guilty pleasures

As I sit here enjoying my second bag in a row of these little tasty niblets, i feel guilty. That's right, we just had a holiday weekend of eating for sport and I really really really don't need to be adding to the damage that i've done over the long weekend. I think it was the weekend in the first place that got me going because now.. i just can't stop!!

I also was bad at lunch. I took my friend and co-worker out to lunch for her last week here at the office and enjoyed a whole plateful of

*GASP* yes, I have sinned~ AND I had a coke. Summer is upon us and i'm eating like this!! Look out fellow swimmers!!

While i'm on a roll.. here's another current guilty pleasure...

and this

have I ever shared with you my facination with Jessica Simpson? There's something about her.. I think it's a combo of the fact that she's from the same background as me, she's my age,  and is now a new mom, a successful fashion designer and a pop icon. I like her. I"m sad that she doesn't stand for Jesus anymore.. but that's another blog post. I also love gossip mags. I know my celebrity gossip folks~ guilty!!

I'm fascinated by this gal too..

I wouldn't consider her a guilty pleasure though. She's pretty cool to look up to.

Another guilty pleasure..

this one is a lifetime guilty pleasure. I will forever love coke icees and i'm not ashamed!

And the ultimate lifetime guilty pleasure of all time goes to....

SUPER GUILTY! I love some shopping. In excess.. that's what makes it guilty! I feel closer to you.. now that i've shared.

friday fav.

this sweet little photo was captured the day after Jason and I got engaged.. same spot. To mark the spot, we carved our initials in the wood ~we need to pay a visit to that park and see if they are still there..

she

Is a classy lady
Has three beautiful children
Snorts when she laughs
Leads her church in worship
Is very disciplined
Is an amazing momma
Used to live overseas
Loves her some Starbucks (who doesn’t?!)
Loves with all of her heart
Is a servant
Became my best friend in college
Has a goofy sense of humor
Squeeze!!
Is a major morning person
Is a hard worker
Is an amazing leader
Loves her husband with all of her heart
Is loved by many
Is a Pastor’s wife
Flew to Memphis from Fla. When she was 8 months pregnant so she could be in my wedding
Is a loyal friend

Is the Amazing, Beautiful and talented Candice Carter

and I love her with all of my heart

a smash

Last night I had a friend who is a mutual fan of the TV show SMASH come over to watch the finale with me.

Just in case you haven't seen the show SMASH. It's a drama about the making of a Broadway show called Bombshell. It's about the life and career of Marilyn Monroe. So good!! I love the music in it and all the characters.. It's a hit in my eyes. My friend Raechell and I had a bonified girls night~ complete with chocolate at our fingertips, multiple kinds of dip and a manservant at our beck and call. That's right.. I said manservant~ my husband Jason. We would ring a bell and he would come to serve us refills on food and drinks. It was ADORABLE! I am kicking myself for not taking pictures. But in the meantime.. here's an idea

That's right! He wore a tophat, a green polo, shorts, and wore a towell over his arm. He was having too much fun and so were we. I love my hubby. He really does spoil me. But i like to spoil him too so it's pretty great!

Girls night was a hit and the ending to SMASH... totally left us hangin. One of the characters was about to pop a major handful of pills and the other girl just got done with an amazing performance but had a huge fight with her fiance'. Ahh!! the drama. I guess we'll have to wait until the fall~sigh~

from the notebook to real life~jason's graduation party

The icing on the cake of Jason's Graduation festivities- his graduation party happened on Saturday. I have been planning in my little notebook for months

I could party plan for a living.. I love seeing what i've been scratching down and dreaming up come to fruition. I love doing special things for the ones I love~ especially when they've worked so hard to achieve a goal.

before (excuse my left handed chicken scratch)

THE FRUITION =)

i need to learn more about food photography

pretty sure this is my fav. ~ Jason's cousin maddie and baby kinsie gott~maddie loves her some babies

nothing like making sweet memories with friends and family

digging deep

Ok. Today I've got a thought that's so deep I feel very exposed sharing it. Anyone who reads my blog will have gotten to know me 10 times better after having read this thought... You ready? I (crunch crunch) am (crunch crunch) ADDICTED (crunch crunch crunch) to

seriously.. I can't stop eating it. I've got the munchies big time!! Hopefully it's as healthy as I think it is and I can continue in my addiction. (crunch crunch)

Jason and I have (for the past two days) been meeting at lunch and walking around this great park (sequiota) here in Springfield. We walk.. we talk.. get our excersize and soak up some good ol viatmin D. I am enjoying this tradition so far and hopefully it wont' get too hot too fast to continue.

I love my husband. I love seeing him in the middle of the day. He's my lobster.

Happy Wednesday friends!

um- WOW

I saw this link on facebook today and my curiosity got the better of me. I read it (you should too) and all I could say was WOW.

The article is called "How to miss a Childhood" and it's all about our mobile devices and how distracting they can be and how that effects our relationships with our kids. No, I don't have a child of my own, but I definately want one someday and I want to remember this article and take it to heart.

It's all about investing time and effort and energy into your children, not giving them the message that whoever or whatever app or game is on that mobile devise is more important. There are so many distractions these days and it would be so easy to neglect those prescious moments with our kids for these multiple distractions. Children are a gift from God and we should treat them that way. A blessing. I will defiantely be sharing this article with my husband tonight.

