Wordless Wednesday

 

My sister and her husband had their wedding reception back home this past weekend. I couldn't be there, but my husband and auntie took pictures for me. This is one of my favorites with my sister and their cake 

Hawaii Day 4

Thursday, August 25

I can't share too many pictures of the wedding day, since Colleen hasn't been able to share, but I think I'm safe in sharing just these few. 

On Thursday, August 25 at 5 pm, my sister got to marry her best friend. It was the most beautiful, most personal ceremony I've had the chance to attend in quite some time. 

I spent most of the day with Colleen helping (and by helping I mean supervising) her getting ready and then had the all important job of holding the bouquet during the ceremony. 

I am just going to share a couple pics, special things that jumped out to me. 

Can't get ready without COFFEE! 

The bouquet

she wore my mom necklace around her bouquet, so a piece of her was there 

This pin belonged to my grandfather's mother (Oma Schallig) 

The pearls belonged to my grandmother 

Hopefully I will be able to share more pictures of the actual bride and groom at a later date. Until then, enjoy what you have!

A Vow Renewal

While we were in Florida, it was our plan to renew our wedding vows with Stephen's sister. As a captain, she is able to perform weddings, but she took an extra step and actually got ordained just so she could do this for us.

What a blessing she was. Having her perform the ceremony was so special for our family. PLUS her connections helped us hook up with Dan who took us out on the water for our "ceremony." The girls and their cousin all got to watch us and enjoy the sunset as well. It is certainly an evening that I will remember with joy for the rest of my life. Below are the vows we said.

Stephen and Betsy, it is a pleasure to share today’s very special occasion with you.

Many people believe that entering into marriage is the final step in a romantic relationship. As they see it, a couple meets, gets to know each other, falls in love, decides they want to go through life together, and then take the final step—marriage. But marriage is not meant to be the final step in a couple’s relationship—it is really just the beginning of a grand adventure, that hopefully, will be long and fruitful for each couple.

You have shared the joys, blessings, and yes, the challenges, of married life for seven years. And, today you wish to reconfirm your commitment to working together to make your marriage grow and blossom in the years to come.

May this ceremony, renewing the vows you took to become husband and wife on your wedding day, remind you that despite the stresses inevitable in every life, your love, respect, trust and understanding of each other will continue to increase your contentment and heighten your joy in living.

Please join hands. Stephen, will you continue to have Betsy as your wife and continue to live in this marriage?

Do you reaffirm your love for her, and will you love, honor and cherish her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?

Betsy, will you continue to have Stephen as your husband and continue to live in this marriage?

Do you reaffirm your love for him, and will you love, honor and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

The opening vows

Exchanging our rings, again

On your wedding day you exchanged rings as a symbol of the never-ending circle of love. Rings serve as a reminder of your wedding vows to each other, and your commitment to live in unity, love, and happiness. At this time, it is appropriate to reconfirm the meaning of the rings you wear.

Please join your left hands together so that Stephen’s hand is on top. Stephen, please repeat after me: Betsy, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you.

Now, with Betsy’s hand on top, Betsy, please repeat after me: Stephen, I wear this ring you placed on my hand as a symbol of my love and commitment to you.

I ask that you each remember to continue to cherish each other as special and unique individuals and that you each respect the thoughts and ideas of one another. And most of all, be able to forgive each other, and not hold grudges against one another.

Live each day in love with each other, always being there to give love, comfort, and refuge to each other, in good times and bad.

Stephen and Betsy, today you have renewed the promises and vows you made to each other on your wedding day. You have symbolized the renewal of the marriage union by the joining of hands, the taking of vows, and by the wearing of your wedding rings.

It is with pleasure that I conclude the ceremony of renewing the vows of marriage that joined you and binds you as husband and wife.

Please celebrate this renewal of vows with a kiss!

Sealed the renewal with another kiss!

Jena in the back, yes crying (so was Stephen!)

Us and our captain-minister 💗

Our Vows, One Year Later.

Just realized that I never shared our vows from the wedding on here. So, today, the first anniversary of our marriage, I am sharing our vows with my followers and friends who weren't able to see us say them in person.

Stephen's vow to me: 

Betsy, you are my best friend. I promise to laugh and cry with you. 

I will love you when we are together and when we are apart. 

I promise to support your dreams and to respect our differences 

and to love you and be by your side through all the days of our lives. 

I promise to always be your biggest fan and your partner in crime. 

I promise to create and support a family with you, 

in a household filled with laughter, patience, understanding and love. 

I vow not just to grow old together, but to grow together. 

