To The Woman I Love The Most

Happy Birthday to my amazing, beautiful, wonderful mother! 

Yesterday, I was more than happy to spend a whole day celebrating the woman who is always selfless, smiling, encouraging, helping, considerate, going, laughing, and having a good time. 

My mother genuinely loves life and all that is has to offer. What more could someone ask for in a mother? But yet, she is so much more. 

She has been such a guide/encouragement for me in my Christian walk--in learning how to love the Lord in a tangible, real way. She is such a testament to living as a Proverbs 31 woman. I am so blessed and thankful to God for allowing me to have such an astounding woman as my mother. I am also forever thankful that I got to, and continue to receive unconditional love when I have most certainly not earned it, nor do I deserve it.  

I could not have asked for a better role model as I venture into this new chapter in my life of becoming a wife. I've seen my mother respect my father, seen her serve The Lord by the way she loves him, and the way they function in their marriage. I haven't even scratched the surface on just how much of a blessing that is. I don't think I will truly even grasp the magnitude of it all until many years of my own marriage--but what I do know, is that I'm already thankful for it!

I could go on for days about how thankful I am and how much I love my mom! It is my pleasure to be her daughter.  Thank you Jesus for another birthday for this lovely lady! May this be the best year yet! 

Erin Condren

A little plug for my favorite planner creator of all time!

I am a planner--to say the absolute least.  It's so bad that my friends have made fun of me for years--thankfully, I embrace it. I've had a planner since--5th grade I think. 

When I was in high school and college and even now, I use my planner for the summer time! I'm a nerd, I know. But, I'm an organized nerd!

So, with that being said, this post is all for Mrs. Erin Condren--the woman who stole my planner loving heart! My favorite planner that I've ever had, hands down. Not only just my life planner, but my Teacher Lesson Planner and I even bought her Wedding Planner. She has so many options and they can all be personalized as well. To me, the OCD planner, there is not a better one! 

This is just my life planner--wish I had my Teacher Lesson Planner here at home because it is awesome for all of my fellow teachers out there!

 This being my 4th one over the years, this one is my favorite cover yet! It might be because of my new last name ;)

 Monthly layout for each month

The weekly layout for each week as well. 

If you do decide to come over to the OCD side and get one of these beauts, Erin is now helping out her customers and if I refer anyone, (by clicking the link below) I'll get $10.00 credit to continue feeding my obsession :) Help a sister out! By the way, clicking the link and creating an account does not obligate you to order, just to make an account so you can save things in your wish list and browse!

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/ellenellis0726

Valentine's Day as a Mrs.

My first Valentine's Day as a Mrs. and it couldn't have been any better!

I started off the day at work and was welcomed with the hype from all the kids for our Valentine's Day parties. You would have thought it was Christmas Day and not Valentines! I love experiencing these holidays with my students. It really brings back the excitement and wonder that we all felt when we were children. It's a little blessing that I am very thankful for as a teacher. We had all kinds of "bad for you" goodies. My contribution? These Strawberry Cake Batter Cookies!

Strawberry Cake Batter Cookies: (recipe taken from Pinterest here)

1 Strawberry Cake Mix Package

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (can use vegetable oil)

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

You can make these with ANY cake batter of your liking! They are awesome and took me about 10 minutes to make. 

Jason and I dubbed our Valentine's Day "electronic free" (besides using my phone to take the following pictures)--and it was so nice. No distractions, no keeping up with people, no internet browsing, game playing, just focusing on my husband and our relationship. 

Cheers to being "electronic free"!

 We went to eat at our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant, Los Portales. This little gem can be found on Old Canton Road and it is delicious! It has such a laid back atmosphere--we were literally the only people there (other than the people who work there). Not to mention, if you need to brush up on your Spanish, this is the place to be--Jason and I had to do a lot of pointing at our menu. 

 The sky last night was so, interesting. 

My Valentine's Happy--FINALLY getting my new last name added to my bible. I am more excited about that than I can express to you! My sweet man also got me "Then Sings My Soul"--that was mentioned in my last post that has some of the most well known hymns and the stories behind them. I can't wait to read through it! 

