Natalie's Night Out!

Saturday night was Natalie's night, and boy did we have fun!  She was all shades of red by the end of it all!  We had a huge turn out which I had worried about because the invite said regrets only and I received 3 regrets so that made me nervous. I kept praying that everyone received their invite in the mail... and they did! It was like a bus stopped by and dropped them all off!

The party started at 5 and boy was it alive! he he!  I had a blast with the chandelier and damask theme + hot pink accents!  The Bride, Natalie,  was gorgeous! One thing is for sure she left with a new panty wardrobe and a ton of sassy lingerie! Everything from polk-a-dots to paisley! She had a great time and I think everyone else did too. They all stayed until about 7:15!  I was pleased! You never know if people will get bored and leave, that is my fear at parties.

This is a picture of the wedding dresses we designed for our model brides. It was a cute and fun way to show everyone's creative side!

I was also please with a few new recipes that were a huge hit!  I will post those on here for you guys to snatch. I received so many compliments on the food, which was a relief when you try out new foods. I posted earlier that Autumn and Cassie came over last week to help me prepare so I am not taking all the credit!  We had a blast learning new recipes.

So at the shower we had a panty line... let me explain...  I found this on a website and it had a poem to explain 8 pairs of panties to last the bride her whole life through. I will post our pics and the poem to explain more. Everyone loved the panties hung on the mantle! It was a hit too!

After the shower a few of us took the Bride to Mickey and Mooch, a wonderful restaurant in Lake Norman. We crowned her with a tiara of novelties that she actually had a hand in making for me when I married!  Except the "balloons" were deflated by now. lol  She enjoyed a filet and green beans and mashed potatoes. I split the salmon and a salad with hot honey bacon dressing!  Fattening yes but  oh so good!
We then made our way back to my house for everything chocolate!  Chocolate Latte Punch! Cheese cake balls cavered in white chocolate and heavenly brownie dessert!  Can I tell you now... UM!  We ended our night with one more game and called it a night after some girl talk.

Thursday blues...to fushia hues

Can the week possibly last any longer?  I feel like everything this morning is in slow motion. Have you ever felt that way?  I truthfully don't feel like thinking today. I hasn't been a bad week, just long.
I am looking forward to tonight, It's girls night with my 2 best friends. We mark on our calendars to meet once a month and I am so glad is worked out to be tonight. I prayed 3 or 4 years for girl friends that I could confide in and have "true friends", that's when God brought me these 2 wonderful angels. So tonight we are hanging out at my house and preparing for a shower on Saturday for Natalie, my God-sister. She is getting married on 3/13/10 to a great guy and we are so excited for her!
I will post pictures of the cooking frendzy of tonight and all the goodies we have in store for Natalie! Everything is black white and fushia! You guessed it this is her colors. I have thrown in a twist of chandelier theme to go with her damask black and white theme and it is so cute. She will be thrilled to see it all come together!
 EWO,
Jen

In the waiting

Many of us have been in the waiting. Many of us feel alone during that time, but the truth is we are never alone. Yes, God is with us, but others have either been there or are going through the same thing at the very moment you are. I realized this tonight when I had dinner with a wonderful friend.  I have passed by her at church and have wanted to reconnect, but never "set a date" to hang out. Finally we made a date and hung out.
It has been several years since her and I have sat down to get to know one another again and I was worried about what we would even talk about. She expressed the same concern to her husband as she confessed to me tonight. What were we thinking? I was natural to strike a conversation. We chatted the entire time!  It was good to get to know her again instead of being a spectator on the outside looking in.
We picked up where we left off, which was nice and relieving at the same time.  I found out how her "waiting period" was going and boy we are so similar in our walk right now it is crazy. We were completing one another's sentences with how we feel about the "waiting" period.   It was so nice to have someone who was feeling and thinking the same things I have been thinking!
You know I believe God crossed our path for this season. We need each other to hold each other up in prayer. To listen to one another's burdens. To learn how to trust God with this delicate part of our lives.
I needed tonight. It was good for my soul. I'm not alone in my thoughts and feelings. I'm not the only one "in the waiting".