I will love you faithfully through the difficult and easy times. 

What may come, I will always be there, each one believing that love never dies. 

As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. 

I promise before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful husband. 

I will be by your side to share with you your happiness and success, 

and to comfort you in times of sorrow and disappointment. 

As your husband, I will seek to be open and honest with you, 

to forgive you as Christ has forgiven me 

and to always remind you of the Lords plans and promises. 

I devote my love and my life to you from this day forward until the end of time. 

My vow to him: 

Stephen, today I take you as my best friend, my partner in crime and my love forever. 

In the presence of God, our family and our friends, and with His help 

I promise to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in joy as well as sorrow. 

I promise to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness 

and to have the patience that love demands. 

To speak when words are needed 

and share the silence when they are not. 

I promise to fiercely love you, in all your forms, now and forever. 

I promise to be faithful and true to you in mind, body and spirit; 

and to be a source of comfort and encouragement for you. 

I will be forgiving, but not complacent. 

I promise to love you, and no matter what challenges might try to carry us apart,

we will always find a way back to each other. 

Stephen, today is our 365th day of marriage, our first full year is officially done! Today I wanted to take the time to write you a short note. I want to thank you for putting up with my mood swings, the way I whine when I am sick. Thank you for adopting my children as your own. You choose to love them when you didn't have to, and that means more to me then you can possibly imagine. I love you so much and thank you for putting up with me. xoxox, your wife, Betsy

Jamberry Opportunity

It's been four whole months since I started my jamberry business. I love this company. There is one thing I am having trouble with and that is getting outside my circles. That is why this post is happening. I know that I have some followers who haven't yet tried Jamberry, I would like to give you that opportunity today.

If you haven't heard of Jamberry or have but haven't tried them, I think now is your time. I want to share this product with you. By simply commenting on this post or sending me a request via my contact box (in the right sidebar) I will send you a sample jamberry wrap to try out. I simply ask one thing, tell me what you think.

So, I know you want to try them, so just let me know which one you want:

I will contact you for your mailing address and tell you a bit about the seven day challenge. Don't worry, it's not required! But it is super easy and will show you how jamberry will change the way you do your manicure.

What are you waiting for?! Message me now!

Fellow bloggers: are you willing to give Jamberry the test and review them on their blog?
If you are interested, send me a message and I will be in contact to see what we can work out.


1000 Gifts: A gift broke, fixed, thrifted

• It is a gift to have had my heart broken, because if it didn't happen, I wouldn't have the life I have now that I love. 
• It is a gift to have a man who is able to fix things around the house. I had so many "honey do" projects that he helped me complete. Much faster with his help!
• It is a gift to have gotten a few things for our wedding thrift style. I added a few things and made them our own, made a perfect touch for our wedding without the cost associated with buying personalized stuff. 

Updates & 1000 Gifts

Yet again, it's been awhile since my last update (click the link to read the last one). And yet again, lots is going on! Here is just a small update of what our family has been up to. As you can see I updated the cover photo for the season. Sorry the pic is a bit grainy, but it was the best I could do with my oh-so-cooperative models. Anyway, it's updated no less. Here is the full size pic (had to be cropped a bit for the header.

Christmas 2014

Before I start, I want to let you know, this post is full of links to other posts. Anytime there is an underlined word (might be blue) it is a link to a previous post. Clicking that word will take you to the other post. =) 

Last time I updated it was just before the wedding, since then, we did get married. In my personal opinion (however biased that might be!) it was beautiful. I loved how the colors came together. Loved that it was intimate and just suited us! I have posted a few pictures (here and here) and more on my facebook but it was just wonderful. Honestly, can't think of anything I would have changed. It was so amazing to be surrounded by our friends and family. We have also since had our family blending ceremony which also went wonderfully. There wasn't a great turnout of people there, but it was okay. We loved how it went. The girls were very involved and felt comfortable with everything. I posted a picture of the sand here. Besides the wedding I have been doing pretty well. My grandmother had a pretty serious fall and is in the ICU, but she has stabilized. She's not going to be too happy though, this fall makes it impossible for her to live independently. Keep her in your prayers if you wouldn't mind, her name is Carolyn. 

