An Outward Glance

*All photos courtesy of MSNBC

 We have nothing to complain about.

Pray for all those dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene on the East Coast.

God is in Control,

Aim

Bub's in Town!

This weekend was full. My sister was in town (yippppeeeeee!) and we got a lot of wedding stuff done. We had dinner with a dear friend, ran a ton of wedding errands (thanks for coming along Pap! :), they (along with Quid and DD) threw me an incredible bridal shower, B and I did some house stuff, met with our wedding planner and I had a post-camp director's debriefing meeting and dinner. Phew! What a weekend it was. Here's a short recap in pictures...

It was a great weekend. Filled with great people, great experiences and great food too!

Time to tackle Monday,

Aim

It's Official!

My heart is full with the overwhelming blessing of how God takes care of His people. Today, B and I closed escrow on a miracle...OUR FIRST HOME!!!

It's been a crazy month or so as we dealt with all of this, and I will write more later with pics and all that good stuff, but just a pause today to recognize the big guy upstairs who orchestrated this all for us.

I'm overwhelmed. I'm speechless. I'm ecstatic. 

I can't wait to start this next new phase of life with B!

And, a huge shout out to our parents because without them none of this would have been possible <3

Home is where the Heart is,

Aim

It's Some Kind of Wonderful...

When all God's people come together in crazy worship and adoration of their Savior!

Tonight was supercallafragalisticexpialidocious. 

God is SO good.

Aim

Let Them Eat Cake

Truth is-I'm not much of a cake eater. Or at least on the wedding cake scale of things I'm not. I like carrot cake with cream cheese icing and chocolate lava cake but I'm not a big fan of wedding cake. 

What I am a fan of, however, is the look of a beautiful cake at a wedding reception and how the bride and groom have their "cake cutting" moment and all of that good stuff.

Today, my future MIL and I went cake tasting for the wedding cake. It was fun and we tried lots of different types of cake.

This cake here was the clear winner. Can you guess which flavor we chose??! Apparently one of the things brides like to do now is have different flavors for each tier of the wedding cake. Well, this flavor was so good that we decided that the entire cake should be one flavor so that all of our guests could enjoy it. (They'll thank me later, I know :)

All in all, it was a streamlined process from tasting to design deciding to ordering. For that I was grateful. I was also grateful that my MIL took the time to come with me to share in the experience. Her and my Mom are the two people I know who love cake so it was an obvious choice (my Mom is out of town visiting my dear sister). We ended up making an afternoon of it and we also got my MIL's dress hemmed for the wedding as well as found a dress that I think will work for my upcoming shower this weekend. 

Check!

Aim

A Special Night with my Girls

So this little guy showed up on my doorstep one day last week...

And after I showed up at said meeting place, I was "kidnapped"by Lala and Gracie and we went for a joyride throughout the neighborhood. *that's me underneath the fuzzy pink blanket

It wasn't weird at all that we were the only ones over 4' at the neighborhood kiddie park :)

Proof that I followed the command to "wear a headband." Obviously my collection of headbands is limited. Haha

Me and my buddy Cotton. He's a little on the skinny side right now but I love him and he loves me. :)

The spread was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. Six courses all homemade and all things that I love to eat. We had bruschetta, strawberry spinach salad, spinach stuffed chicken, brie w/pastry, and vegetable pasta. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

They even had my favorite Starbucks drink for me. One nonfat latte, extra hot!

After dinner I was blindfolded again and taken to another room where...

They had set up this special "spa-like" space to pamper me :)

Riri did my nails, big props to Miss Em who really went to town on my toes (now that's love! haha) and Mrs. Pinky who painted my left side, Gracie gave me an awesome massage throughout the process and Lala played DJ for the night and took some pics. It was all so wonderful!

I love these girls and I've had the privilege of seeing them through high school and now into their college years of life (soon Lala, soon ;) Thank you ladies for blessing me over and abundantly with all of this pampering but most of all for your words and prayers. You made me feel so special!

My face feels shiny!

Aim

This Day

Hi there, 

My apologies on my long absence. Life has caught up with me and things have been busy around here. 

Today, a gentle reminder that God is steady through the storm and that if I trust in Him, that things will always work themselves out, whether or not I worry and stress and all of that sleepless night stuff.

In the Bible it talks about choosing this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15). It's hard for me sometimes to remember that I am serving Jesus with my attitude and actions-even with how I feel about myself sometimes-as each new day arises, each new challenge or expectation. 

So today, I am declaring again to my God that I will be faithful to Him in whatever comes my way today. 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 
2 Corinthians 5:17

To His Glory,

Aim

Yippeee!

Us two get to go and see our bestie today! :D

"A chord of three strands is not easily broken"

Aim

Show Stoppers

Summertime usually equals hiatus for all regularly scheduled fall shows. This usually means that I am forced to watch reruns of my all time fave, Law & Order: SVU.

I'm addicted to this show. Next season, Christopher Meloni is out (sad face) and they are apparently cutting back on Mariska Hargitay's hours (bigger sad face) so we'll see if the show stays as good as it has been. In the meantime, this summer series has become a nice replacement:

The fact that Angie Harmon used to star in the original Law & Order doesn't escape me :). I think I just love the Law & Order series in any form really. But I've always liked her and after watching a few episodes of her new show, I've decided that I like it too.

So until my beloved SVU resumes come fall, I think I'll be over on TNT with Rizzoli & Isles.

Want further proof of my addiction? I can recite the Miranda rights by heart people. Yes, it's that bad :). 

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney..."

I can't think of what the police code sign off is but DD would know so after she reminds me then I'll insert it (here).

Cop show lover 4 life,
Aim

My Obsession Continues

How cool would it be to throw a Starbucks themed party?!? Am I the only crazy one out there who'd find immeasurable joy in this? Maybe, but I don't care. I want this lego set so bad!

I literally laughed out loud when I saw this ad. This is me. Just add some longer, light brown hair and some European and take away a bit of the Asian and you've got yourself a deadringer for yours truly.

One nonfat latte, extra hot please.

Aim