Thank you Lord for giving me this insight before I even have kids and have the chance to neglect them because of my mobile devices. I pray that I never fall into this trap and that my someday children feel loved, honored, and cherished by Jason and I. In Jesus name, amen.

mothers day weekend

 We had a lovely mother's day. Jason and I headed up the mother's day special at church. The kids sang a special song for all the mommas and then read a poem and then handed out roses. I was prescious! We had a blast blessing the moms with those cuties. We were so proud of our kids. We rewarded them big time that night during class with cookies, outside time with new toys and a fun craft time. It was a great night.

We took my mother in law, Sheila, out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. It was fun to bless her and  nice lunch with the family. =) I talked to mom on the phone for a little bit. She sent me a pic that morning of her mothers day treats that I had given her last weekend when she was in Springfield. =) Very sweet. I even got a couple of "you may be a mother this time next year." I didn't mind that. =)

Jason's party went GREAT! Pictures soon.

in closing... I saw this and HAD to post it to my own blog. It's copied from Courtney at http://womenlivingwell.org/ I pray this for my own momma and for all the mommas I know and for me when I"m a momma.

Oh that God would give

every mother a vision

of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is place in her bosom to be nursed and trained!

Could she have but one glimpse

in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity;

could she look into it’s soul to see its possibilities;

could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child,

for the development of its life, and for its destiny,

–she would see that in all God’s world there is no other work so noble

and so worthy of her best powers,

and she would commit to no others hands

the sacred and holy trust given to her.”

-JR Miller

friday fav(s)~happy mothers day!

I made sure mom got her mothers day gift last weekend when she was here for graduation. I wish she could be here again this weekend for the actual day, but last weekend was HER Mother's day. Happy Mother's day to a wonderful mom! I love you!

She...

I got to talk to this amazing lady today. It's been waaaay too long. I took my whole hour long lunch break to talk to her and we still had more to talk about. She's a busy lady! mainly because of these two cuties

SHE
(I apoligize in advance for the inside jokes)
has been my best friend since Jr. High
has an incredible head of red curly hair
is an amazing mom of two kids
when paired with me singing alto, we are refered to as the Mooman Tabernacle Choir
is awesome at performing and teaching drama
was my roomie for about a year- loved it!
is an only child
is in a secret society with me and some other college friends
loves to shop- we have the same shopping style
is an encourager
is a faithful friend
was my matron of honor and did an AHHmazing job
lives too far from me
knows how to steal the show and be the center of attention (in a good way)
has a heart for young couples
loves her babies and her husband fiercely
can make up a mean human video/dance routine
loves to cook
will pick up my tab anytime
shares my appreciation for quaint eating estabilshments
has been there for me through it all
is super smart
is a forever friend

She is the amazing Kerri Elizabeth Murphy- Sagraves

and I love her dearly

sad sunday

Something very tragic happened on Sunday night in my family. My cousin Dan and his wife Beth lost their 8 mo. old baby, Emily. She passed away after choking on a screw that she had swallowed. I can't even imagine how her family must feel. Her mother Beth and two sisters, Alaina and Julia were with her when it happened. I can't even imagine what it was like for them to not be able to do anything despite Beth's efforts.. despite the EMTs' efforts. Pray for the Fabin family. Even though we know that God has a purpose in this and that little Emily is in heaven, she will be missed. A life cut short. May God's peace comfort all who are directly effected by this tragic event.

stuff that's going on

today is one of those days that i'm not sure what to write, but I definatley feel like writing so lets see what happens...

I woke up this morning feeling like a little troll had come into the room and glued my eyelids shut. Jason and I both were SUPER tired last night after such a busy weekend. We both fell asleep on the couch while we were watching the exciting season finale of one of our most favorite shows, Castle. If you haven't watched Castle yet, I highly recommend it. We saw the end.. quite the cliff hanger.. but missed all the important stuff in the middle.

I can't blame Jason for being tired, he started work on a new job, went home and did some gardening, and then played a softball game. I don't know how he does it. That boy abounds with energy and non-laziness. Admirable.

After Jason's softball game last night we hung around and chatted with some nice couples that we are getting to know better. It was fun. I love getting to know new people. They all had a great energy and seemed like they would be people that would be fun to be around and hang out with. There is a great group of young couples involved in the church softball team and they meet once a month on Fridays at someone's home for some fellowship. I'm sad we didn't get to go to the last one and i'm not sure if we will be able to make this one either. I'm such the detailed person that I want to make sure everything is in order for Jason's party on Friday night. We have another big event this weekend. We are leading the kids in a special mother's day presentation on Sunday morning and we are having practice from 9-11 am on Saturday morning. Jason's party starts at 1:00 so this girl has got to get things set up ahead of time! By the way i'm writing you may think i'm stressed.. well, i'm not. I absolutely love to party plan and i've been planning this one for a while now. I love the list making, the crafting and the detail planning. I do believe I could do it for a living.

Tonight I am staying home from the class at church in order to make little graduation caps made of resses peanut butter cups and chocolate squares. They will be super time consuming, but super cute. I am excited to make them, but unsure of where I will store them until Saturday. I also have cookies to finish making and cowboy caviar to make. Plus some shopping here and there. I'm in a good place. It's definately coming together.

See.. now look at me. I wrote a full blog post! I am a girl after all.. I'm good at sharing. =)

Oh! I've added a few recent sessions to my photography blog. Check em out! Here's a little sample of the beautiful Brooke in her senior pics:

Have a blessed day!

its official~he's done!

My hubby graduated from Central Bible College. I'm soo stinkin proud. Have I mentioned that? ;) This is one of the last years that CBC will be in existence as it's merging with Evangel to make one big super A/G school. It makes the memory even more prescious

the leaders

the walk (my lens didn't like the distance)

the supportive church friends

the family

the professors

the classmates turned friends

and me.. the proud wife~

To God be the glory!!