Abundance is... great friends to share life with, a great job with benefits, my comfy white robe that is slowly getting holes in it due to overuse. My monday night dates with my hubby watching 24!


EWO,
Jen

Looking for ways to spoil your Valentine?

I thought this was a great post from Family Life today and wanted to share it with you. Hope you enjoy!
Spoil your Valentine or Re-light the fire...
1. Thirty Ways to Love Your Lover
2. Ten Romantic Films Your Husband Won't Hate
3. Two Stupid Things Husbands and Wives Do to Each Other
4."We Were Like Strangers Living in the Same House"




These books are also recommended for married couples:
Turn Up the Heat & Have a New Husband by Friday

Here are some other Hot Topics: Dating
These articles will help you prepare your kids for this milestone:
Guiding Your Teen Through the Dating Game
What Are Your Standards for Dating?
Guarding Our Daughters' Moral Purity
Dads, Daughters, and Dating

Connecting with my girls

So with all the business that life brings I miss connecting with my girlfriends. Over the past several years several have moved away to a different states, others have become career women, wives and mommies. I miss all the contact that I once had with each of them and living in the reality that I can't see everyone of them when I think about them makes me sad. So I have been thinking of inviting you all to join me every Thursday night for a "girls crash night". I need ideas on how we can all meet at one time online. I know there has to be a free site that would allow us to see one another all at once and chat. Any ideas? I'm thinking like 30-45 min of a topic discussion. I can throw a word out there on Wed and you ponder on it then we can talk about it...like the word {Grace}. Or a scripture ref and you look it up and then we'll discuss how it is the living Word to us that day. Or maybe the book "crazy love" maybe we can take it a chapter a week and talk about it and how it has made us think about how luke warm we are as Christians. If you guys want to go through a book together I'm up for that. Maybe a book in the Bible or a "man written" book that has drawn you closer to Him that you would like to share.
Brain storm and give me your ideas. I want to know your ideas and get your creative thoughts.??? thoughts??? ideas??? I want to chat about God and how He is orchestrating your every foot step. I look forward to this year reflecting Him every day. I want to see what He is doing in your life and in your families.


EWO,

{G} {Jen} {Jenny} {Jennifer}

Abundance is a warm home that I don't have to worry about the mortgage payment because God truly cares about us, Food in my pantry {I can go in there and have what I am craving anytime}, A soft pillow that is my own, a wonderful God who cares about every detail I have listed above because He has given them to me!

Super Sunday.... oh yeah it was the super bowl too!

So I'm not much of a foot ball fan, but I have given it a good shot over the past 11 years that I have known my husband. He will tell you, it just doesn't interest me who won the super bowl because in 10 years from now... who will care. So Enough of that... I love the parties that come with it! Tonight we watched the game at Kayla's house. Her wonderful parents let all 20 of us invade their living room and shout and scream at the tv. We stuffed ourselves with bbq, cheese dip, buffalo chicken dip, fun-fetti sugar cookies, and EVERYTHING chocolate! It was a lot of fun because I was surrounded by an awesome group of my favorite people. Yes, Hannah you are one of them ;P
So off to home to see our doozles and spend some time with them and daddy. He will be going to training for the week with his new job and I have a few friends lined up for girls nights every night! So while the Hubby is away the girls will play! I already miss him and he is still sitting beside me. I have to say he is the truest and best friend I have ever had.
Well enough of the mushy stuff...

Abundance is... spending time with wonderful friends who make sure everyone is happy, a hubby to be with, An awesome Pastor that hears God and shares His heart to us every chance he can, the best soon-to-be sister in law

Hope in the form of a cross...

