Thankful Thanksgiving

I loved this Thanksgiving. 

It was my first to celebrate with Jason's family and it was lovely. 

I have so much to be thankful for, not just today but every day & it's such a struggle to acknowledge that every. single. day. But, it's so true. 

I am so thankful for God's never ending, never tiring, never conditional, grace, love & mercy. 

I am so thankful for my husband, who is more incredible than I could have ever dreamed of. 

I am so thankful for my family, my rockin' parents and siblings that bring me so much laughter & joy. 

I am so thankful for the family I gained a little over a year ago--I have loved every minute spent with you all getting to know & love you. 

I am so thankful for this season of marriage that our family is going through. Mary Claire & Grant and Aaron & Blair. What a sweet time it is for our family. 

Not to mention all of our friends who are getting married as well--from July-end of 2015 Jason & I have attended/will have attended 12 weddings (thus far). How awesome is it to see your friends and family join in to this everlasting covenant with those they love. 

I am so thankful for this season of babies. I've had a few friends have children this year and it's as sweet as can be. 

I am so thankful for my job, where I get to work with administrators & co-workers who pray for one another and lift each other up. Not to mention how much I love my kiddos. 

I am so thankful for our church family. 

As you can see, we have so much to be thankful for. 

I think that Scotty Smith's prayer from his blog, Heavenward, said it all:

    Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! Psalm 103:1-5 (NLT)

     Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. Hab. 3:17-19a (ESV)

Dear heavenly Father, on this Thanksgiving Day, we praise you for being the only God from whom all blessings flow; our loving Father, who does all things well, even when you don’t do all things easy; and the sovereign Lord, who enthrones and dethrones rulers at your bidding.

King David and the Prophet Habakkuk voice the declaration of our hearts and the cry of our souls. With our whole being, we want to thank you for the multiplied blessings you have lavished upon us in Jesus. You have forgiven all of our sins—the ones which bear the most shame, and the ones we’ll never know about. You now count us righteous in Christ, your beloved daughters and sons, and citizens of the courts of heaven.

You are healing us of every disease, all brokenness, and every heartache; and one Day we shall be completely whole and free. We no longer fear death, and we’re learning not to fear life. We begin each day crowned with your mercies, rooted in your love, and standing in your grace.

But Father, even when our lives are just as full of hard things as good things; even when we feel, in heart and body, more like aging adults, than renewed youth; even when the healing doesn’t come on our schedule; there’s more month left over at the end of the check; and our relationships offer more stress than sweetness, we will rejoice and take joy in you—the Lord of our salvation, the strength of our hearts, the God of all grace. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ triumphant and tender name.

Amen & Amen

I hope that you all had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving. 

1 Year and Counting

Sunday, Jason & I celebrated our 1 year anniversary! 

I can't believe it's already been a year. 

365 days, in this lifetime journey that we're on together. 

With 1 year of marriage under our belt, it was the perfect time to reflect on my reasoning behind this blog and the fact that the foundation of it was built on the love and blessing that the Lord has so graciously given Jason and I through brining us together.

What a sweet & continual blessing marriage has been thus far. The Lord has used our marriage to shape & mold me in such new ways & my prayer is that I will always see what He's doing for me & for us. So many wonderful things have happened during these 365 days. My family of 5 expanded, I gained another family, we've cooked many meals, watched many movies, taken many trips, laughed & smiled, learned & adjusted together. It's has been a year of growth and happiness! 

To God be the glory.

We celebrated our anniversary a weekend early. 

We made our way to New Orleans to see Broadway's Phantom of the Opera! 

Ahh! I loved it! It was the perfect way to celebrate 1 year of marriage with the man of my dreams. 

In our favorite city, eating amazing food, with amazing company, with great entertainment. 

  

 We had an outstanding dinner at Three Muses. 

 You already know, Croissant D'or

 Yes, it's a selfie, but I had to show off my new hat that I love! 

 On our actual anniversary, my parents presented us with our gift from them. 

This amazingly thoughtful, custom painting that represents all of our favorite things/places in New Orleans. We can't wait to hang it up in the house! 

1 year down, many, many more to go! 

I love you my sweet Jason Ellis. 

A Golden Celebration

I had SO MUCH FUN this weekend celebrating Mary Claire and her upcoming wedding!

Our day was considered a "Golden Celebration" and it was jam packed.

I picked up the bride-to-be and Mom had donuts at the house for the misses.

 Our first stop was pedicures and manicures at Deluxe Spa & Nails

It was the perfect start to the morning. If you've never been to this particular place, you need to stop what you are doing and go now!

They do scented water to soak in, hot stones, hot wax, great leg/feet massages, they are awesome!

 After toes and nails, we made our way to Babalu's for a delicious lunch. 

It was perfect! The weather was awesome so we of course sat outside. 

Then, my favorite part, we did a private yoga session at Butterfly Yoga in Fondren. 

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out but it was so. much. fun!

Our instructor was awesome and she was so patient with this room full of beginners (mostly). 

 Melissa's Mermaid Pose

 and...Mary Claire's Mermaid Pose. This was definitely the hardest one! 

And I had to share my little success for the day! 

After yoga, we all needed a bit of a break and then we met back up at 6:00 for the lingerie shower at my house! I had so much fun decorating and getting ready for this. Big shout out to Mama Carol and her beautiful flower arrangements! 

 The drink table. Hot chocolate (of many different sorts), punch, and the regulars. 

THIS delicious punch was so easy and so awesome. 

2 bottles of Moscato, 4 cups of Sprite, 1 frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate & frozen fruit

 The awesome garland came from Etsy. This lady does a large variety of different color schemes, etc. I thought it was the perfect touch!

 This gorgeous door hanger also came from Etsy. 

 The dessert bar

 My favorite! Thank you Deana!

 So, for Mary Claire to be able to open a gift, she had to answer a question about Grant. 

Needless to say, it was a fun game and I think her face says it all for some of it!

It looks like she didn't agree with this one!

 Melissa's sweet gift had a poem to go along with it. 

"The Panty Poem" was the perfect end to the gift opening!

 The best 

 after "The Panty Poem"

We also had about an hour of playing "Just Dance"--if we weren't hysterically laughing before, we were after all the dances. It was awesome. 

 To top the evening off, we went to Fondren Public!

It was the best night celebrating Mary Claire with all the people that love her the most! 

We love you so much Mary Claire and can't wait for these 25 days to FLY BY!