Lauren

Homemade Goodness

2012-02-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Do you have a favorite childhood memory of one of your grandparents? Mine would have to be my Granny's homemade biscuits and her baked apples! The Friday before I started my internship, which I considered my last day of Christmas break, my Granny came over and she let me make her homemade biscuits. I am in training and I must say they were far from perfect, but we had fun spending time together!

The finished product!
Granny always puts her biscuits in a basket with a napkin

Baked Apples!

One of my favorite breakfasts! Baked Apples, Granny's Biscuits, and Orange Juice!

Girly Gun Accessories

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Jacob loves guns! He loves shotguns, pistols, and anything that goes along with them! For my birthday this year we celebrated at my favorite restaurant in Greenville, SC! While we were waiting for our food to arrive Jake gave me my birthday present!
He gave me ear protection, eye protection, and a fanny pack. They were ALL pink! The fanny pack was camo with pink zippers. He gave this to me so we could shoot together and I would have my own stuff!

We had fun taking pictures with all of my new accessories!

Little did I know, Jacob bought me a pistol for Christmas! He wanted me to have my own pistol because I do not enjoy shooting his guns because they have a strong kick back. Now when we go shooting, I have my own gun that I enjoy shooting and it is fun for us to have something that we can do together!

Funny Monday: Kids in Church

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

3 Year Old Little Girl: "Our Father who does art in Heaven, Harold is his name... And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."

A sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on their way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quite in church?" One little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5 and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. She said, "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan you be Jesus!"

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their 6 year old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear mommy say," the mother replied. The daugther bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Healthy Snacks

2012-01-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

To piggy back with my "Goals" post, I wanted to put up a few healthy snacks that I found on Pinterest. To lose weight you not only have to exercise, but you also have to eat healthy! I thought these snacks sounded yummy and plan on taking a trip to the grocery store with my mom this weekend and picking up some of these yummy things!

1. Frozen Grapes
2. String Cheese
3. Frozen Banana (Peel it first, freeze it, and its almost like a popsicle!)
4. Apple Dipped in Peanut Butter
5. 1 cup of 1% or 2 % Chocolate Milk
6. Rice Cakes
7. Frozen Yoplait Whips Yogurt (tastes like ice cream)
8. Handfull of blueberries with 2 tablespoons of fat-free cool whip
9. Ants on a Log (Peanutbutter and raisons)
10. 1 cup of mixed berry salad (raspberry, strawberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries)
11. Peanut butter and bananas on whole wheat bread or cinnamon raison bread
12. Baked Apples
13. Animal Crackers
14. Strawberries dipped in fat-free cool whip
15. Low Fat tortilla filled with egg salad made with light mayo
16. Baked chips (about 7-10) and Salsa
17. Goldfish crackers (PORTION CONTROL!)
18. Tropical Juice Smoothie (1/4 cup of all juices--pineapple, orange, apple & ice blended together)
19. Any 100 calorie snack package
20. Pretzels and Cheese

I hope all of you are able to replace one unhealthy snack with a healthy snack this week! Taking a few babysteps can lead to lifestlye changes! :o)

GOALS!

2012-01-09T11:45:00.002-05:00

Yep its time to set more goals. I am sad to say I did not fully reach my goals that I set for myself at the end of 2011. I am happy to say that I lost 5 pounds AND kept it off through Thanksgiving and Christmas! Hurray for that!

Now that Jake and I are 5 months from getting married, I have to get more serious! No breaks allowed!

I am starting my internship next Monday at Rex Wellness center and they allow me to do one class during my internship hours. How awesome is that?? I am going to take them up on it!

I would really like to lose about 15 pounds total, but I am going to start small and say 5-7 pounds this month as that is healthy weight loss.

Day 1: Working out at Rex Wellness Center..... GO!

Any suggestions?? Please Comment!

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Fall Day at NGU

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday: 2012 NGU Graduate

2011-11-16T00:00:00.001-05:00

6 Things I Wish I'd Known About Men Before Getting Married

2011-11-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

1. Men Can't Read Your Mind: If you "hint" at wanting help, men will not get it. "I wish I was taller so I could reach that canister" sounds like a simple statement. Asking sweetly works much better. Say something like,. "Honey when you get a minute can you reach that canister for me?"

2. Men Don't Like to be Rushed with New Problems as soon as they Walk in the front door: Providing time to unwind works much better. Let the worries of your husband's workday dissipate before you tell him about new ones.

3. Men Often Feel like they're failing as a spiritual leader: Ever wonder why your spouse doesn't take the initiative on spiritual ventures more often? Sometimes it's easier for him not to try than to see dissappointment in your gaze. Instead of "hinting" at ways he can lead or nagging when another day goes by without quite time, pray for your husband to step up and support any effort he makes.

4. Men like Someone to Listen to their Dreams: It doesn't mean they're going to go out and quit their jobs tomorrow and set off on a sailboat around the world, but a listening ear matters. Take time to ask, "If you could do anything, what would you do?" Give him space to dream.

5. Men are born with a desire to protect the weak and fight for honor, but those instincts rarely have a chance to exhibit themselves in the real world. We don't have to hide our faults or be perfect wives. Instead we can turn to our men for help and advice. We can give our husbands a chance to save the day.

6. A good meal and a warm wife can wash away every other care in the world. I don't think there's much more I need to say about that. Try it, I bet your husband will agree!

** This was taken from the Family Life Website and was written by Tricia Goyer**

Goal Setting Week 3

2011-11-14T00:26:00.007-05:00

**Sorry for the extra space. I'm not sure how to make it go away!**

Weight Loss = 2 more pounds this week

Total Weight Loss = 5 Pounds!!! YEAH!!!

I got to go home this weekend and it was wonderful! Here is a quick list of what went on this weekend.

