Worth the Wait

I finally found him. Well.. I guess I knew I found him a year ago, but I finally get to marry him!! To say I'm excited is an understatement. He's everything that I wished for, dreamed of, and hoped for... but it wasn't an easy road to get here. I remember lots of sleepless nights, lots of tear-stained pillow cases, and lots of fear. In my mind I had my "life plan" all planned out. I wanted to be married by 22 and start a family by 25. As I drew closer to those years, my fear escalated. I feared that I would never find "the one" and never have that family that I'd always dreamed of. I was full of fear when I should have had faith that God knew my heart and that he would fulfill my desires when the time was right. Well.. that time is finally here.. and I can stand here today and honestly say that it was worth the wait. I wouldn't trade one heart break or one sleepless night because it all led me here... it led me to him. It led me to the happiest point in my life so far. I don't feel like words can truly express the love and happiness that I have with Nathan. He is next to perfect :) I know that life will have its ups and downs for us, but I'm not afraid because I get to go through it with him. For the rest of my life. June 20, 2015 can not get here fast enough!! I'll turn 26 next year before I walk down the aisle.. I never dreamed that I would be that old before I walked down the aisle. But I will be.. and it will be perfect.. because it all happened in God's timing.

Caribbean Cruise

Last Sunday I left to go on a cruise with 3 of my good friends. Our ship stopped at the Cayman Islands and Cozumel. I absolutely LOVED the experience and only felt nauseous one night (thank goodness)!!! My absolute favorite part was the dolphin encounter and the crystal blue waters! I normally don't get in the ocean past my knees, but the water was so clear and I could see all around me so I felt more comfortable (I have a major fear of sharks)!! :)

                                          Dolphin Discovery in Mexico

                                          Belly ride with Rachel, the dolphin! :)

                                          Rachel pushing my feet!

                                          Hand-shakes :)

                                          Kisses for Rachel

                                             Brenda & I in the ship's foyer waiting for dinner

                                       LOVE these girls!! (me, Cherlyn, Brenda, & Chelsea)

                                        This is how we got off the ship in the Cayman Islands

                                     Arriving at Stingray City! Stingrays were EVERYWHERE!

                                          One of my favorite pictures I captured!! Paradise!

                                                      Yes! I actually went snorkeling!!

                                                                    More snorkeling

                                 Chankanaab, Mexico (This is where we did the Dolphin Discovery)

               Stingrays! There were two rules on this trip: No screaming and no jumping... I broke both:)

                         This guy in the corner caught the stingrays and put it in our hands to hold it.

                                                                     Kisses :)

                 These things would come right up between your feet. I think I jumped every time :)

Saltiest sea water I have ever tasted!!

Needless to say, I can't wait to go back! :)

Well.. summer has officially arrived!! I survived my first year of teaching and I'm already excited about beginning next year and teaching with one of my best friends from high school!! My calender is packed with lots of things already-- family vacation with my Mom's side of the family, a bachelorette party, a wedding, a cruise to the Grand Caymen Islands with some of my best girlfriends, concerts, camping out, and lots of days at Miller Lake!! Between all of the fun, my goal is to spend one day a week at school revamping, re-organizing, and repositioning just about everything in my classroom, so... we'll see how well that plays out:)

Hope everyone has a great summer!!

Quotes

I found this quote the other day and it describes me to a T :) As I read the first couple of lines I had to laugh because I thought "Wow, this couldn't get any closer to how I live my life; always ready for the next step before it's ready to begin!" and then it kind of scared me... I need to learn to let go and just be happy with where I am right now. I always set a timeline for everything I want to accomplish in life... be here in 5 years and doing this in 10, but then I am only setting myself up for failure when I reach those dates and my "goals" haven't happened. I never want to take living for granted, but I am realizing that by not being happy today.. I'll never be happy when tomorrow comes.

"First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to get married and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying... and suddenly I realize I forgot to live."

Random Thoughts & Confessions

One of my blog friends has a thing where she posts "Confessions" from time to time. I always get a kick out of reading them. I sort of felt like spitting out a whole list of my confessions and random thoughts today.. and here it goes:)

1. I am obsessed with Pepsi and any kind of fattening food.. Since starting a full-time job, I've found it alot easier to order out instead of pack a healthier lunch the night before. It doesn't help that I find healthy foods not very tasty:)

2. I'm about 5 mintues behind schedule (a.k.a late) on most occasions. I blame this on genetics; although, I did not get this from either of my parents.... I do have family like this:)

3. I love sleeping in and taking naps every day of the weekend...

4. I'm obsessed with People.com and most magazines...

5. I love shopping ALL the time and probably spend way too much money on it!!

6. I'm very self-conscious. I pick out everything that I think is wrong with me and let it control my thoughts. In other words, I'm my own worst enemy...

7. I'm a worry wart. I let silly things creep into my mind and I worry about it.

If you didn't think I was a little crazy before reading this then I'm sure it's now confirmed! :)

The point of this post was this: I am not perfect. My life will always be a "work in progress."

Thankful

I know I'm a few weeks late... but I am just now getting the time to post about all of my many, many blessings!!!

I'm so thankful for:

-my family and friends for loving me more than they should:)

-having a job that I absolutely love..

-my 17 kiddos that help me to form abs throughout the day from laughing so hard (they say the funniest things!)... on a serious note they give me purpose and have blessed my life in so many ways..

-Extreme Makeover Home Edition for showing me what giving and selflessness is all about..

