop in my lap listening to it over and over again crying. It's UNBELIEVABLE how much God loves His children.

Amazing, huh?

Back to School Prayer

Holy Moly. I've never appreciated a 3 day weekend quite like this one. My life has been pure craziness for the past 3 weeks or so and it feels so good to just BE for a day or two. I really am loving 3rd grade and I feel like God is using me there but I'm starting ALL OVER AGAIN. Tough stuff. I'm not complaining, just saying. =)

Wednesday night our church had a Back to School prayer night. We typically do not have church on Wednesday since the focus is more on small groups but they wanted to kick off the school year with some worship and prayer. It was so amazing. It was so good to take a time out from the craziness (although both Chris and I were TOTALLY drained) and spend some time with God. He really put some new things in my heart. I've been so stressed out with all the change that I haven't really been focusing on praying for each of the kids. So on Thursday and Friday morning, I prayed over my class. Not necessarily for their education (although I think that's incredibly important) but over their character. Over situations that I know are struggles for them. For example, a child in my class lost his father last year to cancer. I can't even imagine how devastating and life changing that would be. So I prayed over that situation. I prayed that God would give me the words to say to help his heart heal. That he would feel comfortable enough to open up to me if he's hurting. That God would do a work in him that would be nothing short of a miracle. When I got to school in morning, I did my regular routine-check the folders. I opened up his and saw that he joined the UIL group that I'm leading. Tears immediately filled my eyes. I know that God is putting him there to use me. EXACTLY what I prayed for. I love a good God story! He is so faithful.

Getting ready for 3rd grade

I'm a bad blogger these days. Maybe because my world was rocked a little trying to get my new 3rd grade classroom put together, my old Kindergarten room packed away, and lesson planning in ONE week. I was able to get into my room last Friday and the kiddos came to "Meet the Teacher" this Friday. I've been doing everything but sleeping at school for the past week. I'm really excited to get started and get in the swing of things because the anxiety is KILLING me. My new team is amazing and have been incredibly helpful but it's really hard to plan for 3rd graders when you're use to Kindergartners. So much of my classroom management, procedures, rules, etc. had to change because it's just no longer applicable. 3rd graders will pretty much be GENIUSES after working with Kinder kids!

Football has started. Chris went to scout this week but Guyer won their first scrimmage. The season starts next Friday and it's looking like Guyer is going to be pretty great!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today has really been one of the BEST birthdays I have had in a long time. My dear friends, Amy and April, took me to lunch, shopping and ended our fun with some Design Star (anyone watch the show??? I'm addicted!). The three of us usually spend quite a bit of time together but our summer vacation schedules have kept us separated most of summer. It was SO good to hang out with them and just be our fun, goofy selves.

Chris took me to a yummy dinner at Ferrari's Italian Villa. Umm....YUMM-O! SO dang good. We had a really romantic booth (like the cool half circle kind for two) and ate until our hearts and stomachs were content. It's been a busy week with football so it was so good to reflect on our latest year of life and be together. So great.

Remember that post yesterday about having no plans and having no idea what was going on with my life?? QUESTION SOLVED! My job in Kindergarten was in limbo for the upcoming year. The numbers were lower than expected and it was looking like I could face a force transfer to another school in the district within the next couple of weeks. But God had other plans. My principal moved me up to 3rd grade to keep me on campus. I'm a little nervous but SO excited. God is good and faithful and knows what is best for me. Change doesn't bother me much but a week before school starts is not a lot of time to set up a classroom! I will miss Kindergarten a TON (where else can you sing and dance and act like a lunatic???) but I'm excited to do something different too. Like I said in the previous post-God's plan is not my plan...but it is better than anything I could do myself! Pray for me to love on and encourage the sweet 3rd graders coming into my room next year.

During dinner I looked at Chris and just started crying (I'm such a sap!). My life is SO much more blessed than anything I deserve. This last year has been hard on me in a lot of ways but has also been absolutely amazing. I'm so thankful for the Lord's grace and mercy and Him pouring it out on me even though I don't deserve it-not even a little bit!

Life Planners

All self diagnosed life planners say "aye."

AYE!