1. Celebrated Granny and My Birthday

2. Interviewed a caterer

3. Picked out flowergirl dresses

4. Picked out my wedding band (AHHHH! still so excited!) We haven't ordered it yet, but I picked it out! :o)

5. Narrowed down guest list :o/

6. Started addressing save the dates

7. Saw my cousin, met her husband and baby girl

8. Uncle Jimmy came home from the hospital and I got to visit with him and Grandma

As you can see I had an EXTREMELY busy weekend but it was a GREAT one!! I felt so happy last night when I was laying down for bed and I was replaying the day in my head. We accomplished so much for the wedding and I got to see some of my family that I haven't seen in a LONG time!! God is always so good and He ALWAYS has a better plan than what we have for ourselves!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

NGU Homecoming 2011

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

We celebrated homecoming a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun! Homecoming is a big deal at NGU and clubs participate all week in fun events. Some of these events include bowling, Family Feud, Skit Night, Quick Drawing (similar to Pictionary), a Scavenger hunt, building a float, and then the week ends with the football game where a homecoming queen is announced! This years theme for homecoming was Crusaders Go West! Our football team played the Catawba College Indians (Get it? Cowboys vs. Indians!). All week we got extra points for wearing western clothing.

Making finishing touches

AWESOME football Helment!
The only pictures I have is of our Health Promotion and Wellness club's float!! Isn't the football helment COOL?? We spent HOURS covering it with tissue paper and streamers and it turned out pretty neat! We didn't win homecoming, but our float came in 2nd place!! It was a pretty fun week!

Goal Setting:Week 2

2011-11-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Weight Loss: I have lost 3 pounds! YAY! I actually lost these the last week of October but I had a little bit of a set back last week because I had a cold and nothing feels better to a scratchy throat than a cold soft drink! I also drank alot of juice for the vitamin C. I did not exercise at all because it would make me cough really bad. :o( Needless weight loss last week did not go so well but I did keep of the 3 pounds I lost the week before! SCORE!

Jake:

This week I went super simple with my sweet gesture to Jake! I wrote him this card that says, I can't wait until our last names are the same! I <3 you! Then I used 2 Goetze's Bullz Eyes and put beside each of our first names!

If you have never had a Goetze Cowtail or Bullz eye I HIGHLY recommend it!! They are soo delicious!

Happy Birthday Granny and Janessa!

2011-11-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl I can't believe you are 2! Aunt Lucy loves you VERY much!

Happy Birthday Granny!

Camelbak

2011-11-04T08:00:00.003-04:00

As mentioned in Monday's post, Jake bought me a sweet present to help encourage me to drink more water. It was a Camelbak Water bottle! I have many friends here on campus that have camelbaks and I have wanted to buy myself one for a while now. They are a little on the expensive side and I couldn't justify spending that much money so I considered asking for a camelbak for Christmas. When I shared with Jake my #1 goal for November(lose 10 pounds) he knew I wanted a camelbak but wouldn't buy it for myself, so he bought it for me!

The Camelbak bottle is so neat! It is double wall insulated so you do not have to worry about it sweating and getting the things inside your bag wet. Also, the mouth piece is spill proof and will not release water until you bite on it and suck. Another plus is you do not have to tilt your head back to drink from the Camelbak which allows for easy hydration and not getting off balance while exercising! I have only had my Camelbak for a week but I LOVE IT!!

Thanks Jake for such a sweet gift! I love you!

Goal Setting: Week 1

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you know my Jacob, you know he LOVES to fish! He likes to hunt too, but if you ask him he will quickly tell you that he likes fishing much more! On the webside that I told you about on Monday called The Dating Divas I found these cute printables! They were already made and all I had to do was print them out! I have about 6 of them that I will use! If you notice the little arrow, I also wrote him a special note telling him how important he is to me! Anyway, on the website they used this particular printable with the candy sweedish fish, but I knew Jake would like something else! :o)
I went to Wal-mart and bought him a fishing lure! He probably will not be able to use this right now because its getting so cold, but he was excited!

This semester Jake has been helping our athletic director do some projects on campus. Yesterday, he was fixing something on the basketball scoreboard, so I snuck up to the gym and found out his door was unlocked and put the lure on his steering wheel so he wouldn't miss it!

After he found it he called me and said, "So I officially have your heart huh?" lol

Zumba

2011-11-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

The gym on campus is free for all students and on Fridays one of our Health and Wellness students is a certified Zumba instructor and holds a class after the gym closes just for our female students. Its kinda funny because we are not "allowed" to dance on campus with NGU being a Christian school and all...so we have to refer to Zumba as "Exercise Movement."
I have never done Zumba before so it was defiently an experience for me! I'm not a huge fan of going into a routine and not knowing the movements, but they are simple and repetitive making them easy to catch on to!

Look at the ladies in these pictures that I found on google! They are having such a great time with their Exercise Movements and it is a pretty intense workout! Zumba can burn up to 900-1200 calories in a 1 hour workout! Thats CRAZY! Normally when I do the eliptical for 30 min I burn around 350 calories and it is sometimes hard to push through that 30 minutes depending on the resistance! Zumba was fun and I didn't even think about how tired I was!

If you are tired of your regular workout routine and enjoy dancing...opps I mean Exercise Movement, I highly encourage Zumba! It is for ladies of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels!

NC State Fair 2011

2011-11-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Jake and I had a very short time at the fair this year, but it was FUN! We made our trip the same weekend we were home for the marriage conference. We were at the marriage conference from 8:30 am until about 5:30 pm and then met my parents at the fair and stayed until around 12:00 am!! It was a very long, but EXTREMELY anticipated day! I did not go to the fair last year because I decided to go with our youth group to Carowinds since its about the midway point between school and home. Needless to say...I couldn't wait to get to the fair!

Jake and I rode many rides, but my mom always wants to ride the ferris wheel. Its the ONLY ride she will ride! While we were waiting in line, the fireworks started and they were beautiful. We also found a new favorite treat! It was cheesecake on a stick dipped in a chocolate shell. It was so yummy! My mom, Jake, and I shared this HUGE piece of cheesecake and all agreed that it is a MUST HAVE next year!
This picture was taken at the top of the ferris wheel! I love all the beautiful lights at the fair! It is one of my favorite things about the fair!!

*Did any of you notice that today is 11/1/11?? Pretty cool huh?

Goal Setting

2011-10-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

I have decided to set two goals for myself for the month of November. I set many goals for myself and then it seems that I always make excuses for not completing them. Well I decided that I would blog about them and hope that it will help hold me accountable to reach both goals.

Here are my goals...

1. Lose 10 pounds by November 30th: I actually started this goal the last full week of october. I have been trying extremely hard not to drink as much sweet tea, pepsi, and lemonade. I have been TRYING to drink a lot of water and Jake bought me a sweet present (I'll blog about later this week) to help encourage me to drink more water. I have done a pretty good job with this. I have narrowed it down to drinking ONE sweet tea or pepsi a week and only drinking half a glass of lemonade with breakfast and then the rest of the time drinking water. I also did a good job is exercising most days of the week last week for at least 30 minutes! I hope I can keep this up for the month of November!

