t u e s d a y

This was a day full of joy and love.

Back in May, Nathan proposed to Savanna and I assisted Maggie in setting up the proposal in our back yard. Once he proposed (which...we all watched the proposal from my brothers bedroom window), Savanna came into the house asking if they were going to have to eat outside all by themselves. 

We proceeded to call Meme, Grandmother, Uncle John and Aunt Joy, and then all sat outside and ate pizza.

I know I always say this but...it's the truth:

I am one blessed human being.

wednesday

Feeling blessed by the friendships in this life.

Relationships and fellowship are one of the things for which we are created.

family + love

     The Saturday before Easter, I worked until 7:30 and then had design project problems until 10:30 or 11. But I was determined to wake up in my home and enjoy breakfast with my family.
So I drove home -- worth it.

Sometimes, (as I've said before) all you need is a trip home to catch a breath.

golly gee. everyone in my family is half of a couple.

are we old enough for this??

Grace

^{Matthew 27}

⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

⁴⁷ Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

⁴⁸ And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

⁴⁹ The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

⁵⁰ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

⁵¹ And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

⁵² And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

⁵³ And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

⁵⁴ Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

And in these moments, we were freed from our sin. We were covered in the blood of Christ; we will never experience God's wrath. He looks at us and sees Christ's perfection. He sees Christ's purity and CANNOT see our sin.

That's what this weekend is about.

"All I know is grace."

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still 

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace 

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life 

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
O Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You 

stand and be amazed

Psalm 63

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: 

my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, 

where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

But the king shall rejoice in God;
 every one that sweareth by him shall glory:
 but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

Today, I want to try to stand and be amazed at the glory of the One who has saved us and continues to lavish us in His love and kindness.

My heart and my head are constantly attacking each other and my soul just becomes weary of the fight. But then I remember I have rest in Christ. And He can calm the storm of my head and heart. 

What a friend we have in Jesus.

day 2.

day 2.

I'm thankful for my house and den which allows us to build a fort.
and I'm thankful for the movie The Vow.
I'm thankful for vegetable soup.
I'm thankful for pillows.

on a more serious note:

I'm thankful for having a boyfriend that is just so incredibly awesome (no worries I won't get sappy) but he made building a fort feel like I was 7 years old again. It was fun and silly!
I'm thankful for my mommah who will sit and watch a movie in my fort...not who will do it...but a Mom who wants to climb in a fort and watch a movie!
I'm thankful for a sister who loves me and makes jokes with me and will do pretty much anything for me.

God has blessed me with a lot of people in my life...and not a one am I not thankful.

Family//Lake

Honestly, one of my favorite places is the lake. It's home, it's sunshine, it's lazy days and happy days.
This past trip to the lake meant a lot of family time, too. For Labor Day, a whole bunch of us met up at Mary-John's new lake house and we just all enjoyed each other's company.



oh. we enjoyed some food, too.

back in July...

A trip to Atlanta is always a treat.

But when you go with a handsome fella' *cough*Garrett*cough*...it makes it even better.

Garrett, Zac, and I drove up to Atlanta to drop Zac off at the bus station so he could make his trek back to Florida. (sad face)

After we dropped him off, we went to Mary Mac's  (holy snap. delicious.) and then to Octane Coffee  (we hit up the Grant Park location. and lemme tell ya, not only is the place beautiful...but it's tasty).

We also walked around and shopped a bit.

Our day trip in captured image:

a summer

sometimes all it takes is a summer for you to realize how much you love your life.

or to remind you of the blessing of

 .home.

GOD is good.

repeat x 1,000,000,000,000

and words never do justice to the warmth in my heart directed towards the people in my life.

Steel

Or, as I like to call it, Garrett's love song to Birmingham (& of course the people in Birmingham).

We filmed the video at the base of Vulcan (hence, the name Steel).

All I've got to say is I have extremely talented friends. 

filmed by Kirk Robert Photography (check him out. he's kind of...awesome.)

Thankful, yet again.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays.

There's a spirit of love that comes alive around this time.

I love spending time with my family and friends.

And I love coming home.

(I also love meeting my new 1 month old cousin!)

After the test...

Blast music to engineering students...

Today:

I'm at home for Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for my home.

I'm thankful for Birmingham.

I'm thankful for coffee with new friends and self-timer shots accidentally set on continuous shooting.

I'm thankful cooking in a KITCHEN.

Oh. And I'm obsessed with the new JCrew catalog...it's all so PERFECT.

I think I'm going to use some of the color combos for a project...