My last few evenings as a single gal

I am one to enjoy my alone time. I believe this stems from the fact that I grew up in a family of 6. When I was in high school, extended periods of alone time were few and far between. I cherished them immensely!

As a young adult, my appreciation for time to myself has changed. When I get home from work, all I want to do is sit on my couch and turn my cell phone off. I don't want anyone from home, work, or elsewhere to ask me any more questions. All I want to do is sit and watch E! News in peace.

Therefore, I am cherishing these last few weeks until I become a wife. Yes, I'm still very much in love with the hubby-to-be and I'm joyfully awaiting the day that he slips that wedding band on my left finger. However, I know that once this happens, life will never be the same. Sometimes I will arrive home to a boy and a dog, sitting there hungry and anticipating dinner. Sometimes I will get home and there will only be a dog (Luke works out of town a lot), but there will be twice the laundry to do, groceries to buy, etc. Yes, I do these things now, but at a different pace and on a schedule that accommodates just one person. I am still planning on making quite time for myself a priority, but I'm not holding my breath. Life is going to change drastically, but until then I'm enjoying these quite evenings to myself.

{My hot date this evening: thank you notes, a cup of my favorite coffee, and The Nanny playing in the background}

{In other news, the tiger lilies in the birthday bouquet Luke gave me last Friday finally opened and they are GORGEOUS!}

Feeling blessed, giving back, and living with compassion

I've been feeling very inspired and blessed lately. After what couldn't have been a better 24th birthday and looking through pictures of my first bridal shower, I am reminded of how wonderful life truly is. I'm not living in Japan with the threat of radiation poison looming over me, I'm not an orphan without family, I'm not physically sick or hurt in any way. I'll be the first to admit that I can let the little speed bumps in life get to me and forget how lucky (this is the only other word I can think of besides blessed!) I really am. This makes me think of Francesca Battistelli's newest song, This Is The Stuff, where she sings, "In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed." I am so grateful for the countless ways God shows His love, even when I lose focus!

A couple of weeks ago, my director at work sent me the link to a speech called, "This Is Water," by David Foster Wallace, which was given at the 2005 commencement ceremony Kenyon College. It is a wonderful 20ish minute speech about living a conscious, compassionate life, both as an educated person and as a Christian. If you haven't heard this speech, please, please let me encourage you to listen to it! I'll post the links below. It is absolutely motivating and is the best commencement speech I've ever listened to. One line in particular really stood out to me and challenged me in my daily life, in the way I work with clients, in the way I communicate with friends and family, etc. Wallace said,

The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline and being able to truly care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad, petty little unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom. That is being educated and understanding how to think.

You have to listen to the entire speech to fully understand this statement in its context, but for some reason this quote hit me like a ton of bricks. Freedom isn't money, fine clothes, or prestige. It's about being aware of those around you and striving to make a difference in their lives. As previously stated, I've been feeling incredibly blessed. But what does any of this matter if I'm not giving blessings back to others and showing them the love that Christ has so graciously shown me? This is where the inspired part comes in. God's blessings have now inspired me to give back to others in "petty little unsexy ways every day." Just some food for thought.

"This Is Water" links:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5THXa_H_N8
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSAzbSQqals

And now I'll leave you with this, my favorite passage that I read as a religion minor in college (and I read A LOT!). It is from The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), a document of the Reformed Christian faith. It says,

We learn that we are to be patient in adversity, grateful in the midst of blessing, and to trust our faithful God and Father for the future, assured that no creature shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they cannot even move.

I just love this quote. It doesn't quite go with the rest of the blog post, but I don't care. I love to share it with people any chance I get!

  

How has God blessed you lately? How have you given back? Are you striving to live a conscious, compassionate life on a daily basis? Again, just some food for thought. :)

In the grip of grace,
Sara

My First Bridal Shower!

A week ago yesterday, I attended my first bridal shower. I've had many friends get married over the past few months and because of this, I've been able to look through many Facebook albums of shower pictures. Attending your own shower always looked like fun, but I had no idea how much fun I was actually going to have!