My first Valentine's Day as a Mrs. was one for the books. 

Be Thou My Vision

"BE THOU MY VISION"

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best thought by day or by night

Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light

Be thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord

Thou my great Father, I, Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight
Be thou my dignity, Thou my delight
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power. 

Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance now and always

Thou and thou only first in my heart

High King of heaven my treasure Thou are

High King of heaven my victory won

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun

Heart of my own heart whatever befall

Still be my vision O Ruler of all

This is one of my all time favorite hymns.  There's so much truth in this hymn and it moves me, every time I hear it. My heart's desire. My want. The relationship and the dependency I want to have on my Heavenly Father. Brings me to tears almost every time. 

I looked up the history of this hymn and this is what I found from "Then Sings My Soul" which is a book with 150 of the world's greatest hymn stories (which is awesome). 
"Only one missionary is honored with a global holiday, and only one is known by his own distinct color of green--St. Patrick, of course, missionary to Ireland. 
Patrick was born in A.D. 373, along the banks of the River Clyde in what is now called Scotland. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest. When Patrick was about 16, raiders descended on his little town and torched his home. When one of the pirates spotted him in the bushes, he was seized, hauled aboard ship, and taken to Ireland as a slave. There he gave his life to The Lord Jesus. "The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief," he later wrote, "in order that I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God." 
Patrick eventually escaped and returned home. His overjoyed family begged him to never leave again. But one night, a dream reminiscent Paul's vision of the Macedonian Man in Acts 16, Patrick saw an Irishman pleading with him to come evangelize Ireland.
It wasn't an easy decision, but Patrick, about 30, returned to his former captors with only one book, the Latin Bible, in his hand. As he evangelized the countryside, multitudes came to listen. The superstitious Druids opposed him and sought his death. But his preaching was powerful, and Patrick became one of the most fruitful evangelist of all time, planting about 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts. 
His work endured, and several centuries later, the Irish church was still producing hymns, prayers, sermons, and songs of worship. In the eighth century, an unknown poet wrote a prayer asking God to be his vision, his wisdom, and his best thought by day or night. 
In 1905, Mary Elizabeth Byrne, a scholar in Dublin, Ireland, translated this ancient Irish poem into English. Another scholar, Eleanor Hull of Manchester, England, took Byrne's translation and crafted it into verses with rhyme and meter. Shortly thereafter, it was set to a traditional Irish folk song, "Slane," named for an area in Ireland where Patrick challenged local Druids with the gospel."

And there you have it. Oh I love hymns and I love them so much more when I know the meaning/history of them! I'm going to have to buy all 3 volumes of that book for myself!

A previous youth director of mine once said that most all hymns end with verses on heaven--either literally or metaphorically. But WOW! What a testament and what a reflection of the hope we have as we fight through this life. Thank God that we have Him to lead us, guide us, comfort us, and remind us that we've won! We win and have a never ending hope that's coming! Praise be to my God that loves me enough to bring me to Him! May He always be my vision, my ruler of all! 

Puzzling

Warning: totally cheesy and nostalgic post

Something that Jason and I did while we were dating--and something that we've continued doing through our engagement and now, our marriage--is puzzles. 

We love puzzles. 

They are a great way to spend time together and not to mention, do a little brain exercising!

I love this tradition, it's one of those that's in for the long haul.

I am happy to say, we've taken a picture of almost every puzzle that we've done

 I can remember us buying this one in Hattiesburg and watching "How I Met Your Mother" while we were working on it.

Because I love pumpkins

Because we liked the pumpkin puzzle so much, we bought another one from the same maker

My mother gave us this one...and it was terrible! It was so tricky. 

Unfortunately, I don't think I took a picture of this one when we finished because--THERE WAS ONE PIECE MISSING! Before we bought the house, we were working on this puzzle and I'm pretty sure we lost the piece in the move. It was actually a really hard one too--it was heartbreaking! 

It's always fun to go to the store and pick out our newest puzzle.
Will we ever do anything with them all? Probably not! 