Now I have a new person to update on and that is my wonderful husband Stephen!! He moved here to be with us, we drove back after the wedding. Things seem to be settling quite nicely in the house. We were able to purchase a few things with gift cards to make the house a bit more comfortable for all of us. It's a small one but we are making it work. When he moved, he had to find a new job. We had a lead on one, he interviewed for it and got the position but something felt "off" about it. Eventually we decided that it wasn't the right fit for our family (it would have been an overnight position.) I honestly believe that God is caring for our family because the day before he called to decline job one, he got a call from another assisted living facility for an interview. The day he declined job one he had an interview with job two. He was the only person (of eight interviewees) who showed up for the group interview. They offered him the job basically right away and he started this last Monday. So far he is enjoying it, even though it is a little different then his last job. The hours are 6:30 am - 2:30 pm which works out just perfectly for our family. God provides! 

McKayla is doing really well. She has a stubborn streak and an attitude, but we are working on it. We are working together to make sure she understands that the rules for Stephen aren't any different then the rules for mom. Her and her sisters have been trying things with Stephen that they know wouldn't fly with mom. I had to explain to him my mom's box theory. Every child has a box. When a new person is introduced into their lives (or anytime they feel like it really) they test the limits of the box. They want to make sure it's still there and they only way they can do it is to do things they wouldn't normally do, that they know aren't okay, to make sure mom or whoever is going to tell them now. We just have to work extra hard on being on the same page and working as a team. No real other issues with her. She is just growing and turning into a young lady right in front of me!

Natalie on the other hand, not dealing with all the change so well. She has been having some pretty serious emotional breakdowns. I will give you a good example: the other night I told her to go in her room and get her pj's on. She went in her room, grabbed her pjs and started putting them on in the living room. My drink was on the floor (in a lidded cup!) and she knocked it over. Just spilled a tiny bit and we weren't mad at her, just wanted to talk to her. She started inconsolably crying. Wouldn't even listen to us talking to her. We were just trying to explain that there are reasons we ask them to do things the way we do, this is why we wanted you to change in your room. I was beyond annoyed. I know she's been through a rough year though, so I'm trying to give her some grace. I have also scheduled her an appointment with a counselor so she can talk about things. Hopefully we can come to an understanding of how to handle her best. We are also slowly working on things for school. Her papers are starting to look a little better coming home, so that's encouraging. Keep Natalie in your prayers. She seems to be having the toughest time with all the changes.

Then there is my Alivia. Sweet little Liv who isn't so little anymore. She is slowly gaining on her sisters in size. Only thing that's still much smaller is her feet. They are still so small! Alivia loves going to school and her after school program. She always seems to come home in a wonderful mood. Her favorite things to do are color and cut and make things for people. I am constantly finding scraps of this or that that she wants to give to someone. She also really loves to write. She asks me all the time how to "do" a letter she can't draw. I can already tell how much she has learned this year. I hope her love for learning and excitement about school continues. She's such fun to watch and be around. We have also gotten a few compliments from her Sunday school teacher about how attentive she is and how quickly she can understand things. I love the faith of a child that asks questions but has zero doubts about God. It's amazing.

So, that's us. Anything new with you?

1000 gifts: three gifts striped

• The wallet my girls got me, it's stripes of hearts, but they are still stripes. Makes me smile thinking of them every time I get it out. (see right) 
• Candy Canes. I love them and it's such fun to get them and share them with the kids (even if they do get sticky everywhere!) 
• The stars and stripes on our flag. They remind me every time I see or think about it how very blessed we are to live in a country where we are free. 

Wordless Wednesday

our house with lights! First year ever!! 

Our tree during the day time

Found a special red bird ornament for my mommy xo

1000 Gifts three gifts unframed art

A painting by my great aunt Tante Gusta (Jos) Pluim Mentz. Loved it since I saw it, grandpa let me have it! 

Our wedding guestbook. Loving made by Jen for our special day. 

A less literal piece of art, but being able to share this moment with Stephen is unframed but a meaningful part of my life. 

Three Gifts Astonishing

1000 Gifts: Three gifts astonishing!

Honestly, the best gift I can think of that is astonishing is my recent nuptials. It was a perfect wedding. I loved planning, decorating and being there. I can't think of a thing I would have changed. Here are just a few pictures of our special day.

Wordless Wednesday

Just a few pictures of some of the decor from the wedding. Thanks again Auntie for taking the pictures for us!

1000 Gifts: Three gifts preparing. 

• It is a gift to have been able to do most of the work for the wedding. It was so much fun making things just the way we wanted them. 
• It is a gift to not have to prepare any thanksgiving meals this year. One of the perks of traveling. Though I do think we might end up three different places for meals! 
• It is a gift to be able to prepare things for my girls for Christmas. I am so excited for this year. They aren't getting much in way of toys, but they are going to be happy with it. =) I am also happy to be able to prepare the 24 days of Christmas for them again. Not so many days since they spend half at their dads, but we will still have fun the days they are with us! 