Why do I do that? Why do I think it's okay to have my own agenda and my own plan? I'm stopping TODAY. My plan was to get married, love on each other for a year and then have a baby to share that love with. Did that happen? NO! My plan was to live in St. Louis forever and ever amen by my family. Did that happen? NO! So from here on out-I have no plans. Sure, I have dreams and ambitions but they will happen in God's amazingly perfect timing under His amazingly perfect plan. He knows what's best for me and even when it's not how I want it, it's the way it should be. I'm thankful for that but sometimes it's really hard to rest in it. It's hard to give up control. I kinda imagine my plans as sand. I grab the sand (my plans) with my clenched fist and hold on for dear life. The Lord tells me to let go and I loosen my grip but still keep a fist. Some of the sand falls out but I've still got a whole lot left in my hand. I really think I'm letting go but I really haven't-I just loosened my death grip on my life. He wants all MY plans. And think about it-how much more beautiful is a beach full of sand than just my tiny fist full? A WHOLE LOT IS RIGHT!

I wish I could tell you exactly what's going on in my life right now but to be completely honest, I'm not sure what it is yet. I'll fill you in when I find out. In the mean time, I'm praying that I would give God control and trust Him fully because His will is SO much better than anything I could plan on my own.

I'm glad I serve a God who cares about EVERY intricate detail of my life. That's pretty amazing.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! Psalms 139:17-18 (NLT)

Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6 said EXACTLY what I needed to hear right before I get back to work at school. I've SO enjoyed traveling, spending time with my husband and being LAZY this summer. But the Bible has something to say about laziness-

You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest! Proverbs 6:6-11 (The Message)

Summer for a teacher is full of lazy days and I'm grateful for the R & R but it's time to get back to work. I'm especially thankful to have a job right now with the economy being as it is. I LOVE going to work and being with kids puts a smile on my face everyday. Pray for me as I get ready to go back that I would be a light to kiddos who need to see Jesus!

Proverbs 5

I've had the Bible that I read for about the past 6 or 7 years. I love it because I've had it so long but I hate it because I underlined/highlighted in it. That probably sounds weird but sometimes when I'm reading it I get so excited about an underline/highlighted part that I don't pay attention to what else I'm reading because I want to get to the part I loved at some part of my Bible's life-which leads me to part two-SOME PART of my life. A lot of times the underlining no longer is meaningful to me and I was so excited to read it. I think I'll stick to writing down those favorite verses in a journal rather than underlining so I can remember when/why they were so important to me at the time.

ANYWAY! I love proverbs 5 as a married women. It talks all about adultery and how that can destroy your life. One of the most popular verses from this chapter is this-

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. Proverbs 5:18-19

If you're married, you probably know that verse. As you know if you've been reading through my Proverbs reflections (or anything having to do with God's Word) you know I love the Message. Something about it speaks so real to me and I love how it tells us how to love-

Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted! Proverbs 5:18-19

As a wife, I need to be reminded to not take Chris' love for granted. In the beginning and during dating years, I noticed EVERYTHING that he did for me. After 3 1/2 years of marriage, I don't look for them as often anymore. But that's not how God created marriage to be. He wants me to always delight in Chris and to be thankful for him and his love for me. He designed marriage PERFECTLY and if I follow His instructions-it will be a perfect love. Of course we all fall short but that's something I definitely want to strive for. Marriage is a serious covenant designed by God and I want our marriage to be pleasing to Him.

***BY THE WAY-if you don't have a Message Bible (I don't!), go to BibleGateway, type in what you want to look up and change it to The Message. There are times when I don't really know what to think about a verse and I'll change it to The Message or New Living Translation and it puts it into something that speaks to my heart. I LOVE NIV and all the verses I have memorized are NIV but I do like to see how other translations say it as well. Just thought you may like to know!***

Old Navy Love

Why do they have to already have fall clothes out??? I fall in love and then can't wear them until October (sometimes November here in Texas). Grrr. Yesterday I tripped and fell into Old Navy (that's what I told Chris...I just don't know how I got in there....gravitational pull I guess!) and found the cutest little dress. Perfect for my leggings obsession.

LOVE! Black leggings, a scarf possibly. The only bad part is I loved it so much I paid full price for it...oops! Dave Ramsey would not be happy-although it was in my budget so I guess he wouldn't be too mad =)

Thinking I need to be productive and go up to school and work. Proverbs 5 tonight!

Proverbs 4

Today I read Proverbs 4 which makes my heart happy because it has one of my favorite verses in it-

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23

When I read that verse I think about what I'm putting into my heart/mind. You know the saying "what goes in must come out"? That's true of my heart too. If I'm putting in trash and things of the world, it's going to come out in my words and actions. If I'm putting in things that are good for my heart and glorify God, that's going to come out. It's not hard for me to decide which one I want. The chapter goes on to say (from the Message this time)-

Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Proverbs 4:24

I think this hits home for me too. It's hard as a woman not to fall into the trap of gossip. Go to a hair or nail salon...that's what women do! They like to talk about how others look, act, dress, etc. Sometimes I think my intentions are pure but I really wouldn't want someone else talking about me in the manner that I talked about them. So here's my prayer today-that I would guard my heart from the "junk" of this world and that I would be careful of what comes out of my mouth. These go hand in hand. If my heart is guarded and what goes in is good, my words will stay pure. Man, God sure puts some smart things in His Word, huh???