2. Do something sweet for Jake once a week for an entire month: I found this super cute website called The Dating Divas. I actually found it when looking through Pinterest and have been HOOKED ever since! It is a marriage website about relearning to date your husband so obviously there are some things that do NOT apply to Jake and me, but there are some cute things that I have found that I can do. I will try and post the things I do so you all can see how awesome this website is. They allow you to print things from their webiste to help with creative ideas (you will see what I am talking about when I start posting about it). I plan on starting this week and I am super pumped to try and show Jake how special he is to me!!

Even more Engagement Pictures

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much Pam Weber for such a fun day and for AWESOME pictures that we will treasure forever! You Rock!

More Engagement Pictures

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday: Engagement Pictures

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Grandaddy's Candy

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Do any of you have a candy that reminds you of someone? When my Grandaddy was living, his favorite candy was the Werther's Original Hard Candies. When I was over at Grandma and Grandaddy's house he would always have a glass full of coke with a straw and Grandma had a candy dish on his bed side table with these candies in them. I would go up to him and say, "Grandaddy can I have a piece of your candy?" Well, after he died, Werther's always reminded me of him and I refer to them as "Grandaddy's Candy". I had a coupon if you bought 2 bags you got $1 off. This week at Dollar General they were on sale for $1 a bag. My grandaddy has been on my mind a lot this week and I sure do miss him!

A Weekend to Remember

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

A couple weekends ago Jake's mom, dad, brother, brother's fiance, Jake, and I went to a marriage conference that was put on by Family Life. It was called a Weekend to Remember. This conference was so encouraging. The sessions were called Why Marriages Fail, Can We Talk, Unlocking the Mystery of Marriage, From How to WOW, What Every Marriage Needs, We Fight Too, Marriage After Dark, Woman to Woman/ Man to Man, How Marriages Thrive, and Leaving a Legacy. There were also breakout sessions for engaged couples. Jake and I learned a lot about each other and we cannot wait to put the things we learned into practice when we get married. There were some things that we can work on now to help us prepare for marriage that can continue into marriage life. I had never been to a conference like this, but I would HIGHLY recommend going to one before getting married!

A couple of things I learned from the conference is NO ONE has a perfect marriage. No matter how easy people make marriage look IT IS NOT EASY but it is something worth working at!Also, communication is KEY! This is something that Jake and I have tried very hard with. From very early on in our relationship Jake and I took Ephesians 4:26-27 very seriously. "Be Angry, and yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." It has gotten to the point that if I have something on my mind I cannot sleep or do school work until we talk things out. I feel this has truely blessed our relationship because we talk about things right then and don't let them fester!

Thank you Mr. Kenny and Mrs. Debra for taking us to this Conference! We really learned A lot!

Patience

2011-10-11T22:29:00.002-04:00

Patience is something that I have been struggling with for quite a while!! Bottom line... I'M READY TO BE MARRIED! Its so hard to have to be patient until school is over!! Six years is a LONG time to have to be patient. I know there is a reason that Jake and I met and started dating when we were 16 and I am so thankful that I am going to know him so very well when our wedding day finally comes, but it is HARD! So many people don't understand why we decided to have a 2 year engagement. Jake and I have known that we were going to get married since before we were both 17. Its so true that when you know...you just know...and WE KNEW!! Well why not have a 2 year engagement when you have known for so long that you were going to get married? Our relationship has not changed. We have ALWAYS talked about future plans. Our relationship has changed with everyone else though. We are able to tell people the plans we have been talking about for so many years! One of the things I struggle with the most is when people/our friends who have been together less time than us would get engaged and/or married before us!! Oh this used to drive me crazy!! I would have to tell myself "There is a reason! There HAS to be!" This has calmed down a little since our wedding date is getting a little closer! Sometimes I just can help it though! Sometimes I feel like Jake and I are the only ones that are having to wait! It just gets so hard sometimes and it feels like time is going by so slow!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

Pictures that make my heart happy! :o)

Happy Birthday Scott!

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday To my big brother Scott! I hope you have a great day! I Love You!

Playa Mujeres, MEXICO!!!

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

On June 10, 2012 Jake and I are boarding our plane at 6:30 am and we are going to the Excellence Resort in Playa Mujeres, Mexico! I am very excited! I cannot wait until it is just us! We booked our honeymoon while we were home for summer and we are so glad we did! We met with a travel agent and she was able to give us WAY more pictures than were offered at the website! I have only put a few pictures up, but if you want to see more you can go HERE.

Lobby
This is the Spa/Pool view. This is the view that Jake and I have!

Hanging out around the pool!

Room. I LOVE all the marble and gold stuff!

Every room (no matter where it is located) has a Jacuzzi! There are 2 doors so you can feel like you are sitting in your room or you are outside. The travel agent told us when she visited she would sit in the jacuzzi and watch movies!

Beautiful beaches!

This is an all inclusive hotel with 9 restaruants on site and activities included. There are excursions that are an extra cost, but there is so much to do at the resort that I'm not sure if we are going to do them! The resort is only about 2 years old so all rooms have a flat screen TV and a sectional sofa! I cannot WAIT to go to Mexico!!!

Ring Bearer!

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know! You are not suprised! Jack Livingston will be our ring bearer! He is such a cutie and he is going to look so stinkin cute walking down the isle with the little ring pillow! I can't wait until June 9, 2012 to see all these cute kids all dressed up for mine and Jake's special day! All this wedding planning is so much fun!!

Tune in Monday to see pictures of where Jake and I are going on our Honeymoon!!!

Flowergirls!

2011-09-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

I have two of the most precious flowergirls EVER! Anna and Lizzy Livingston are going to make the prettiest, sweetest, most beautiful flowergirls in this whole world! I can't wait to see them (hopefully on video) walking down the isle holding their cute little baskets dropping pettles! These two sweet girls are so special to me! I can't tell you how many times I have been asked, "So are the Livingston girls going to be your flowergirls?" So many people realize how special this family is to me and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Anna and Lizzy's Poem:

A little Lady carries flowes

And brings a small bouquet

She helps us as we celebrate

A joyful wedding day

She is a princess in her gown

A picture come to life

She brings such joy in helping us

Become Man and Wife

We are asking you to stand with us

So graceful and so tall

And help us make this special time

The very best of all!