Wedding Day Thankfulness

Today is my wedding day.

I never in a million years imagined I would be walking down the aisle less then a year after separation and subsequent divorce from my high school sweetheart. But God had amazing plans for me to bring this wonderful man back into my life. He has been everything that I needed and didn't realize.

At six thirty tonight, pray for our union. I honestly believe that Stephen is God's answer to my prayers. I am so very grateful He didn't make me wait years for him.

So today, on the day I will take him as my husband, I am going to write about a few of the reasons I am thankful for this man's presence in my life.

1. I am thankful that he is a Godly man. Together we can grow closer to God which will bring us closer together. I really love this model (see right) as we grow closer to God, we will grow closer together. I think that is super important that we share our faith and can grow together. 
2. I am thankful that he is compassionate. He honestly cares about people. In Oregon he was working in a care facility and the residents and their families just loved him. It is obvious he cares by the way he interacts with them. 
3. I am thankful that he is flexible. Not every person would move a state away from all their family, even for someone they loved. But Stephen had no hesitation saying yes to moving here. He understood that my girls needed to be close to their father. I am so very grateful he didn't argue at all about this, it made it so much easier on me. 
4. I am thankful that he is romantic. He tells me all the time he loves me and shows me with flowers and cards. I am one of those people who needs those acts of love and he seems to know that and gives it to me. He speaks my love language! 
5. I am thankful he had an amazing sense of humor. Sometimes he just makes me laugh. Seems to know just when I need it and helps lighten my mood. He also knows when I don't need it, and doesn't make jokes when they aren't needed. 
6. I am thankful that he is good with my girls. There is always a worry, going into a new relationship, that they won't deal with your children very well. But the interactions he has had with my girls have been perfect. He defers the discipline to me but isn't afraid to tell them when they are out of line. He gets down on the floor and plays with them, reads to them and just loves on them. I know my girls have an amazing father but I think it's always great to have more people who love you. My girls know that Stephen loves them and will be there for them. 
7. I am thankful that he is able to deal with my lists. As I have said before, I am a list maker and this wedding planning and move have been a big challenge for me. Especially since he is in a whole other state (as is the wedding!). Needless to say, I have been making a lot of lists. I have lists for everything you can imagine. He has not only dealt with my lists, but embraced that processing side of me. I could make him a "to do" list and know that he would take care of things. He even mentioned during our pre-marital counseling that he liked my lists. I just loved hearing that! 
8. I am thankful he enjoys to cook! If you haven't heard before, I am not much of a cook, nor am I very adventurous in the kitchen. He is and I am so looking forward to having someone else to help in the kitchen. :D 
9. I am thankful he isn't one of those men who believes in sharing the roles in the household. There aren't things he won't do because they are "women's work." He is perfectly willing (and even has while visiting!) cleaned up around the house. 
10. I am thankful that he loves me. Often I don't feel very lovable. I get cranky, I have lots of flaws, but it seems like he doesn't even see them. He sees me as this beautiful woman and he isn't shy about telling me. I am so very grateful for that. He makes me feel beautiful in times where I really don't. 

So there you have it. Ten things about my very soon to be husband (11.5 hours!!!) that I am thankful for. 

1000 Gifts: Three gifts  ugly beautiful

• my tears. I am not a pretty crier. But He sees my tears, counts them even! It is such a gift to know that about my Heavenly Father. 
• The rain. It makes the day just ugly (in my personal opinion!) But without it, the world would be ugly. Not to mention that beautiful smell and the way things look after the rain. 
• This is going to sound horrible, but I think McKayla's teeth are ugly beautiful. They look funny right now, missing a few, have a few "grown up" teeth and quite a few baby teeth. But she has the most beautiful smile. Her whole face lights up. Just love it! 

Wedding Update & 1000 Gifts

Getting so close to the wedding. Got everything purchased (I think) and all that needs to happen now is me getting to Oregon and us getting our license. If you wouldn't mind keeping us in your prayers, it's a big step. The support of our family and friends is invaluable. Here are a couple pictures of the rings. First his:

Then mine inside of his (he has big fingers!) 

And he is beyond sweet to my girls. Sent them all cards for Halloween with a sheet of jamberries in each one! 

1000 Gifts: Three Gifts Harvest

• It is a gift to be able to go buy fresh produce, even when I can't grow it at home.
• It's a gift to be able to enjoy fruits from other places that can't be grown here (I bought a pomegranate today!) 
• It's a gift to be able to share my love of fresh produce with my girls. They already love their fruits and veggies and I love it! 