Encouragement

McLinky's blog topic today is "Encouragement." Don't we all need a little bit of that??

This is 2 Corinthians 4:17 from the Message. I love the Message because it speaks like a story and straight to my heart.

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

Here it is in NIV for those of you who prefer it-

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

I also have a worshi p song that really encourages me. It's a Hillsong song called You Reign. Here's the lyrics-

What could stand before You

As You chose to embrace

A cross so undeserved You took for me

The weight of sin upon You

When You offered Your life

As You walked the streets of men with fading strength

How could we live but not see

Your sacrificeYour glory

You reign, You reign

Over everything Lord, You reign

With power, and justice divine

Over everything Lord, You reign

What was Your last thought

As You drew Your last breath

Where the victory was Yours for us to see

And all will know the truth

As we live by Your grace

Every praise to You alone

See now the King of Glory

Love of God become my calling

Father I surrender all I am to You forever

I love that song because it's such a great reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross...and how can you not be encouraged by that??

Proverbs 3 and Fear

We've started going to a small group at our new church and we're really liking it. I'm feeling more challenged in my every day walk with God and starting to feel some convictions too which is GOOD! One of them is reading my Bible daily. I really do try but it is SO hard for me. There are some weeks where I'm on it and others where I haven't touched my Bible (hey...I'm being honest!). So I have a new goal this month. I'm reading a chapter in Proverbs every day this month-31 proverbs in 31 days. I'm hoping to share some thoughts from them each day on here for a little accountability.

Today is August 3rd so I read the Proverbs 3. You know when God keeps bringing something up over and over again and you're not sure why? He's doing that to me right now. He keeps bringing up fear. I really don't think I have a lot of fear in my life but apparently He's trying to reveal it to me. Here's some examples-

**Friday we went to the Phillips, Craig, and Dean concert and they talked about their new CD "Fearless." They talked about how as Christians we're not to FEAR the economy, the decisions of the president, or even everyday trials because God is in control. He has a plan and He is good. That really got my heart stirring...

**Some elders from the church gave their testimonies on Sunday. All of them were about being fearful-God took away something from each of them that they cared about (their businesses, family member, etc.) and they were scared. They had to get rid of that fear and learn to trust.

**Now I'm reading Proverbs and what's really jumping out at me is this-

24 You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly. 25 You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, 26 for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. Proverbs 3:24-26

I'm not sure EXACTLY what the Lord is showing me but I think it may be that I am fearful of never having a baby. I claim to trust God but my faith is weak. I get scared that it may not happen for me. I'm listening to what He's saying and I see that He's trying to remove the fear from my life. I know He's trying to mold me during this waiting period, which I LOVE, and this is one of the things he trying to squeeze out. Pray that I would get rid of the fear and replace it with FAITH!

*****On a side note-started the Clomid again and HOLY HOT FLASH! I've gone from freezing to BURNING STINKING HOT within seconds all day long. Is this what menopause is going to be like????*****

Wedding party and ceremony

Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Show Us Your Life" for us girls to show off our wedding ceremonies/flowers...and what girl doesn't LOVE talking about their wedding??? I sure do!

These are our programs and cute little "Tears of Joy" packets I made. I SLAVED on those programs but I really loved them. Glad I made them myself instead of paying for it too =)

Here's a close up of my flowers and bridesmaids flowers. I knew I wanted to have white flowers and I really wanted red roses to match the girls dresses (like Britney Spears had if you've ever seen that pic). When I went to the florist she said some pink roses would look good in there and so I told her to do whatever...just make them pretty. I didn't see an example bouquet or ANYTHING until the wedding. When the florist pulled up with them, I CRIED. They were more beautiful than I could ever imagine. SO glad she led me to this decision!

I could cry every time I see this picture. I love my dad walking me down the aisle in the church I came to know the Lord in, was baptized in, and grew up loving. Not the most beautiful (paisley carpet...YUCK!) but really sentimental.

LOVE this picture. Me and my mom hugging during the rose ceremony. Such a special moment.

