birds of a feather flock together.

Last week, my husband and I spent some fun-filled time at the Jacksonville Zoo.  We don't have kids, we just went for us - and had a BLAST!  We love animals (although he's not a big fan of pets) and took like 200 pictures that we will never print, because what do you do with 200 pictures of elephants, alligators, and birds?  I could frame them as family portraits and freak my friends out.

Can you imagine?

Friend: "Who's that?"

Me: "oh her? That's my aunt Petunia! Isn't she just a doll?" 

Ok.. maybe I'll just let them live and die on the old lappy top where you, the lucky reader, gets to join us on our journey through the zoo :)  Get ready to have some fun.

Wade said he was making the letter A with his hands for Alabama.. I will not say "Roll Tide". Not gonna happen.

i LOVE this next picture of the gorilla looking at the boys. I should note that I don't know these kids and I'm hoping it's not weird that they are in now on my blog.. but they wouldn't get out of the way! Dang kids. ;)  But seriously, I'll bet this is a moment they will be talking about for weeks!

But, by far, my favorite part were the BIRDS!  They were very interactive and were free to roam all around us in several of the zoo locations.

Aren't they beautiful?? I love how different they all are.

We finished the day with the most awesome part of the zoo where you got to feed the birds! They would land on you and drink from the nectorine cup, like so...

Ok.. I'd love to end my post here. Smiling, happy, totally cool with having birds on me... but that would be misleading, when in reality my reaction was more like this...

Yeah, it freaked me out having them on my arm, let alone my HEAD! But after the initial ok...5 minute screamfest (and a woman, not making it any better, saying, "What if it poops!"), I calmed down enough to enjoy it -- hence the first photo I showed you of me looking all calm and collected.

I hope you had as much fun as I did! Which I doubt, because I think I had too much fun. I proved this by begging to go back for the next couple of days to do it all over again.  Yes, although I'll be 28 in less than a week, I'm still a kid a heart.

Have a Happy Sunday and I hope you've spent the day worshiping and resting in our Savior :)  And I can't wait to try out my self-made Mr. T costume tomorrow.  I just hope it stays together.  Check back tomorrow to see how it turned out.

Happy Engagement!

My gorgeous big sister Wendy, who taught me to truly appreciate the music of the early 90's/late 80's (thank you), and her wonderful fiance Jason, (who I love!) are the perfect pair.  I'm so glad I got to take some photos to document the beginning of this chapter in their lives as they prepare for their wedding day!  Congratulations and I love you both!

of course, my hilarious brother in law had to get in one!  Who thinks this should seriously be their "Save the Date"?  I do!

"An excellent wife, who can find?  For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain." - Proverbs 31:10

You got a good one, Jason!  And I'm not just saying that because she's my sister ;)  

welcome new readers!

If you're new to my blog, I thought it would be a good idea to share a little bit about who I am and what you can expect from my blog!

First of all, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ!  I often times write posts based on what God is revealing to me -- usually really basic principles that I find I've overlooked.

Second, I'm a "newly-wed" wife to this hot hottie hot hot below...

I use quotations here, because technically I'm not a newly wed anymore, but life's what you make it and I plan on staying newly-weds for ever! 

I love to gross people out with all the mush, so you can expect a lot of that on my blog as well. 

Thirdly, I post every day happenings in my life.  If you read my blog, you'll know exactly what I've been up to with pictures to boot.  I love to document our goings-on for my family and friends who live in my home state of Florida, while I'm living all the way in Alabama ;) 

I have a lot of quirks. One that has recently been brought to my attention by my loving co-workers *ahem* is that I make weird faces when I talk... like this one.

Fourth - I LOVE TO COOK.  I'm still a learner in the kitchen, and my husband says I can't cook a meal without saying "OH CRAP" at some point.  That being said, I almost always forget at least one ingredient. It's pretty annoying.  If you follow my blog, you will see that I share all of my favorite recipes with step-by-step instructions and photos.

Pst... check out my Seared Duck Taco's recipe. It's quite entertaining.

Fifth..ly?  I'm losing count here.  I dabble in the crafts and DIY projects.  I am DYING to learn to sew!  Below are photos from my Baby Headband Tutorial and DIY Potterbarn Knock-off Mirror!

And lastly and one of the most frequent topics on my blog is my LOVE and PASSION for the mission field - particularly Mexico!  If you stick around, you will definitly hear stories and experiences from the mission trips we take throughout the year to places like India and Mexico. 

Mexico is where I met my husband and it is where we love to spend our time - visiting the same village at least 3 or 4 times a year. 

I hope you feel like you've gotten to know me a little bit and will join me in this Life on a Mission! Follow me on GFC and leave me some comments so I can check out your blog as well! 



Just a Sampling

I've spent more time editing my sister's engagement photos than I ever have before because I want them to be perfect! I'm also having a hard time editing down the number of photos - I'm only half way through!  Who doesn't need 400 photos of yourself and your fiance taken on the same day, right??

Here is one of my favorites I have already finished, and I feel like it gives a good example of what the collection looks like with it's vintage feel. 

I hope you like it, sis!

{My sister Wendy and her fiance, Jason}

Gettin' real with my blog sista!

Cassidy referenced Proverbs 31:30 on her blog, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." 

It reminded me of one of my favorite songs from back in the day by D.C. Talk, "That Kind of Girl"
Watch this video and listen to the lyrics! I find myself rapping along with it all over again!  An oldie but a goodie, as they say.