Will You Be My Flowergirls??

Bridesmaids: Emma

2011-09-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

Emma Livingston is going to be my Junior Bridesmaid. I knew from the time she was born that Emma was going to be a special girl in my life! As I was thinking about our wedding, I had to find a special place for her on mine and Jake's wedding day. I thought to myself, she is maybe a little too old to be a flower girl, so I will make her a junior bridesmaid! Emma was so excited when I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids! I promised her I would find her a dress that looked almost exactly like my bridesmaids and I have! Emma is going to be the perfect Bridesmaid!

Emma's Poem:

It's hard to believe

That in a little while

I will be

Walking down the isle

Nothing would give me

More Joy and Pride

Than to have you

Right there by my side!

Will You Be My Junior Bridesmaid??

Bridesmaids: Manda

2011-09-13T10:35:00.000-04:00

Manda is my roomate and has been for the past 2 years! She has become such a wonderful friend to me! We love to hang out together and have girl's nights! Manda and I are so much alike in so many ways, but we also differ in plenty of ways as well! I am excited to have two of my college friends in our wedding! Graduation will not be so sad because I will see them a month later! When I asked Manda and Vanessa to be bridesmaids we had such a fun night! It was the typical girls night with pizza and a chick flick! Manda is so special to me and I plan on having her as a friend for a long time!

Poem:
The Day, The Dress
The Bride, The Groom
The Day, The Tears
Will all come soom

Professing true love
To my Husband to be
With family and Friends
All Watching me

But there is just one more thing
that there needs to be
and thats to have you
Standing there with me!!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid???

Bridesmaids: Vanessa

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Vanessa has been my study buddy since freshman year. We have had multiple classes together since then and have had many study dates together. This semester is the first semester since freshman year that we have not had classes together. Thankfully we live in the same dorm across the hall from each other. Vanessa and I would catch ourselves only getting together to study and not take any time out for girl time so we sometimes would just randomly put our books away and talk. It is so fun to have a friend that is a good study partner and someone you can talk to!

Poem:
The Day, The Dress
The Bride, The Groom
The Joy, The Tears
Will all come soon

Professing true love
To my husband to be
With family and Friends
All watching me

But there is just one more thing
That there needs to be
And thats to have you standing there with me!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid???

Bridesmaids: Elizabeth

2011-09-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

I met Elizabeth my first day of High School. I was in Algebra class and the guy who sat in front of me kept turning around and talking to me. Well...Elizabeth liked this guy and decided she was going to come talk to him at the end of class. He introduced us and of course I recognized her from cheerleading practice and we became quick friends. Cheerleading, getting our drivers license, eating lunch together off campus, hanging out at baseball games, and going to the Corner Ice Cream Shop there was NEVER a dull moment. We took many pictures together and they were mostly funny! Elizabeth and I still get together when our schedules allow us to! We are the type of friends where we can pick up right where we left off and talk about life. I am excited that Elizabeth is going to be my bridesmaid!

I used the same poem to ask all of my bridesmaids. I just thought it was too cute!

The Day, The Dress

The Bride, The Groom

The Joy, The Tears

Will all come soon

Professing true love

To my husband to be

With family and friends

All watching me

But there is just one more thing

That there needs to be

And thats to have you

Standing there with me!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid???

Bridesmaids: Jody

2011-09-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

Jody and I grew up together in Wake Forest. We were at each others birthday parties as little girls and had many play dates inbetween. Jody and I became very close when we rode the school bus together when I was a Freshman in High School and Jody was a Sophomore. We would hang out before school started with our Mountain Dews in hand. She is also who got me involved in FFA. Jody and I have a special relationship! We can hang out inside playing on the computer or watching movies or we can sit in the cow trough (I know we were weird) flicking mud back and forth talking about anything and everything! I'm excited to have Jody as one of my bridesmaids!

This is how I asked Jody to be my Bridesmaid!

The day, The Dress

The Bride, The Groom

The Joys, The Tears

Will all come soon

Professing true love

To my Husband to Be

With Family and Friends

All watching me

But there is just one more thing

That there needs to be

And thats to have you

Standing there with me!!

Will You Be my Bridesmaid???

Bridesmaids: Matron of Honor

2011-09-06T08:00:00.005-04:00

Amanda is Jake's sister and has become one of my very best friends! Derek, Amanda's husband, is the Youth Pastor at Stony Hill and we have used that to our advantage. The past two summers Amanda has hosted the college bible study at their house! I would stay late and we would talk wedding stuff or just girl stuff. This past summer we started watching the show Switched at Birth on ABC Family. I am so excited to be gaining a sister when Jake and I get married! It is going to be so much fun!!

Here is the poem I used to ask Amanda to be my Matron of Honor!

The day that I marry, our families will blend,

You'll be my sister, and also my friend.

Its so very special to know you will be

Part of this day, and there with me.

Its just the beginning of our brand new life,

As your brother and I become Man and Wife.

Will you be my Matron of Honor??

Bridesmaids: Maid of Honor

2011-09-05T08:00:00.007-04:00

This week and next week I am going to announce to you the girls who are going to be standing beside me on June 9, 2012! Enjoy!
Candice is going to be my Maid of Honor! We have been friends since I was a freshman in High School and she was a sophomore! We meet the first week of cheerleading practice and were inseparable during high school! So much so that my daddy nicknamed her Ethel (Lucy and Ethel from the I love Lucy show!). I am very excited about all the time we will spend together planning and talking about wedding stuff!!

Here is how I asked Candice to be my Maid of Honor!

I had a strong feeling the day we first met,

That you would be a friend I would never forget.

From 9th grade until now, a million memories we have made.

We've laughed and cried, and not a moment I would trade.

I'll always fondly remember the special times we've shared.

You've always been the truest of friends and always shown you care.

And now at this most special time as my marriage and new life begin,

I am so thankful to have you as my BEST FRIEND!

Will You Be My Maid of Honor???

Beach 2011: Part 4

2011-09-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

We went to a Pirates show while we were at the beach. It was where the Dixie Stampede used to be. They gutted out the rodeo scene and put a lagoon with two big boats at either end! It was so neat and kept Janessa very occupied. There were light shows, animals (seal and a dog), diving, fliping, swinging, swinging, etc. It was a great show and the meal was AWESOME!