Totally cheesy but my whole wedding party danced out of our wedding to "This Will Be An Everlasting Love" by Natalie Cole. It was such a fun way to end our perfectly "us" ceremony.

My maid of honor Ashley and best man Justin boogie-ing down the aisle. Each couple choreographed a little something that morning (while I waited in the bridal room alone...but it was worth it!).

I think this is the classic wedding picture you do if you have enough people in your wedding party. I'm pretty sure we'll look back in 20 years and make fun of it but I think it's adorable.

Groomsmen left to right

Richard-Chris grew up playing baseball with him and they played 2 years in college together.
Jeff-Chris went to high school playing baseball with him and went to college junior/senior year with him. They were roommates when we met.
Justin (best man)-Chris' lifelong roommate and brother. Great guy and SINGLE if you're in the DFW area ;)
Josh-Chris played ball and lived with him while living with Jeff.
Under me-
Jared-Played baseball together and lived together at Missouri Baptist.

See why we had a February wedding? All these boys still have baseball ties (coaching, minors, etc.) so no spring wedding for us! Did I mention it was in STL and 32 degrees that day???

This just somes up how fun our day was!

LOVE Chris' face!

Bridesmaids-

Lynn-best friend from high school. Shared the role of captain our senior year on the pom squad making us fabulous friends.
Ashley (maid of honor)-roommate throughout college. Her husband sang and played the keyboard in our wedding. Her wedding was the month after ours!
Ann-we worked together forever at several different jobs. She helped lead me to the Lord and I helped lead her back. We have a strong connection because of that.
Stacy-my funny sister. She was hilarious all day...kept me laughing!
Lindsay-my smart sister. She's the brains in everything. She kept me laughing but she wasn't trying.

And my favorite picture of the day.

We had 2 slideshows-one of us growing up to "When God Made You" and one of just the two of us to "We Will Dance" by Steven Curtis Chapman. My friend Lindsey who is in the music industry in Nashville had a friend write a song for her sister's wedding that fit us PERFECTLY. We played that during the unity candle and rose ceremony. It talked about how happy we made each other and than how pleased God was with our covenant. One of the lyrics said "and He said, I've never been happier than I am right now watching my son and daughter, take these vows, the angels are singing and I am so proud, never been happier than right now." AMAZING. The bridal party walked down the aisle to "Your Love is Extravagent" and my maid of honors fiance' at the time played and sang it. It was beautiful!

I really don't think it could have gone any more perfectly than it did.

And a SYTYCD post

How much do I love Sonya Tayeh? Her choreography is CRAZY good. I love all the starts and stops, flexed feet, and big jumps. She is really incredible. I'm so glad SYTYCD picked her up as a choreographer and hoping she is the next Emmy winner from the show. She definitely deserves it!

Who do you think is going home? I'm hoping Melissa and Evan. I feel like the other 4 are incredibly strong technical dancers and need to be in the finale. My fingers are crossed and I'm waiting for 7 pm!

You have to watch this if you haven't already seen it. Again, Sonya is a GENIUS.

Dave Ramsey is a Genius!

Can I just say this man is a genius??? Chris has ALWAYS been into finances and has been a fan of saving since before we ever met. I only the other hand am a SPENDER! I make money to spend money. That's why we're the perfect balance =)

Chris started reading this book and planned out a budget for us. Our typical budget was pay the bills, put some in savings, invest a little, and spend the rest. We really had no idea where the rest was going. Dave Ramsey has you budget a percentage of what you make for each category. For example, 23-25% of what you make should go towards your mortgage, 3-7% toward clothing, etc. We broke everything down and figured out exactly where our money needs to go. We don't have any credit card debt but we do have my student loan and one car payment. If we remain faithful to this "program", we will have my student loan (which I thought wouldn't be paid off until I was 40!) and car paid off in 2 years! That's INSANE! Then all that money we were paying on those bills will go into savings for the future. So EXCITING!

I'm sure this is so exciting for you to hear about our finances but I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's book. It will change the way you spend your money!

Fertility News

I haven't written about our fertility issues in a while because we really haven't been focusing on it at all. We have spent a lot of time this summer focusing on us-going out of town, relaxing at home, working on the house, etc. I think this time off together has been SO wonderful and I'm excited that we'll get to do this every year from here on out. I was a little worried in the beginning about what it would be like being home, 24/7 together but we have really had a great time. I'm thankful for that.