Thankful Tuesday

1000 gifts: three gifts acorn-small.

• My beautiful engagement ring and wedding bands. I love them and love the symbol they share. 
• The opportunity isn't, but the jamberries are acorn sized. I am so glad for this gift. Seems God opened this door just at the right time for me. 
• My eyes. They are a constant reminder of my mom, also a reminder that my mom's legacy lives on in the form of someone else's sight. Not sure if I shared on here but we were able to donate her eyes to the Lyons eye bank. Truly a gift to know they are helping someone else. 

I don't want to leave it just at that, I still want to keep with my thankful posts, especially this month, the month of Thanksgiving, a time to really reflect on things we are thankful for. Here are five things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful for the jamberry opportunity. I feel successful at something that is all me for the first time in a long time. It's given me a boost of confidence that I missed. I am sure my mom would be proud of how well I am doing. I am still pushing to meet my goal for November. I would love to help you have pretty nails for the holidays or give the gift of jamberry to a special lady or little girl. (yes, shameless plug for my business here). 
2. I am thankful for teachers who care about my girls. We didn't get the best report from our parent teacher conferences. Alivia is doing well, she is a little behind but catching up quickly. McKayla is doing good as well. Still needs to work on slowing down and doing her best work, but she seems to be adapting to third grade. Then there is my Natalie. Oh how I love that child, but she is struggling. Please keep us in your prayers, that we would find the best way to help her with school. It is so important to me and her father that she be successful in school. 
3. I am thankful for my weekend babysitting gig. I love watching Miss Mia and her mom is wonderful. It has been a blessing financially and also keeping my girls a little busier. They played all day Sunday and my girls were asleep less then an hour after she left! 
4. I am thankful for the sound of the rain on the roof. We had quite a bit of rain on Saturday and it was so nice to be able to just listen to it gently (and sometimes not so gently) pattering on the roof. Reminds me of Oregon and makes me extremely glad that I live in a place where it isn't such a frequent occurrence. 
5. I am thankful for my Stephen. He has been so amazing through this whole planning process. I have started getting a little worried about things but he knows just the right words to bring me back. I just want this to be special. I feel pretty helpless all the way over here when all the stuff that needs to be done is in Oregon. But I have no doubts that with Stephen's help that we will make this wedding an amazing night. 

31 Days of Free Writes Part IV & Five Minute Friday

This is my final post for 31 days of five minute free writes. I have really enjoyed writing them and I do hope you enjoyed reading them.

October 25

I am having a really hard time focusing on a specific thought with this word. One thing I am thinking about is enjoying the process. That's something I am really trying to work on with the wedding planning. I want to enjoy this process and be able to look back on it and be happy about the way we did things. I want to enjoy the time I have with my girls and be able to look back on my time with them and know that it was well spent. I want to enjoy my time at church and learn lots about God. I want to be able to think about church and how much I enjoyed being there in the presence of God. Same with my workplace. I want to work in a place where I enjoy being. I spend a LOT of time at work, so it's super important to me to enjoy the environment and the people I work with. I know it's nearly impossible to enjoy every part of my job every day, but I'm pretty darn close. Compared to some of the other jobs I have had, I really do enjoy my work and the people I work for and with. I want my kids to enjoy their childhood. That's one of the reasons I have held off on chores so long, I want them to be kids as long as they can be. Feel the joy of spending the day outside playing with their friends and being kids. I was so blessed to have a great childhood. I feel like my family really helped us kids be kids for as long as we could be. Some considered us sheltered, but it was a HUGE blessing to not be forced to grow up so soon. I can honestly say that I enjoyed my childhood. Were there times I wish I could do over or never have gone through? Absolutely. But without those times, would I be the person I am today? Who really knows. To sum it all up, enjoy what you are doing when you are doing it! You never know when it might be over.