After the show, we went and fed the ducks

Spending time at the pool!

LOVE this picture!

Beach 2011: Part 3

2011-09-01T10:26:00.000-04:00

Our Condo
Busy girl!

Snack Time!

More Please!

Napping on the beach! :o)

Beach 2011: Part 2

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

Meet Oscar!
Janessa Loved Oscar!

Brush, Brush, Brush!

Sleepy Girl!! This is one way Janessa would take her afternoon nap!

Beach 2011: Part 1

2011-08-30T08:00:00.004-04:00

We went to Myrtle Beach for our family vacation this year. This was a special vacation because it is the last one I will take with my parents as a Faison! I have never missed a family vacation, but next year I will not go as Jake and I will go on our Honeymoon! We had a very fun week at the beach! It was very relaxing! This week I am going to post a few pictures with captions under them to recap our week! I hope you enjoy them!

There is just something special about a Aunt/Niece relationship!!!

I could just eat this sweetness up!!!

Talking with our waiter at Jonny Rockets!

Keeping Janessa occupied while we waited for our ticket!

5 years ago today...

2011-08-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

I started dating my future husband at the age of 16!!! I can't believe we have been together for 5 years! I am excited that the dating part of our relationship is almost over as this is our LAST...yes you read that correct...this is our LAST dating anniversary before we get married in just a little over 9 months!!! We did the math the other day and we have been together 60 months and we only have 9 more to go!! I can't wait!

The summer between 5th and 6th grade was when Jody and Sarah Livingston came to our church. At this point there were only around 5 students in the youth group. I remember Jody telling us that we should start praying for our future spouse NOW. I took him seriously but at that age, the only two criteria that I thought were important was for my future husband to be a Christian and a baseball player. So from that summer until my junior year of high school I prayed for a Christian Baseball player and guess what!! I GOT HIM!! :o) The longer Jake and I dated, it was revealed to me how many more important qualities a future husband should have and Jake met every single one! It was not long after Jake and I started dating that I knew he was the one for me. Ironically enough, I was at one of his baseball games and on this particular day it was a double header. He came to see me in between games and gave me a hug. When I looked up at him, under the bill of his hat he had 2 Timothy 2:15 written in permanent marker. Of course I knew this verse WELL as it is the AWANA verse and I just smiled and said to myself, "Yep! He's a keeper!" HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JACOB!

I LOVE YOU!

Meet Mikey and Ava

2011-08-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

I had the best job EVER this summer! For the first four weeks of summer I worked Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm. The mother, Meredith, was taking a class and needed babysitting while she was in Raleigh. After the first four weeks, I worked Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. It was a great schedule! Mikey is 3 and Ava just turned 1 in July. These are very fun ages!

After a day of spending time with these kids I was smitten! They are just so cute and really were well behaved and fun to babysit! We tried to go on a walk each day and this is normally how we went. Mikey in his Ford truck and Ava in her stroller.

Mikey and Ava live in Heritage and this subdivision has awesome walking trails. Our favorite place to walk was around the pond or the lake as Mikey liked to call it. Each time we went, we would take bread to feed the animls. There were turtles and ducks that lived at this pond and the kids loved to see the animals eat the bread!

I had such a fun summer with Mikey and Ava! I was so sad when summer break was over and I had to go back to school! I sure do miss them already and can't wait to get home so I can see them again!

Moped Date

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Jake loves his moped. So much so that he has named it Red Hot Chili Pepper Ninja. He wanted to take me out on it so bad! I was a little skeptical because it had been turning off on him a lot, but I went along with it and we had a great time! We went to Los Tres Magueyes in Rolesville. The funnest part was riding through Rolesville on the Moped!

Putting Helments on
We are ready!

Off we go!

See ya later!

Wordless Wednesday: Queen Janessa

2011-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Visit with Katrine

2011-08-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Katrine lives about 4 hours from the Livingston's and then about 3 and a half hours from my house so it was the perfect mid way stop! Katrine and I were roomates our freshman and sophomore years of college at NGU and then Katrine transferred. Katrine was a great roomate and I miss her very much! I only spent one night with Katrine and her family, but we made the best of it! We started our night off with a yummy dinner that Katrine made and then we headed to the Strawberry Festival that is thrown by her home town of Fort Mill, SC! It was so fun to see all the people there selling things, listening to the bands that were playing, and smelling all the goodness that could be made with strawberries. We decided not to buy anything as Katrine's mom had just bought fresh strawberries from the grocery store the day before. Walking around the festival gave us a lot of time to talk and to catch up! When we left the festival, Katrine showed me around her town. She showed me where she went to school, where she worked during the summers, and many others. It was neat to see all the places that she had talked about while we were rooming together! After that we went back to her house where we had ice cream and strawberries and continued catching up!
Thanks so much Katrine for letting me come and stay with you! I miss you so much but I am so thankful for the time we do get to spend together!

Livingston Visit

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

The past two summers I have made the trip to Georgia the first week of my summer vacation. It is easier for me to go from school because its only about 3 hours then on the way home I break up te trip and stop over at my old roomate, Katrine's house (more on that tomorrow). I love visiting the Livingstons as I miss them so much! I had such a fun visit with them and can't wait to go back! While I as there, it was cinco de mayo so we had mexican for dinner on night, we went to youth group, watched American Idol, cooked (Sarah is an AWESOME cook!), and I spent a bunch of time with the kiddos!! I miss them so much! The high light of my week was when we were at church and I was helping Sarah out by picking up Jack and Lizzy from their classes and as soon as Jack sees me he points to me and says, "Lowin" and then starts running towards me just like the girls used to do. I loved it! I was worried that since they moved away when Jack was so young that he wouldn't love me like the girls did! Well I was wrong and I am so glad I was! I had a wonderful couple of days with the Livingstons!

This is just before the kids went to bed and they wanted me to read them a story (of course they picked the longest books on the shelf! lol Smart kids huh?)

Each visit we have taken pictures with all of the kiddos! This year we did them out on the deck!
We of course had to get one with Sarah and Me!

Thanks so much Jody, Sarah, Emma, Anna, Lizzy, and Jack for letting me come visit!! I miss you guys so very much and I am so glad I got to spend some time with you!

Catch Up!