"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she ain't playin'" - DC Talk

God made a beautiful woman when he made you :)

A little peek can't hurt, can it?

That's what I thought :) So here are some bits and pieces of the dresses my beautiful, engaged sister tried on last weekend!  None of these were the winner, but they all looked amazing on her!  I wish I could post The Dress, but I can't give that away now can I? 

Ok, back to editing their engagement pictures! I only took like 400! 

Time flies....

And I have been having a lot of fun! This month has been so full that I've barely been home at all!  I spent the last 12 days in Florida with various parts of the family doing all kinds of fun things: wedding dress shopping for the sis, shooting engagement photos, taking a weekend trip to visit my best friend in Tampa... and that's all before Wade joined the vacay! After that there were trips to the zoo, boat rides, a fancy smancsy charity event, beach side lunches and dinners out, and one heck of a Jaguar game -- most of which I will be posting about as I edit the photos!  Coming up first, my oldest sister, Wendy's engagement photos!

 That's her on the right, with me in the middle and my other sister, Kristina on the left.

Ever heard the phrase, "I need a vacation from my vacation"? Those are my sentiments exactly today. I'm exhausted, but it was all worth it!

Now, who wants to do all my laundry for me?

Bon Voyage!

I'm headed to Florida!  For the next 12 days I'll be in my home state, where I'll be doing activities like.... shopping for my sister's wedding dress, shooting engagement pictures for her and her fiance, driving down to Tampa for a reunion with my best friend Megan, taking in a Jaguar football game, and who knows what else!  I'm looking forward to time with the fam and hoping for a beach trip if the weather is right! 

I doubt I'll have my lap top, so like usual you probably won't be hearing from me for a little while. 

Don't forget me while I'm gone!

In Memoriam

It's been a week since I've last posted.  I tend to do that from time to time.  My original excuse was that I was busy preparing to go to Catalyst - a Christian leadership conference in Atlanta.  Wade and I were soooo excited to go! We were due to leave on Wednesday and return Friday, but only made it 30 minutes away from home before turning back. 

For years Wade's beloved Paw-Paw struggled with Congestive Heart Failure. And Wednesday the Lord finally healed him completely by taking him home. 

Wade's grandfather is probably the sweetest man I've ever met, who loved his kids, grandkids, and great grand-daughters more than anyone I know!  In fact, he always told Wade that the best thing he ever did was marrying me ;)  I remember a time I drove to North Carolina and he made my mother-in-law call me to make sure I was ok because he worried over me driving so far on my own. 

He always had a smile, no matter his own condition.  He was a quite man, gentle in spirit, and always knew how to make you laugh.  He could diffuse any situation with his quick wit! 

I love a story I heard the other day (among many!), where just last week he got to feeling a little stir crazy and talked his wife and daughter (my mother-in-law) into taking him to Walmart to "people-watch".  They took him there and sat him on a bench, telling him to sit and watch people while they went to grab a few things.  By the time they came back, he had talked a woman into helping him get on one of those motorized grocery carts and was having a great time coasting through the aisles of Walmart!

I wish I had some old pictures of him to post. He was very dapper as a young man :)

We love that Paw-Paw Mack, and he will be surely missed.  But what's amazing is that he is with Jesus now!  And as Paul says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

After the ceremony, the family took home some of the flowers people sent, to place in our homes and reflect on Paw and how much we all love him.  I love flowers, and I love these little reminders of him.

Recovery by the Lake

This weekend was our annual Recovery by the Lake event. RbtL is a weekend event that hopes to spread awareness of the continuing drug problem we struggle with on Sand Mountain.  There are booths set up all over the park that deal with recovery related programs or charities that the event is promoting. Bands and speakers are set up throughout the day, as well as lake baptisms! I love this weekend, every year!

This year I was asked to set up a booth for Blessings in a Backpack. I love this charity!

Did you know that 1 out of 6 kids in America are at risk of hunger?  Right here in my own county, more than 70% of students are on the free and reduced lunch program at school. Many of those children eat little to nothing when they leave school on Friday until they return on Monday morning. Because of this problem, right here in our own backyard, the community has joined together to start the Blessings in a Backpack program in our local schools!

With the "Power of 80" ($80), a child can be sponsored and have food put in their backpacks every Friday that they can either open and eat or make easily at home.

Our goal at Recovery by the Lake was to spread awareness, get more people involved by starting the program in their own city or joining us in packing the meals each week, and most importantly committing to sponsor a child or buy a t-shirt to go towards the food purchases. 

What's really great about this program is that every penny goes directly to buying food for these kids!

Here are some photos that my friend Brandi took at the event (she's so awesome!)

Another way that Recovery by the Lake helped raise money for Blessings in a Backpack was with a Bike Run!

 

All throughout the town, walls just like this one, were put up for people to write the names of friends or family in Marshall County who are still in active addiction. The night before the event, there was an overnight prayer vigil for these names at the Court House. The next morning, they were walked all the way to the lake. There were probably a dozen of them, filled front and back, with names.

At the end of the day, some of the Lifepoint band held a worship service and then handed out recovery chips (one year, one month, one day clean).

Like I said before, it was a GREAT day!  If you would like to start Blessings in a Backpack in your own town, check out their website for more information or email me at kwilliams@discoverlifepoint.com and I can tell you how we got started here! 

National Blessings in a Backpack
Marshall County Blessings in a Backpack (website still being worked on)