October 26

I was so blessed this last weekend to get a visit from my love and my sister. They live 8 hours away by car, so it isn't often they get to come over for the weekend. We didn't do a whole lot of anything, but we sure had fun in each other's company. I think that is just what I needed last week. Though, I am going to admit that this week I have been feeling especially homesick. It's one disadvantage to living so far away, visits are a big deal! But I have told my family and my friends back home, that I will continue to visit them. As much as I hate living so far away, I love my job and my kids need to be close to their dad. So, I will continue the visits for now. Another thing I think of when I see the word visit is visiting the doctor's office or the hospital. It isn't some place you would want to live or stay for an extended period of time, but it's nice to be able to visit once in awhile. I am sure there are places where you can't visit your loved ones in the hospital. I can only imagine how much harder that would be. I think of when my mom was in the ICU. We had to jump through quite a few hoops to get in to her room. We had to call on a phone, make sure no one was in the room with her and take turns going in. The visitation limitations became a lot less when we made the decision to let her go. The hospital staff was so wonderful, allowing us to be with her every minute of the process. I am sure that wasn't part of their visiting policy, but they did it for us. It was a horrible situation but I felt so cared for during the whole ordeal. Crazy how my mind jumps from one kind of visit to a completely different one. Mom has been on my mind a lot lately though. I wish I could visit with her one more time.

October 27

Free is an amazing price. Did you know that we are all given a gift for free that had an enormous cost? We have all been given grace from God, for free. In fact, He paid the price for us. He sent His only son, allowed him to die on a cross in unimaginable pain just for us. I have really been thinking about this since having my own kids. It's one thing to say I would give anything to save my child, but what if that cost was giving up another of your children? Not so easy a decision is it? But that is the choice God made to give us the free gift of grace. We often take it for granted or don't take it at all. I want to make sure that I am making God's free gift to me count. I want to be living the life that God called me for, to honor the gift He gave me. I cannot imagine having to ask for forgiveness like they did in biblical times. Having to sacrifice something to pay for my sins. But I don't have to. All I have to do is ask. Another free gift because of the death of God's one and only son. Amazing right? And it is free! All you have to do is ask. No strings attached, no "purchases" required. You can come just as you are and ask for the gift of eternal life, and it's given to you. Not only has God given us that gift, but when His son left this earth, He left us with a helper. Not a helper we would have to pay for, but one that was freely given to us, to help us on earth. The holy spirit. I don't always understand exactly how the trinity works, but I do know that the holy spirit is here and it can work in mighty ways. The only reason we got it is because of the gift God gave of His son.

October 28

I am not a morning person when I am sitting in bed, hitting the snooze button over and over. More often then not, I hit the limit of snoozes on my phone and have to get out of bed. But, like magic, once I am out of bed, I can handle the morning. I think it's just the thought of getting out of my warm cozy bed and out into the not so cozy house. It's hard to get myself to shake out of the sleepiness and into my wakeful normal person. I think at least two thirds of my girls are the same way. They hate getting up but once they are up, they are okay. It's hard having kids that can be so much like you. Then there come the morning when no one in the whole house wants to wake up. We no longer have a "back up" to wake us up, we just have to be responsible for ourselves. I remember when i was younger, school age, and my mom would knock on the door to wake my sister and I up. If we didn't respond in five minutes or so, she would be back in, often singing "rise and shine and give God the glory." She had the wonderfully off key voice. I miss it so much. I miss waking up to that sound. She would always say that God told us to make a joyful noise, he never once said it had to be pretty. Waking up knowing that I will never be able to hear that voice again is so hard. Some days it just seems downright impossible. I had one of those days this week. Dragging myself out of bed was a challenge, getting myself ready was a challenge, driving to work was a battle against my tears. But I did it, and got through the day. You just have to wake up and see how you are going to make your day. We are all given a new start every morning. How are you going to wake up and use it?

October 29

Unite. It's a word that I had a really hard time finding a picture for. I ended up making myself this one. I found the image of the twisting strings and thought it was fitting. When I think about "uniting" I think about coming together. About taking each one of us, as individuals and creating something beautiful together. It is much like the sand ceremony we are planning for our family. Once Stephen and I have done the wedding in Oregon, we are planning to come home to Idaho and have a sand ceremony and reception for my friends here and for the girls. If you haven't heard of a sand ceremony, what you do is have each person with a separate color of sand, you each pour it into the jar together. It is to help my children understand that even though Stephen is my husband, he also helps to make our family complete. We are united as one family. Harder to separate then the sand in the bottle. I want my kids to see that not only is mommy getting married and bringing someone new home, but that he is now a part of our family. We will be a united unit. One family made up of five separate people and personalities. We might have to work at it sometimes... actually we will have to work at it a lot of the time, but we will work to make it work. There won't be giving up on this.  Our family united will not be broken like their last one was. I believe that this ceremony will help to show them that. Please pray for us as we continue in the planning of not only the uniting of husband and wife, but the uniting of our new family.