2011-08-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

This summer went by so fast! I can't believe its already time for school to start back, I'm back in South Carolina, and my dorm room is in order! Classes started on Wednesday and I have made it a goal to start back blogging starting with the first full week of classes (which is Monday!). I have so many pictures to catch all of you up on. I also have A LOT of wedding plans completed that I will share including pictures of where we are going on our HONEYMOON!!! :o) I sure have missed blogging and I can't wait to get back at it!!

Happy Blogging Everyone!

Story Time with Daddy

2011-06-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

You know that point when you think that your brother will never be ready for kids? Then one day he has one and he turns out to be a good daddy?? Well, as Janessa gets older it is just too cute to see my brother and Janessa interact with each other! I had never seen my brother with very many kids. When he would hold a baby he was always awkward and stiff! Then when Janessa came along, it was like overnight he became a PRO!!! There is no doubt that Janessa loves her daddy! Over Father's Day weekend, I captured this super sweet moment between the two of them!!

Ball

2011-06-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

This sweet girl LOVES a ball! It can be any size ball! She can see a basketball hoop and she will say, "Bawl!" or it can be an orange or a watermellon! It doesn't matter the shape or size!! Maybe she will follow in Scott and my daddy's footsteps and play fast pitch softball!!!

Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

Since yesterday was Father's Day, I thought I would do a post about my daddy! I have an awesome dad! Here are a few reasons why!

1. When, my brother, Scott was playing travel baseball, and mom could not go to the tournament with us, I was still able to go. To say that I got "Daddy's Baby Girl Treatment" that is an understatment! He would let me stay up late watching TV, have ice cream and Mt. Dew, he would give me money to go hang out with the moms and other baseball sisters. When my mom went with us, which was usually the case, I didn't get to hold the money and put it in my pocketbook, so when I could I sure did feel like a grown up!

2. Most of you know how much I LOVE Mt. Dew! Well, when Scott was in high school and playing baseball for WFR dad would get me out of school early (yep you read that right!) so we could make it to his away games. Could it get any better that that?? YES (The Mt. Dew has to come in at some point right??)!! After dad had checked me out and we walked out to his truck, he would have already gone by the store and picked up 2 Mt. Dews...one for me and one for him. I must say there is NOTHING better than riding in a Ford truck, windows down, driving to a baseball game, listening to country music with Mt. Dews!!!

3. We have a lazy-boy recliner in our living room that we call "Daddy's Chair" or "Pop's Chair." When he is sitting in his chair, I will go and cuddle up with him. Am I a little old for this?? MAYBE! But I LOVE IT! I will sit in his lap even if he is the only person sitting in the living room and every other place to sit is available! There is just something special about cuddling with my daddy in his chair!!

4. The day that I decided on my wedding dress, my daddy took his lunch break about an hour early to come see me in it at David's Bridal! It ws so neat to see his face when he walked in the shop! I can't wait to see his face on my wedding day!!!

Happy Fathers Day Daddy!

I love you!

Love,
Lucy

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-04-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 52 Birthday Daddy!!! You are the best Daddy in the World!!! I hope you have a wondrful day! I love you!!

21st Birthday Celebration: Part 2

2011-04-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

It just so happens that when Jake and I went to Allen Arms it was the very first time I had ever shot a postol! It was pretty neat!

Here is a picture of Jake and I with our Ear and Eye protection.

Loading the bullets.

Yep I'm Ready!!!

SHOOTING! (I was pretty nervous!!)

See the hole in the bullseye?? I DID THAT! I wasn't very accurate, but I did hit the bullseye once and I have the proof!!! :o) Jake thought this was so neat! For some reason he LOVES it when I get excited about shooting guns (which doesn't happen often!). He likes to tell me all about how to hold the gun in the correct way and how high to hold it when I shoot, etc. My dad and brother were never interested in guns, so this is all pretty new to me! I'm so glad that he enjoyed his birthday present!!

Next we went to Fatz because Jake received a free birthday dinner coupon that he could redeem anytime during the week of his birthday! So we went on Saturday and then watched a redbox movie and then on Wednesday (his actual birthday) we went to Firehouse Subs because he could show his drivers license to prove it was his birthday and get a free sub!!

We had so much fun celebrating his birthday!! I cannot believe we have been dating since we were both 16 and now we are both 21!!! MAN time flies!!!!

21st Birthday Celebration: Part 1

2011-04-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

For Jake's birthday we went to an indoor shooting range here in Greenville called Allen Arms. He was so excited when I told him the idea! He is thinking about buying a pistol and this was a way for him to shoot a few different guns to help him decide which one he wants to buy! We had to buy the ammo and rent the ear/eye protection. For $25 we could shoot any gun in the entire shop! It was super fun!!

Jake attaching the target to the cardboard

Shooting one of the pistols! He shot 4 or 5 pistols all together then it started to get crowded Switching out his gun for another

This was so fun and something we had never done before!

Happy Birthday to my Handsome Fiance!!!

2011-04-13T14:40:00.004-04:00

Today is not just any birthday!! Today is Jacob's 21 Birthday!! So I'm going to name 21 reasons why I love my future husband! :o) 1. I LOVE that he is a Christian and I really look forward to him being the leader of our family. 2. I LOVE that he is so tall! 3. I LOVE that he is very athletic. 4. I LOVE that he drives a truck. 5. I LOVE sitting on his tailgate and having long talks about our future and what its going to be like to be married in 14 months! 6. I LOVE the way he makes me laugh... he can make me belly laugh even if I'm having a bad day and no one else can. 7. I LOVE that he loves his mama! I'v always been told that you can tell how a guy will treat you when you watch how he treats his mama. 8. I LOVE how hard he works to get his school work done. 9. I LOVE that he is a baseball player. 10. I LOVE that he will watch a girly movie with me even when he wants to watch an action movie. 11. I LOVE that he can comfort me when I am having a bad day. 12. I LOVE how kind his heart is!!!! 13. I LOVE that he opens doors and car doors for me (He asked me the other day, "Have you ever touched the doors to the cafe?" haha) 14. I LOVE that he always wants to hold my hand. 15. I LOVE how sharp he looks right after he shaves and cuts his hair. 16. I LOVE that he is so organized and likes things to be clean. 17. I LOVE that he helps me to keep away from Mountain Dews. 18. I LOVE that he is such a great encourager to everyone. 19. I LOVE how much he loves his family. 20. I LOVE the way he looks when he is up at bat or when he does a crow hop and throws a baseball from centerfield to home plate! AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! 21. I LOVE him for being the sweetest, most caring, guy I have ever met!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

I Love you!!

