Merry Christmas

Christmas festivities over here.

My brother's wedding

Tuesday I made the trek home to help out with the preparations for my brother's wedding. It seemed like I blinked and it was over! I spent most of my time helping my mom organize the rehearsal dinner. After what seemed like days of making place cards, we were finally sitting down to a delicious meal. The speeches were so sweet. Kellie's mom talked about how how in love and happy they are together. My mom and dad spoke about keeping the Lord first in their life and marriage. Everyone else's were beautiful, but my brother Luke stole the show with his hilarious account of hearing them talk on the phone.

"I was trying to fall asleep one night while they were talking." Luke said. With 3 rooms and 6 kids, we all had to share rooms. That means there isn't much personal space. You can either talk in your room to the detriment of your sibling or go outside. A comfortable bed normally wins. This particular time they talked until the early morning hours. About the 3rd time Luke woke up he heard this, "Kellie, even your breathing is like a chorus of angels." At that moment he knew he had the crown jewels of blackmail material. At the rehearsal dinner, the time had finally come to use it. The whole place erupted in laughter. I was so proud! Ha!

Saturday was a full of hustle and bustle. Everyone was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, as my mother would say. Soon it was only 30 minutes before the wedding and things slowed down. I could almost see the butterflies in Kellie's stomach as she waited for the minutes to pass. I remember those feelings. The anticipation is thrilling and sickening at the same time.

The moments blurred together as Kellie came down the isle. She was a dream in white. I nearly melted when I saw Matt's eyes teared up. I can only imagine there was a sigh deep inside. The moment had finally come. The ceremony was beautiful. At one point they had the important men in their lives come up and pray for them. It was my favorite part.

I could not have imagined a more beautiful reception. The place had completely transformed overnight. Michelle, my mom and I helped Thursday night, but they had done so much more since then! It was so elegant. They even had a little photo booth area with fur coats. We definitely took advantage of it! :)

Our family is going to be so huge after everyone gets married! I can't imagine how crazy our family gatherings are going to be! I am so glad to add Kellie is the newest member of our family! I couldn't think of anyone more perfect for my little brother! (PS: Luke says he looks retarded, but this is the only family picture I got that day. It is going to be our Christmas picture too. Sorry bro!)

 Jonathan took this of my parents. So sweet!

Hopefully I can catch up on all the Christmas things you guys are doing! I've been so out of the loop this past week! I know I am looking forward to all of our Christmas celebrations during the next 2 weeks! I hope you all had a blessed weekend!

Thanksgiving is gone, Christmas is coming...

Is it just me, or is this year flying by super quickly? I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone. This was my second Thanksgiving with Jonathan's family. He works a lot during the Holidays, so I can either be with him or my family. He wins. Still, I normally go see them for a few days before Thanksgiving and Christmas and then come back. This year I didn't get to go see them, but it made me even more thankful for such a wonderful family.

I miss my family, but I love my new family as well. I guess that's what happens when you get married. You make a new family together with new traditions.

I love my man! Also, please notice the stickers on my sweater. Haha. Apparently I went traipsing through the forrest or something...

Now moving on to Christmas!!!!

Yesterday I started on our Christmas decorations. I get so excited about putting up the Christmas tree and hanging the stockings every year. I love how cozy our home feels during this season. I used most of the things I bought and made last year, but I made a few new things too. Here's a few easy projects...

Glitter Candle Holders &  Pine Cone Garland

To make the glitter candle holder you will need a few glass containers, glue and glitter. I used 2 mason jars and some tea lights left over from our wedding. For the mason jars, I painted the inside with glue and sprinkled the glitter inside. For the tea lights, I put a layer of glue, sprinkled the glitter outside and waited for it to dry. Then I put on a top coat of glue to seal on the glitter. I love how they look on our little makeshift mantle.

Now the pine cone garland is the easiest thing to make. Just tie some pine cones a few inches apart with some twine. That's it! It's so incredibly simple. You can add a little glitter to the edges of the pine cones if you like as well. The more glitter the better, I say!

I also put up our tree and worked on putting decorations up through out the house. I'm sure this will be the first of many Christmas decor posts! I'm a little addicted to Christmas crafting.

My friend Ellen was so good to let us borrow one of her trees this year. Last Christmas we had a cute miniature tree. It was so small that I didn't need too many ornaments. I made the sheet music tree topper and the book page birds last year and I still love them! However, this tree has a lot of bare spots and I hope to fix that soon. I want to make some more ornaments soon if anyone has some cute ideas!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

NEEDTOBREATHE

A few months ago my sister told me some wonderful news. She said that my favorite band {NEEDTOBREATHE} was going to be close by in November. Oh mercy! I was so excited. Last week the long awaited date finally came! My soon to be sister-in-law picked us up and we headed to the concert. I think this was the first time I actually felt giddy about seeing a band live. I had high hopes and they did not disappoint. 

I'm sorry if you guys could care less about NEEDTOBREATHE, because the following photos will be entirely of them. Hehe.

The neat thing about NEEDTOBREATHE is that they are Christians. They are on a secular record label, but they just write about what is important to them. Their faith is a big part of who they are and it comes out in their music. They seemed very humble on stage. Thus, it made me love them even more! They literally rocked my socks off. I sang at the top of my lungs the whole time. At the very end they played "A Place Only You Can Go" acoustic. Oh. My. Goodness. You'd have to be there to know how spectacular is was. The only sad part is that my hubby couldn't come with us. He's the one that got me hooked on NEEDTOBREATHE in the first place. I guess we'll just have to go see them again! :)

If you haven't heard their music, just listen to this song. It's good. Promise!

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend my hubby had a few days off from work. It is quite rare for him to get a whole weekend off, so we decided to take advantage of the time and go on a road trip for my birthday. On Friday we packed up and went up to Tuscaloosa to visit Jonathan's sister (she's in law school there) and bro-in-law. That evening we enjoyed a little exploring and dinner at a quaint Italian place. I was more than happy to have an excuse to wear the dress my hubby gave me for my birthday. :)

Saturday we decided to to a little hiking at a nearby lake. (Sigh!) I long to live somewhere closer to the mountains! It'd take somewhere with any hiking trails really! It is so refreshing to be immersed in nature. I have such fond memories of our yearly family vacations in the mountains. My brother and I used to go off and have grand adventures...you know, being spies and saving the world just by climbing a mountain. :) My imagination was unbridled for a while as I took in all the sights and sounds. I could spend all day hiking!

The lake was beautiful!

Hehe. We're so silly!

Later than night we went to a Mexican restaurant with such posh decor. I'm pretty sure I spent several minutes just admiring the details and creativity. Don't you love the star lights?

Don't Jonathan and his sis look so much alike? Neither of them look much like their parents though. Weird! We had such a fun weekend in T-town them. It's always nice to get away for a while, even if it's just a few days. Oh and please notice my blondish roots showing! I think it's time to dye again!

Being silly again...this is our usual selves. :)

Sunday we had the pleasure of going to The Church at Brook Hills, where David Platt pastors. We even got to meet him after the service! It was so encouraging to hear the Word preached, without the uncomfortable and hard parts being left out. We left humbled and more in awe of Jesus, not feeling better about ourselves. You definitely don't just "attend church" at Brook Hills. They are the Church. They live like the Church out in the world. (More on that coming later!)

Now we're back and I have to start packing for Ethiopia! I leave on Friday! Craziness!


PS: Thank you all for your sweet birthday wishes!