A birthday, banquets, & baby.

We had a pretty packed weekend--which is making me appreciate this down time I have right now to write this post. 

Thursday night we got to celebrate Mary Claire and her 22nd birthday! 

We started the night with some delicious food at Jaco's Tacos and ended it with a surprise gift for the birthday girl--a Canon Rebel! There's a total Griswold moment that goes with the camera shopping day that I had with mom--but I'll save that story for a rainy day. 

My goodness! I don't even know if I can find the right words for this sister of mine. This girl, this woman, is astounding. I am so thankful for the woman that you have become Mary Claire Jussely! Who would have thought that within the past nine(ish) years we would have gotten so close. So many laughs, songs, One Tree Hill nights, phone calls, Griswold moments, runs, all of these things and many more are such sweet memories that have made for a pretty beautiful friendship. God has shaped and molded you into such a strong, passionate, fiercely in love with Him woman and it has been a joy to watch it and to be a part of it. Your faith is, unshakable. Your desire is contagious. Your heart for missions and the people of the world is inspiring. There is so much about you that I admire. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I love you, Scary Mary! 

This man, life is so much more fun with this man. 

Friday night, My sweet Dad took me to the Father/Daughter Valentine Banquet that was at the church. Another night in the books for me and Papa Steve! You're never too old for a date with your Dad. Thank you for inviting me Dad!

Jason and I woke up early Saturday morning so we could beat the crowd at the BRAND NEW Whole Foods that just opened here in Jackson (cue the Hallelujah chorus)! We have been waiting and we were NOT disappointed! The Whole Foods was beautiful--and had some pretty amazing stuff. Needless to say, we did not walk away empty handed ;) I think it made the cut onto our usual "Saturday Morning Schedule" 

After we finished up our shopping, I made my way to another celebration for the Day's--the Gender Reveal Party for "Little Baby Day". 

We are now in our fourteenth year of friendship and we've now both become teachers, been in each others weddings, and now you are having a baby! 

 They did their reveal in such a fun way. The color paint in the balloons revealed the gender--the hard part, actually popping the balloons! 

IT'S A GIRL! 

We all knew it, we were on the "bow" team the whole time! 

Congrats to these soon to be parents! So exciting! 

What better way to end your Saturday than with Pho from Saigon and going to see Frozen?--which was SUCH A GREAT MOVIE! As Jason said, we felt like Disney went back to their musical roots with this one. 

The big happening for today?

Jason became a member of our church, Lakeland Presbyterian. 

I am so incredibly blessed and so happy to have stood by my husband's side as we joined as a new family unit today. It was a sweet day and I am so excited to see what The Lord brings to us through serving in the church and through our church family. 

Kitchen Debut

I was going to do a monthly post about rooms, but I am too excited and can't wait. 

The kitchen is one of the first rooms that was fully put together (possibly because it's used the most) But I'll be the first to say. I love our kitchen! It's the only room in the house that we left the color the owner had the walls. I am a sucker for a good green color. Naturally, I fell in love!

I want to give credit where credit is due in these "house posts" because we've been really blessed with our "findings" and things are coming together exactly how I wanted them to! Happy wife. House decorating is definitely serving as my creative outlet for the time being. 

Our kitchen. When I started thinking about what I wanted our kitchen to be like--I just knew I didn't want it to "match". That's why I decided to go with 2 different place settings from Anthropologie of our dishes and why I never told anyone our "color scheme"--I want things with character. Things with meaning! And...anything Anthropologie :) I have LOVED how its turned out!

Our little "bar" area was featured in the last post--it's really what sparked my new "series"

All the lovely adornings were wedding gifts. 

Our painting was done by Jason's ever-so-talented mother. She is such a wonderful artist and I am so proud to have her work hanging in our house! Not to mention, it matched the room perfectly! 

My favorite curtains in the house. Sheer. Cream. Lines of lace on them. Bed Bath and Beyond DELIVERED on these curtains. I was like a kid in a candy shop when I found them.They are perfect (in my eyes)! Our table was a STEAL we found on Craigslist. I love the design on the chairs--it also came with a leaf and 2 more chairs. 