Those 4 Letter Words

2011-04-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

A young couple were married and then embarked on their honeymoon. When they returned, the bride ran to the phone and called her mother, who asked, "How was your honeymoon, dear?" "Oh mama!" she replied, "The honeymoon was so wonderful and romantic!" But then, suddenly she burst out crying and said, "But, mama, as soon as we returned home, he started using the most horrible language. Things I'v never heard before! I mean, all these aweful 4 letter words! You've got to come get me and take me home! Please mama!"

"Darlin, darling," her mother said, "Calm down and tell me what words could be so aweful?" And the daughter cried, "please don't make me tell you, mama! I'm so embarrassed-thery're just too aweful! Just come and get me, PLEASE!"

"Oh, darling, you must tell what has you so upset! Tell me these horrilbe 4 letter words!" Still sobbing, the bride said, "Oh mama! Words like DUST, WASH, IRON, and COOK!

Happy Friday Everyone!!

Yogurt Mountain

2011-04-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Yogurt Mountain is the new frozen yogurt place here in Greenville, SC. It is the closest ice cream shop that we have that is comparable to Goodberries and I must say it gives it a run for its money! The only difference is that you get to fix your ice cream the way you like it with as many toppings you want! The only down side is that it costs $0.45 per ounce. It doesn't seem like a lot but depending on the amount of toppings the price adds up pretty quickly!

If you ever get a chance to go to a Yogurt Mountain don't forget to ask for a sample cup. They let you try some of the different flavors before you make your purchase. Then you get your cup and fill it with frozen yogurt. Then you add the toppings! They have CRAZY flavors from all different kinds of fruit (strawberry, bananas, raspberries, cherries, blueberries, etc) to candy (nerds, gummy/sour worms, pop tarts, rice krispy treats, etc). There is defiently a selection for everyone!

Of course we had to get a picture together the first time we went!

Wordless Wednesday: My Twin for a Day

2011-04-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Walking In Aunt Lucy's Shoes

2011-04-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

When we were getting ready to put Janessa to bed on Friday, she found my flip flops! She was trying to put them on herself, but as you can imagine footie pajamas and flip flops are not a good combination. What is it with little girls and big shoes? I know I used to LOVE to wear my mama's high heels!

Isn't she just the cutest little girl in the whole world?

Is there anything better than being an Aunt?

Weekend Home!

2011-04-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

This weekend was AWESOME! Jake and I decided to go home on Wednesday last week...so it was kind of a "spur of the moment" trip! I'm a huge planner so I normally know before the semester even begins the weekends I will be going home. My parents and I sit down with my planner and write down all the breaks I get from school and the important family things that I want to be home for (birthdays, reunions, etc). I was able to do some fun things that I thought I was going to have to wait until Easter to do! The most exciting was I got to pick up my wedding dress from David's Bridal! It was so fun to have on MY wedding dress!! NO ONE has ever put this dress on except ME and this is the dress that I will walk down the isle in! That was such a great feeling! Janessa spent the night with us on Friday night and I was so excited that she did! She is such a bundle of sweetness and brings our family so much joy! She has become quite the little climber! She thought she was so funny climbing into my laundry basket! The funny part was she was scared to climb out! She is just the sweetest thing! I love her so much!

Wordless Wednesday: I Miss the Livingstons!!

2011-03-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Jenna's Birthday

2011-03-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

(From L to R): Vanesa, Brittany, Manda, Jenna, Me)

On the rainy Saturday afternoon we had this weekend, we decided to celebrate Jenna's birthday at Panera Bread! Jenna has been one of my very best friends since I have been at NGU! We met freshman year and have stayed close for the past 3 years! I love these girls! They are the best!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNA!!!

A Little Laugh on a Monday

2011-03-28T07:00:00.011-04:00

I have mentioned before how my Granny sends me letters every week. Well last week I got her letter along with a sweet note from my Aunt Mac and two funny little stories that most likely came out of my Granny's Sunday School book. I thought I would share them because they are just too cute! So here we go! Enjoy! I hope they help take a little bit of stress off since its Monday! An elderly gentleman with serious hearing problems goes to the doctor who fits him with hearing aids that allow him to hear at 100% for the first time in many years. The elderly man goes back in a month for a check-up. The doctor says, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." To which the gentleman replies, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times! A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote Revelation 4:20 on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunay, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was the message, Genesis 3:10. Reaching for his bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked." Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you have a great week! **At first there was too much space and then I tried to fix it and now blogger won't let me add any space! AHH Can anyone help?**

The Bikini Diet

2011-03-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

I got this information straight from sparkpeople.com! It is so interesting! I am interested in eating healthy, but I'm not always willing to give up ALL sugar or ALL fried foods! I do know that serving sizes and proportions are KEY! This is such a cute way to classify proportion sizes so its easy when you are out to dinner (when restaurants put MULTIPLE portions on your plate).

Tip #1 Start with a 9 inch plate

You may not be suprised to learn that our waistlines have increased, so have the sizes of our plates. Get your plate and measure its diameter with a ruler - DON'T eyeball it! If your plate is bigger than 9 inches, put it back on the shelf and get a new one.

Tip #2 Visualize a Bikini On Your Plate

The bikini top has 2 bra cups that cover 1/4 of the plate. A serving of meat should fit in 1 of the bra cups. Notice that a 10 oz. steak will not fit, but a 3 oz. one will.

Tip #3 Don't Forget the Sunscreen

An 8 oz. bottle of sunscreen is the perfect visual to represent the amount of low fat milk to enjoy with your meal.

Tip #4 Sweeten with Fruit

Picture a tennis ball balancing inside a large seashell. Your fruit selection should be about the size of that tennis ball. You can enjoy your fruit with your meal or save it for a snack later in the day. On occasion you can substitute a dessert in place of the fruit, but the portion should fit into the shell.

Tip #5 Imagine a Tube of Sunscreen Lipbalm

Add this amount of fat to your meal. This could be salad dressing, butter or margarine, sour creme, or mayonaise for a sandwhich.

Tip #6 For Breakfast, Think Bikini Top Only

Enjoy your meat and grain items on the bikini top. Add some lowfat milk the size of your sunscreen bottle, and fruit that fits in your large shell.