 {At my first bridal shower in Beeville}

22 amazing women hosted my shower at FBC Beeville, the church and church school I grew up in. Every last one of these women have watched me grow up, from the nursery to now. They have been my family, Sunday school teachers, elementary school teachers, and my second, third, and fourth mothers! They will never truly know how much they have blessed my life, every last second of it. To have them throw a shower in my honor means the world to me and I am better because of the example of love, service, and faith they have set for me over the years.

{Hostesses (missing a few)}

After catching up with everyone, my Aunt Kathy opened up with a word of prayer. She said such a sweet blessing over Luke and me! Then, my kindergarten teacher, Juanita Blanton, said another really sweet prayer. Again, these are women of faith and integrity that have helped raised me. What a blessing!! We ate some really amazing food and I got to catch up with friends and family I hadn't been able to see in a while. After eating and cutting cake, I was told it was time to start opening gifts. Since Emily and Claire couldn't be at this shower, Becca did a great job of standing in as my MOH and writing down all of the gifts received. Thanks Becca Roo!

{4 of my 8 bridesmaids. Love you girls!!}

{Beautiful shower cake!}

{Love you baby sister}

{The platter to match my casual dishes!}

{Towels!}

{Corningware! Get ready for Thanksgiving Aunt Kathy!!}

I had a fabulous time and Luke and I were given some really awesome gifts! We feel extremely blessed to have so many supportive people in our lives. And the best part is that I know this isn't a "one time, just because you're getting married" type thing. These are the friends and family that are forever, that will be loving and supporting us throughout our marriage. 

Thanks again ladies for all of your hard work and for the awesome shower!  I love you all!!

My Most Fabulous 24th Birthday (Week)!

I turned 24 today and had a fabulous time celebrating with my fiance and friends!! 

On Monday, Luke gave me my birthday presents a little early. He is such an amazing hubby-to-be that is always striving make me feel special. Well, he definitely succeeded on my 24th bday! I love this guy so very much, and not because he bought me birthday presents. I love him because he has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known. Too cheesy? I don't care. :)

 

{Bday present #1: new perfume!}

{Bday present #2: a new Michael Kors watch!}

On Thursday, Aubrey, Kubal, and I went to dinner at Water Street Oyster Bar to celebrate my birthday a couple days early. These girls are so wonderful and I was very blessed to get to spend an evening with them! Kubal gave me a "healthy" cookbook for my birthday because she knows I'm trying to expand my cooking skills and just trying to be more healthy in general. What a great gift from one bride to another! Aubrey gave me the movie Morning Glory for my birthday. Love it!! This movie is THE story of my 4 months in New York. Thanks girls!!

{In the car, about to go to dinner}

{Presents from sweet friends!!}

{Incredible women I'm proud to call friends}

{Thanks for the free birthday ice cream brownie Mr. Waiter at Water Street!}

On Friday, I didn't have to go to work because my company considers birthdays a holiday. How great is that?! So, I took the opportunity to run errands that I haven't been able to do because of my busy work days (ex: stopping by the bank, taking a ring to get sized, renewing my drivers license, etc). I also went to Ann Taylor Loft to buy myself some new work clothes (happy birthday to me!!). The best part about shopping was that when I got to the counter to pay, everything was an extra 30% off! Love, love, love!! I spent the rest of my day off relaxing with Brooklyn, cleaning the apartment, and writing thank you cards for my gifts from my bridal shower last weekend. I must stay on top of these!

{Personalized stationary, courtesy of Jules. Thanks momma!}

 {Luke surprised me with birthday flowers on Friday when he got into town after work. So pretty!}

{Aubrey brought me birthday cupcakes this morning!}

Today was a petty chill day. Luke and I went shopping and worked on a few wedding things. This evening, we went to dinner at Niko's Steakhouse. After dinner, we drove around town trying to think of something to do and by the time we realized we wanted ice cream, all the cool places were closed. Bummer! So, we settled for Wendy's frosties. Not a bad settlement!

{Frosty lovin'}

Thanks so much to everyone that played a role in making my birthday so special! I had a fabulous day/week. I've only been 24 for about 24 hours, but so far so good! One friend that wrote on my Facebook wall for my birthday said that she just knows this is going to be the best year yet and I'm going to have to agree with her. I'm thinking that 24 is going to be a great year!!