 Mary Claire really helped me complete the kitchen when she brought me these bad boys back from Peru! I LOVE our place mats. Our sweet little salt and pepper shakers from the Mustard Seed. 

 We got our AWESOME refrigerator for a wonderful deal--which makes it even better than we thought it was before we bought it! One of my favorite pieces, our Emmett Pottery pitcher that's holding all of our wooden spoons. If you've never seen some of Emmett Collier's Pottery--you are MISSING OUT!

These were gifts from my mom (the outer 2) and from my sister (the middle one)--Anthropologie and TJ Maxx. 

 I love this view. You can see our "fruit basket" which my mom gave us that was in her house growing up. Our cute canisters from Anthropologie. Our awesome Ninja Blender. 

 This was the first bit of decorating I did in our kitchen and it still serves as one of my favorite things. I've been collecting those Penguin Classic Hardcover Books for the past few years--always knowing I wanted to use them for decoration. Our "ellis" mugs are from Anthropologie. A sweet church member made us our cross. I love this little nook. 

and last but not least--our bit of New Orleans! We got this set on our honeymoon and I love it! 

Reads for 2013

For...4 years now I've been writing down every book that I've read. As I've shifted into the "real world" the amount of books per year has dwindled, greatly (unfortunately).  

I like love to read. It's my television (don't get me wrong, I will get hooked on a good show as you all know) but (yes, I'm about to get dramatic) if I had to choose to eternally watch TV or read books--it would be a no brainer--books all the way! 

So, as I was finishing up a book tonight-I decided I wanted to share with you all these "little bounded beauties" that I share so much of my time with. So, with that being said--here's my "Reads for 2013". I am now committed to sharing this with you yearly, now and forever more ;)

Unfortunately, not all books are pictured because I borrowed 2 of them and have 1 of them on loan right now as well! But nonetheless, here you go! 

(If any of the books peek your interest, click the title and I've provided you a link to them on Amazon)

"Faithful God" Sinclair B Fergueson--although he can be a little hard to read and uses some really big words (which I wasn't ashamed to say that I had to look up) this book was used as a bible study guide with a group of close girlfriends of mine. It was a wonderful book that took you through the book in the Bible, Ruth. It resounded with God's Faithfulness for His people and the paths some of them (Ruth, Naomi, Boaz) took to get there. 

Great read, fairly short. 

"Radical" David Platt--this one was read as a suggestion by Jason. A challenging book and by that I mean, challenges you in your faith and makes you think about what you are doing. I wouldn't necessarily say that we all need to be as radical as people featured in this book because I fully believe God will guide and lead you where He wants you to go--doing what He wants you to do, ultimately. But it was just refreshing to read stories about God's people, my brothers and sisters in Christ, doing these amazing, radical things. I have 2 posts on a previous blog of mine that share a bit more about "Radical" and some of the great things found in the book. 

Not pictured--"Joni" Joni Eareckson Tada--I was loaned this book by a church member when they heard I was going to intern with Joni and Friends last summer. 

This book is amazing. If you want to read a real, raw, book that brings all the glory to God, even in situations where you wonder, "why is this even happening?" this is the book. It is the beautiful, scary truth of loving God and seeing His faithfulness to us in ways we may not always understand. 

I would ESPECIALLY recommend this book to people who have no idea who Joni Eareckson Tada is and what she does and how much she intensely loves Jesus. 

Wonderful, quick read. 

"A Praying Life" Paul Miller--I've always struggled with my prayer life--so I picked up this book at a youth conference one summer (about 3 years ago) and just now finally read it this summer. It's awesome. It's practical. It's very real. I took away some great ideas on how to help make prayer a more regular part of my life. It's definitely a work in progress, but Paul Miller is a wonderful encourager and wrote a great book. 

Not pictured because on loan--"Primal Blueprint" Mark Sisson--All about eating, health, exercise, primal living--really a book that changed our lifestyle. It was so interesting reading about the reason behind why we need to eat certain foods, why we need to avoid certain foods. Things that we've all heard--but this time, with reason and explanation. Not going to lie to you and say this was an easy read, because some of the "factual" chapters were so boring to me--but it's a really useful book. 