ANYWAY, I got to thinking a few weeks ago about our miscarriage and the timing of everything. While I was thinking, I realized that we got pregnant the month AFTER Clomid. I talked to my doctor about whether or not the pregnancy could be related to the Clomid and she said it wouldn't hurt to try it again. So next month I will officially be back on the meds for then next 3 months. Chris is mentally preparing himself for me to be crazy again and I'm ready for the hot flashes to begin. Please be praying for us because this is the last step we will be taking for a while. We're not going to go back to the fertility specialist until at the earliest next summer and just spend the time enjoying each other. God will bless us in His PERFECT timing!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE-wedding dress

Kelly's Korner is having fun letting all us girls show off our wedding dresses! I LOVED my wedding dress at the time but would pick something lacy and slimmer if I had to do it today. My dream was always to have a big dress so that's what I had!

I loved all the beading at the top, the fullness and silk at the bottom, and some beautiful beading details at the bottom.

Details of the beading on the train. When the train was bustled, all this beading started at my waist and went down. I wish I had a good picture of it!

Me and my dad. I LOVED wearing a big slip to get all that fullness. I felt like a princess!


I love this picture of us.

Can we get married again, PLEASE???

Yearbook Yourself

So today I found the most AMAZING site in the world...YEARBOOK YOURSELF! Pure amazingness. You put in a picture of yourself and it takes you through the different styles WITH YOUR FACE throughout the years. Here's me-

I had this permed hair as a little girl in the 80's!

Here's Chris through the years-

Chris' dad looked EXACTLY like this!

Hello Zack Morris!

Go have fun making your own yearbook pics!

Thank You SYTYCD

+

= HEAVEN!!!

I'm really loving this right now. She is keeping the judging panel so light and fun. I don't even care that she knows nothing about dance...she is DANG FUNNY!

And that's really all I have to say today =)

***And did you see this? Holy Moly. I was in tears after this.***

See why I love dance so much?

Blog Hop-Favorite Recipes

Of course my two favorite recipes are super easy, non bake desserts =)

Oreo Cookie Balls

You will need

A box of Oreos (how funny that the picture I found is in Spanish!)

8 oz. of cream cheese

A package of almond bark (found by the chocolate chips)

Crush the Oreos into the cream cheese. I use a hand mixer once they are pretty well crushed to make a really good mix. Take a tablespoon of the mix and roll it in your hand. Once it's in a ball shape, set it on a cookie sheet covered with a wax piece of paper. Roll the rest of the mix. For those who are cooking challenged (ME!), here's how you melt the almond bark. Take a saucepan and fill it 1/4 full of water. Bring it to a boil. Put a glass bowl over the pot. Break the almond bark in half and let it melt. Make sure to mix it so it doesn't burn! Once melted, drop an Oreo ball in at a time and drop back on the wax paper after it's covered. Put all the balls in the fridge to chill for a few hours and enjoy your not-even-close-to-fat-free dessert!

Chocolate Chip Cheeseball Dip

THIS IS SOOOO EASY. YOU ONLY NEED 3 MINUTES!

The best invention ever-Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling (found by the cream cheese)

A bag of mini chocolate chips

Graham cracker sticks

Empty the cheesecake filling and mini chocolate chips into a bowl. Mix well so chocolate chips are evenly distributed. Serve with graham cracker sticks to dip into the mixture. YUMM-O!

The Big D

How much do I love this stinkin dog? Today I had a TERRIBLE headache (I think it's the barometric pressure) and pretty much moped around all day. I went to boot camp, came home, slept some, ate lunch, and slept some more. Dallas was my cuddle buddy through it all. I just love snuggling up with her. She's so sweet---but only to me and Chris. She pretty much dislikes anyone else. She barks and hides and when she decides she wants to come around, it has to be on her own terms. She's super skiddish and wants to be under our feet when other people are around. I just LOVE HER!

Can you see why?

Why am I thinking about school in July?

It's summer time and what am I thinking about...SCHOOL!! Ay yi yi. Not even the educational part, the decorating fun part. I recently got back from Frog Street educational conference and bought some super fun border and letters.

How much do I LOVE this border??? So adorable!

Matching letters

So here's the dilemma I'm in. I wanted to use the border and letters to write "Wild about Kindergarten" on my bulletin board. I was going to find cute jungle animal cutouts to write their names on and staple them up around the words but I can't find cute ones ANYWHERE! The only jungle animals I can find are monkeys. Will it look weird if I only use monkeys with all this zebra border? Or will it balance it out? HELP ME!

One of the monkey cutouts

The second one. I think I like this one better.

I really shouldn't even be thinking about school right now (I have a month of summer left!)...maybe they'll have some more jungle cutouts by August.