October 30

We have so many firsts in our lives. I wrote a bit about my first child on her birthday yesterday. I wrote about the first day I was a mother. There have been so many firsts since then with my children and so many more to come. The thing I am worried about with firsts is the firsts since losing my mom. We are approaching the holiday season, my first ever without my mom here. For 29 years she has been a constant in my life. I don't want to do all these firsts without her. I don't want to get married without her here. I don't want to spend my first Thanksgiving and Christmas without her. I hate starting anything new without her because my first thought is that I need to call mom and tell her that. I wonder how long that will last. I wonder if, for the rest of my life, my first instinct will be to pick up the phone and call her to tell her what one of the girls did for the first time or one of the huge accomplishments I made for the first time. It breaks my heart that my girls won't get to spend time with their grandma the way I did with mine. I don't want to keep going. I don't want to have the firsts without her. But I have to. She is gone and I won't see her again until we are reunited in Heaven. My life can't end because her's did. I need to be fully present and excited still about all the first that are yet to come. I just can't help but wishing that she were still here. That we could share our joy in the firsts that are yet to come. I can only hope that she is able to watch from Heaven and see the firsts that are coming, to watch over us like she always did. Mom, you were the first person to love me and I think I'm going to miss you forever.

October 31

Leave. When I say it to myself it sounds like a bad thing. I imagine the feelings I got when Jimmy left me or when my mom died and left me here. Even though I know that my mom is in a better place and that without Jimmy leaving I would never have Stephen, it still hurts. Still makes me wonder if there was something I could have done to keep them both with me. Leaves me worrying that it might happen again. Ask Stephen, I frequently question if he might someday get sick of me and leave. That isn't going to happen (believe me we have had the conversation, we had it last night actually!) Honestly, right now I can't even think about a good kind of leaving. Oh wait, there is a good kind. For people in abusive relationships, doesn't matter if it is physical, emotional, or even both. It is a good to leave that kind of situation and never come back. I can't even imagine how hard it would be. You don't want to break up the family or be the one who left, but sometimes you have to do it. I randomly want to sing "Leaving on a Jet Plane." It is one song that gets stuck in my head like no other. Anyway, if you were to leave this earth today, what legacy would you be leaving. Would people remember you as a good person? I want to leave a legacy like my mom did. I want people to remember me fondly, miss me when I am gone. I want people to strive to be better because of me, not be complacent to sit where they are. I want to be a person that others can look up to. I want to leave a legacy.

PS, sorry I get sidetracked like a squirrel. lol

Happy Halloween and thanks for reading!!

WW: A Pinterest Win & What Am I?

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. I chose two prompts this week because I loved two!

The first one is: Create something inspired by pinterest. Was it a win or a fail?
For our wedding, Stephen and I have adapted quite a few ideas from pinterest. Here are a few of our favorites:

We used the saying from the top of this one as a part of our program. Both Stephen and I have lost very special people in our lives and we thought it was very important to include them. This is just one of four small things that will be at the wedding as a reminder that those we love are still with us (I am also going to have photo charms in my bouquet, a memory candle and and empty chair.) So, I think pinterest had some winners on this one for remembering those we have lost. You will see more pictures of that win when the wedding is done. =)

The other idea that we got from Pinterest that worked REALLY well was for our centerpieces for the reception tables. Here is the pin that gave me the idea:

I figured it would be easy enough to do that in our colors! We have a wonderfully crafty woman in our lives who was really excited to try these for us. This is what she came up with and I LOVE them!!

I cannot wait to share wedding pictures with these out on the tables. It's going to be beautiful!


For prompt number two I picked: "Hi, my name is ___ and I am a ___."

Hi, my name is Betsy and I am a jamberry junkie. I have been using this product for three months and can't imagine ever going back to plain nails. I love jamberries so much, so that I joined the company. I have talked about it before on my blog, and I was going to try and keep my business seperate, but I really cannot stop talking about it! This weekend I did all three of my girls' nails plus one more set and they look just darn adorable! Want to see? Check them and my other jamicures on my facebook business page. This is the first time I have ever been this excited about a product. The more I learn about this company, the more I love it. I have made nearly 200 dollars in commissions in the three weeks since joining. I cannot say enough good things about this company and this product. I love it. If you want to know more, leave me a comment or shoot me an email.


This post inspired by:

Wordless Wednesday

One of the craft projects I tackled this weekend. 

Thankful Tuesday

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:25-34 esv

We have so much to be thankful for in our lives, but we are often too consumed with the things that are troubling us. I don't know about you, but I am a worrier and this verse is so good for me!