Sometimes it is the little things that we miss in this life. Wether it is a rainbow, or symbol of Christ, or even a cloud. I have been reading in Exodus about the people living by the physical signs from God... they stayed inside when the cloud was over them and the fire by night was their guide. How incredible was it to have that sign, but how easy would it be to miss that? Yes! miss a cloud that was made for you or a burning bush! I tend to be so routine in everything I do... like where I park at the mall and what entrance I use as to what bathroom stall I choose in public places.. never the 1st one because that is the 1st one people enter... right? I find my self living with "horse blinders" on and I don't even look up to see what is beside me or even what color the sky is.
Today I went for an ultrasound just to make sure that all the major female parts look good and to check for anything extra that may abnormally grow there. I had a peace about it and even thought to myself, "she will tell me everything looks good." Then I had a split thought of, "well if they did see something what would my reaction be?" I asked God to prepare me for that if it was to become an issue. And of course He did... well I guess you could say that I wasn't faced with an abnormality. Vicki, the sweet ultrasound tech said "well here is" this and that and "these look like chocolate chip cookies and that's normal". Normal... good words to hear, although I never doubted that I wouldn't hear it. Just the thought of how would I react if something really was abnormal.
So back to signs... last month I kept seeing rainbows. Yes rainbows! I know your thinking I have see those in the past, what is the big deal. To me it seems that I always see rainbows when I am looking to God for an answer and it seem to be His way of saying, "I am still here and I will keep my promise." But today He sent a cross. Yes, the sweet u/s tech wore a cross around her neck. Not a peace sign or cute diamond pendant, a CROSS! So once again, since I prayed that He would show me that He was with me today in the u/s room, He sent this sweet lady with a cross to do the u/s.
It may sound simple to you and benign, but when I need an answer or want to know God is near, He always shows up in the smallest detail. He truely cares about the details.
My sweet niece Adrianna sends me a Bible verse every day via text. I love them I think it is the neatest thing that my 15 y.o. Adrianna is thinking about God every morning. I have no Idea where she gets her reference every morning, but to day she sent me John 14:27 "I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."
Before sweet Vicki left the room she said, "I can't wait until one day we are looking at your baby on that screen, it will happen." Then she walked out and as I was getting dressed once the u/s was done, I looked at the u/s machine and saw my name on the top left with my MD name... you know the way the u/s looks when you get the first look at your baby. I could have just cried a happy tear! No,there was nothing on the screen and definately nothing in my uterus in the pictures laying next to the machine. But a feeling of peace and hope.
So I encourage you to look around and ask God to show you He is there. I am sure He will show up. He cares about the details that mean something to you and me.

Abundance is... peace in the valley today...meeting a sweet lady named Vicki with a cross necklace,3 beautiful tenage girls (She had pictures in her room, you know how I am with pictures), and a hopeful spirit about her. Perfect results from the u/s today. And a wonderful weekend ahead!

Where did the week go?

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you turn around and say "wow where did the week go?" Well this week has been one of those weeks! I'm not sure what I did with the week... I mean it felt productive? Oh well, now on to the SECOND week in Feb! How can that be?...
I wanted to post some fun video's of us acting like we were 10 last weekend and honestly I have been doing something....? I will get them on here hopefully this weekend. In the mean time, you would really think it was a full moon tonight! Work has been insanely crazy this week and when it is like this we typically have a full moon. People are calling for the silliest things... we just have to laugh to keep from crying. I think all this rain and snow has given everyone chest pain with their cabin fever! Or at least made them stir crazy! {chuckle}
So as it is pouring rain today I am reminded of how my Father pours out His blessings on me. Jonathan started a new job this week. As with any job it is uncertain how it will turn out. He will be working on 100% commission. I have faith in him... he could sell ice to an eskimo! If he needed it! That's what I love about him, He is no where near pushy.
And so my crazy Friday continues... back to the chest pain phone calls!

Abundance is.... job security thanks to Obama stressing everyone out, wonderful friends to have dinner with tonight, an incredible hubby to come home to and 2 furry babies who brighten even the craziest of Fridays!