Not pictured--"Will You Be My Facebook Friend" Tim Chester--very short, like... hour read. This book was great--especially in our day in age where we are DRIVEN and CAPTURED by technology and social media (as I post on my computer on my blog ;) ) it was just, helpful to be reminded of how dangerous social media really can be and to hear some truths that are not brought to the surface. 

Would definitely recommend this one--great for a doctor's office visit to pass the time ;)

"Meaning of Marriage" Tim Keller--Jason and I had to read this for our premarital counseling and it doesn't matter if you are single, dating, engaged, married--whatever your current "relational status" may be--read this book! IT IS WONDERFUL. I can't say enough good things about this book and how it really opened our eyes, and our hearts to the true meaning of marriage. We plan to make it a yearly read. 

"11th Hour" James Patterson--If you love thrillers, mysteries, suspense--James Patterson is the master. About 5 summers ago I read all of his books that make up "The Women's Murder Club" and I highly suggest you do the same. They are so good--and very, very quick reads. The perfect leisure reads (that will keep you wondering/guessing). Read them all! Number 13 coming out May 5th!

"Divergent" and "Insurgent" Veronica Roth--The first 2 books in the 3 book series. This series is WONDERFUL! Comparable to the Hunger Games but BETTER in my opinion. Surprises, romance, really great reads. 

My hope is to double my "reads" for 2014!

Updates at the 422

With Snow Days--comes time for updated house pictures! 

Since I've been in the house for 2 months now, we've had some updates and FINALLY have some progress in all of the rooms in the house. 

As you may have read in our previous post "Honey Do's" we've done a lot to the house since buying it back in April. But, I have a feeling it's going to take years to get it "just how I like it" but you know, I'm up for that! Bring on the years of "house perfecting"

Our bedroom--we love our bedspread from Anthropologie--"Fleeting Moments"

We found Jason's bedside table at HomeGoods. The newest addition is our painting from Mrs. Eleanor Hughes...that I think is breathtaking! 

We found this gem at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and it filled the space behind our door perfectly! It's also perfect for storing all kinds of goodies!

After searching high and low for a matching bedside table to Jason's (with no luck might I add)--we ended up finding this amazing one at HomeGoods on one of our many trips there. I LOVE IT--and I love how it matches the floor in our room. Our painting to the right is what I brought Jason back when I went to Haiti. The lamp, which matched everything perfectly, came from World Market in Auburn. My sweet little, green birdie--that was a gift that my sister brought me back from Peru!

 The pictures above our TV were purchased in New Orleans on our "engagement trip". We ended up buying quite a few prints from this photographer so they are hung in various places in our house. These fit all too perfectly above the TV.  

This was one of my favorite wedding gifts we got-it's just our invitation framed. I think it's beautiful.

Our little kitchen storage/barish area is finally together and ready for use--coffee, wine, whichever you prefer ;)

 This poor little guest bathroom has been through so many changes. From the previous blog post, "Honey Do's" you could see the wallpaper that covered the walls and the beginning of our bathroom task. I had a different curtain in here as well and decided it was too bright and "adolescent" so my sweet husband gave me the okay to order and update the whole guest bathroom and I have LOVED how it's turned out. 

This picture has really...yellowed the room! It's much more "crisp and cleaner" looking that it seems. 

A church member, Ms. Linda Beatty did the pastel drawing of the sunflowers. They ended up matching the bathroom perfectly. 

 The guest bathroom is our first, FULLY completed room in the house.
It's just a coincidence that it's the smallest one too ;)

I am posting this one out of sheer motivation to finish this room! 

Say hello to the guest room. Today, we finally hung up the headboard/picture frame

This room is actually close to being done--I just need something to fill up that huge blank wall and my two dressers have to be re-done (hence why they didn't make the picture)!

My hope it to give you all monthly updates of "finishing touches" we are doing to the house. 

Stay tuned!