-Insanity workouts for kicking my butt back into shape!!

-being healthy and able to enjoy everything in life

-the 22 years God has blessed me with

-memories

-my warm, cozy home

and last but certainly not least..

-my Jesus and his amazing grace

iLASIK

I'm set for Lasik eye surgery this Thursday and there are soo many emotions going through my head. Most of all I'm excited, but I'm also scared, nervous, anxious, etc. I've had to go through 2 pre-op exams because my eyes were not cooperating and I'm already on Restasis because of my severe dry eye problem. Hopefully everthing goes well on Thursday and I'll be back to work on Friday!! Say a little prayer for me on Thursday:)

I had to add some pictures of my dad after he got it done in 2002. These are soo precious!!

Here is my last photo taken with glasses, hopefully until I reach my 40's ha!!!

Quick Post!

I am extremely tired and worn out, so I'm on my way to bed... but before my head hits the pillow I wanted to express how blessed life feels right now. I have accomplished a life-long dream of teaching and I couldn't love it anymore. The other night I went into my classroom, hit my knees, and just prayed for each little person in my room. It's amazing to know that God chose me for this job and picked these 17 students for me to share the next 170 some days with. I feel blessed beyond words!! This year seems to be flying by already, but I can't wait to see what this year has in store for my students and for myself!! :)



Brittany

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!! I'm a new teacher at Barr-Reeve Elementary!! I am beyond thrilled for this opportunity and super excited to begin!! Now that this title is finally sinking in I am beginning to get very anxious to start planning lessons, decorating a classroom, and buying tons of stuff :) I will hopefully find out which grade I will be teaching on Wed. or Thurs., but I have a feeling I'll either be in Kindergarten or 1st grade. It is amazing how quickly things can fall together when only 2 months ago I felt like I had no direction as to where I was headed in my life. Now I atleast know that I'm meant to be here, which is right where I wanted to be :) God is sooooo good!!!

I'll be sure to post lots of pics when I get my classroom all set up. But right now all that I have done is a notebook full of pictures, classroom ideas, and books ready to be ordered haha! I hope August 10th doesn't come too quickly!

The Dash

We received this little book from my dad's funeral and I sat down to read it for the first time the other night... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

I read of a mon who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on his tombstone from the beginning... to the end.

He noted that first cam the date of his birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that he spent alive on earth and now only those who loved him know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own, the cars... the house... the cash... What matters is how we live and love... and how we spend our dash.

So you think about this long and hard; are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real... and always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives... like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile... remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read... with your life's actions to rehash... would you be proud of the things they say... about how you spent your dash?

I fell in love with this little poem only because it speaks so much! It's so so easy to forget what is important in life at times :)

~JM~

Melissa & Eric's Wedding

This weekend I got to take part in a friend's wedding that I've known all of my life!! I felt so honored to be able to stand beside her on her big day... It seems only yesterday that we were playing "wedding" and I always made her be the groom so I could be the bride haha! They took off this morning for Jamaica- I can't wait to hear all about it!!!! Here are some pictures of the big day:

Unknown Future

As I get closer and closer to my college graduation, I get a little more nervous and anxious about what's around the corner. Where do I go next? I really have no idea. I'm at a "fill-in-the-blank" part of life, except I don't know what to put in the blank. I'm graduating college without a job; as of now there will be no teaching openings for next year; I'm without the security of knowing that the next year will be any better, and I just told the guy that I thought I would one day marry goodbye. I feel so lost and down in the dumps about the future when I should be excited. I don't know how to be excited about the place that I'm at right now because I'm always the one that plans ahead...I know what I want out of life, but it still isn't here. I need to learn to be patient, but I'm not good at it. I have so many blanks, so many questions to ask...when to I get to find the answers????

Some pics of my graduation party:

My sis, one of my besties, and baby Mason at my graduation party
Some of my best friends from high school :)
I felt so, so blessed by all of the loving & supportive friends and family that came today!! God bless all of you!

On the first day, God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door and bark at anyone who comes near or walks past. I will give you a life span of 20 years." The dog said, "That's too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I'll give you the other ten years back." God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey. God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks, and make them laugh. I'll give you a 20 year life span." The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for 20 years? I don't think so. The dog gave you ten years back, so that's what I'll do too, okay?" God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow. God said, "You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of 60 years." The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for 60 years. Let me have 20 and I'll give back the other 40." And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry, and enjoy your life. I'll give you 20 years." The man said, "What?! Only 20 years? Tell you what... I'll take my 20, and the 40 the cow gave back, and the 10 the monkey gave back, and the 10 the dog gave back. That makes 80, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You've got a deal!"

So that is why the first 20 years we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves; the next 40 years we slave away in the sun to support our family; the next 10 years we do monkey tricks to enterain the grandchildren; and the last 10 years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.




I found this on a website and thought it was cute and mostly true!! :) Hope everyone has a blessed Easter!

Florida Favorites

Time to enjoy the sunshine...

Beautiful scenery

Visiting family we rarely get to see..

Playing cards with the Miller family..

Parasailing..

Pretty painted toe nails...

and lovely family photos.. :)

One of my favs!!!

New Babies...

These past couple months have been filled with babies- literally!! I've fallen so in love with these two precious little bundles, so I thought I had better show them off:)

Mason & Nyah

Nyah Jalaine Knepp

Mason David Graber

Love it!!!