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:18 esv

Right now in my life, it's so much easier to look at all the things that have gone wrong or that aren't good. I need to stop, take a breath and think about the things that I do have and not focus on the thing things (people) I don't. So, that is why I make it a focus, every week, to list at least five things I am thankful for. It helps me to get my focus back in the right place. If you decide to do the same, leave me a comment so I can check yours out. =)

This week I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for my very amazing sister. I did briefly mention this last week, but I am VERY THANKFUL and wanted to go into a bit more detail. When the package with the dress I was planning to wear to my wedding arrived, it was obviously too small. It's so small that Natalie can wear it. Anyway, I asked my sister if she could make me something. Only halfway teasing. She freaked out a little, called me and we talked about what I wanted (nothing elaborate, just simple and pretty). She agreed (thank the Lord!) and has been working on it since. She has it pinned and ready for my first fitting this weekend when she visits. Did I mention she lives in Oregon, where I'm getting married? Makes it a little more complicated but she is still doing it! I am so very thankful. I am going to get a beautiful dress and a custom Colleen creation. I don't have to worry at all because I know that she is capable and just as ocd as I am. She will make sure I look amazing. 
2. I am thankful for the beautiful weather we had this weekend. The girls were able to go out and play in the sunshine. We were also able to celebrate a first birthday with family and spend some more time outside. It's odd for October but I am loving it! 
3. I am thankful for etsy. It seems silly, to be thankful for a website, but I am! I am so NOT a crafty person and have wanted some special things for the wedding that I cannot pull off on my own. Thankfully there are millions of crafty people who are willing to share their talent (for a small fee of course) and I have been able to mark a few more things off my one of my lists. =) 
4. I am thankful for my daddy. Yet again he is pulling through and helping my family. He asked me for a list of things we need for the house that he could send us. I know things aren't easy with mom being gone, and it means so much to have him still wanting to help me out. Plus he has a costco card and there are a few things there I needed. 
5. I am thankful that both Stephen and my sister were able to manage a short trip over between now and the wedding. I am SO excited to see them both on SATURDAY! 

What is one thing you are thankful for this week? Let me know in the comments.

Coffee Date!

It's been awhile since you and I had coffee, so I thought we better have a date.

If you and I were having coffee, we would probably be in the hospital. You see, my  mom is in the ICU on life support. She had a heart attack at church on Tuesday. I would ask you to pray with me. There would probably be complaints from me about the stupid waiting game. I would ask for prayers and support during this difficult time for myself and my family and friends. My mom is an amazing woman.

I would have to talk about other things though... its too much to keep talking about it.

If you and I were having coffee, I would tell you all about my wedding planning. I would show you pictures of the rings we have picked out and of my dress! I would tell you how much fun I am having with everything. I am sure I would tell you about the invites that just came in from the printer and are BEAUTIFUL! I would tell you about how many different craft and thrift stores I have been to, looking for things we can use. I would show you a few of the pinned ideas we have for decorations.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about my frustrations with the morning routine in my house. My oldest child is having the hardest time getting out of bed this week! I would ask if you had any suggestions on how to make this a little easier on mommy and my little girl.

While we were sipping our coffee, I would tell you about my newest obsession. Jamberry has become what I am constantly talking about and thinking about. You should see my facebook party. I am the only one posting, but I am loving all the styles so much. In fact, I am loving it so much that I am planning to sell it myself. As soon as my party reaches $500 in sales and I earn my $100 product credit, I am using it to buy the kit! I would ask if you were interested in ordering and maybe give you a few samples (if you actually want some, let me know and we can get some out to you!) I would also share the website where you can order from my party.

What would you tell me if we were having coffee?

Thankful Tuesday

Another week, another opportunity to count my blessings. This week I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for the beautiful weather we had over the weekend. All three of my girls, plus the extra I babysit on the weekend, were able to be outside all day without any complaints! 
2. I am thankful for the abundance of fresh veggies I was able to get this weekend. I think I spent ten bucks and got tomatoes, green peppers, yellow squash, green beans, and cucumbers. I am sure enjoying them this week. 
3. I am thankful for great thrift store finds! I was able to get a bottle for our wedding "sand ceremony" for $3.35 and also a brand new unopened cake server and knife for 4.95. I felt pretty good about those finds all day! 
4. I am thankful that my financial situation is finally improving. I was able to pay all my bills this paycheck and still fill my gas tank this week. Something I haven't been able to do since I was on my own. 
5. I am thankful that Jimmy and I have been able to work together getting the girls ready for school. There hasn't been any disagreements about who is buying what or what's going to happen. It's wonderful. Especially seeing some of my friends who don't have such a good working relationship with their ex. 

What is one thing you are thankful for this week?