Tip #7 The Bikini Body is an Active Body

The Bikini Diet encourages getting 30 minutes of lifestyle activity 5-6 days a week. To get your in the mood, put on your favorite beach music and clean your house, wash the car, garden, walk around campus, and "Twist and Shout" your way to a healtheir you!

Do I do all of these? NO! Would I like to? YES! I am working on my proportion sizes and I'v been working out pretty hard for the past 2 weeks! Not only do I have to get ready for summer, but I have to be ready for engagement pictures, I have to fit in my wedding dress, etc! So whose with me?? Whether you are going to wear a bikini this summer or a one piece we can all practice being more healthy!

What do 2 College Students do...

2011-03-24T07:00:00.002-04:00

When there is not a whole lot to do on campus?

You got it!

We shoot darts at each other (not really)! lol It is very entertaining! We make up our own games! Sometimes we see how many darts we can get to stick on the opposite window...then when we have both figured out the perfect angle to hold the gun and we have accomplished this game we make up another! The next game we played was to see who could get all the darts to stick on the windshield (this may not seem hard but it is slanted so we had to hold the gun a specific way)...then when we both conquered that task we moved on to another game! This is so much fun! It is such a great way for Jake and I to spend time together and not spend any money! :o)

You may be wondering where the dart gun came from and I would have to say that I have NO idea! lol When we came back from Christmas break it was in the back seat of his truck! Oh the joys of being a college student!

Wordless Wednesday: We Love Firehouse Sub!

2011-03-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

One of my Favorite Places

2011-03-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

A warm day last week I suprised Jake with Chick-fil-a which included one of his favorite treats a cookies and creme milkshake! It was such a beautiful day outside, we decided to have a picnic. We wanted to have some alone time so we really didn't want to sit in the middle of campus where everyone would be walking by, so we sat accross the street from campus in one of my favorite places EVER! On the tailgate of his truck! Some of you may not know this, but when Jake and I first started dating (over 4 and a half years ago), he had a white Chevy Z71. I L.O.V.E.D this truck! We had many great conversations on the tailgate of this truck! This is where we would sit when it was warm outside and he would come see me after school or at my lunch break! I was very sad when he sold it. Although I was sad to see the truck go, I really enjoyed his car! The only downside to the car was that there was NO tailgate! Well...now Jake has sold his car and has purchased another Chevy Z71, but this time its red! I was very happy that the weather was warm enough to enjoy sitting on the tailgate. Our fun picnic also included throwing a baseball and football and just spending some great time together! I love my future husband so very much! June 9, 2012 could not get here fast enough! :o)

To Be a Bride

2011-03-21T07:00:00.002-04:00

**I'm so sorry I have been away from my blog for so long! I have been really busy! I have had so much school work and his semester is going by so fast!**
As I was doing my Beth Moore bible study this weekend, one of the days lessons was titled "To be a Bride". As you can imagine I was very excited to do this days lesson! I couldn't wait to see what Beth Moore was going to teach us. It was mostly about how we are the Bride of Christ, but she tied in some wonderful things about being a bride that I just thought were so neat and I just wanted to share them.

(This is directly from the study)

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7

Notice the qualifier of the bride's actions: "She has made herself ready." Past tense. We cannot make ourselves ready the moment we see Christ any more than a woman can be prepared to meet her groom at the altar with three minutes notice. If we belong to Christ, we'll still see Him, whether or not we've prepared ourselves to be fitting brides, but I want to be ready. Don't you? I don't want to be caught with spiritual curlers in my hair!

When I (Beth Moore) was preparing for my wedding, I often thought about being a wife. Not just any wife. Keith's wife. Mind you, we don't just get married. We get married to a man! A wedding is not about a lovely ceremony. It's about a long-term relationship. I could not think about being married without thinking about Keith....He was the cutest thing I had ever seen and when he smiled, my heart melted.

The same is true as we prepare to be eternal brides. We won't just be part of a beautiful ceremony. We will be the bride of Christ. God's Word doesn't imply that we are to make ourselves ready for the wedding, but for the Groom. Thus, we cannot make ourselves ready without thinking all about Him -- meditating on our similarities (which hopefully are multilying), thinking about our differences, and how we might adjust-- simply thinking about how wonderful He is.

As you can imagine I totally could relate to everything she was saying! As Jake and I are planning our wedding, we are constantly talking about how great it is going to be to come home to each other every night, spend all of Saturdays and Sundays together and not seperated because guys are not allowed in girls dorms and girls are not allowed in guys dorms! I have had so many people tell me to not just prepare for the wedding, but also for the life after! These few paragraphs hit home with me as we have started to make wedding plans and its very obvious that I could not be ready in three minutes to meet Jake at the altar! I also cannot sit around and be caught with spiritual curlers in my hair!

On a side note...this bible study has been wonderful! This is my first Beth Moore bible study and I am really enjoying it! She is so funny! If you get a chance to do Breaking Free I really encourage you do do it!

Thirty One Party

2011-02-02T08:03:00.001-05:00

This Saturday I had a Thirty One Party! It was so much fun! We had a few of my girlfriends over at my dorm and we had goodies and fun girl talk! I have been to many parties like Mary Kay, Pampered Chief, etc. but I had never hosted one of my own! My friend Amber is a Thirty One Consultant and when I found that out I knew I wanted to have a party! They have many cute items and depending on how much merchandise was sold at my party, I can get free stuff!

My party is open online until this Saturday, February 5th, and we will close the party at 11:00 am! If you are interested in purchasing from my party here is the link for the NEW Spring & Summer 2011 catalog (if the link does not work, you can also view the items by clicking on place an order and scrolling through each item)! This new issue started February 1st, so you can be the first to receive the new patterns and totes from this issue! My goal is to sell around $500 worth of merchandise and I am about half way there! If you can help me reach my goal that would be great!

The promotion for February is if you spend $31, you will receive 31% off your next item purchased! This is a great deal if you want to buy an item and then buy a gift for someone else!

If you do decide to purchase something, your items will arrive in two and a half to three weeks! I will be home for spring break around that time so I can bring them home with me and distribute them at church (for all Stony Hill People) OR you can have your items sent directly to your house for additional charge of $4.00 (Stony Hill and others). It is up to you!

Here are the instructions for ordering online:

1. Go to www.mythirtyone.com/amberlynnring

2. Click Place an Order

3. Click on the picture of the lady sitting on the bench

4. Click SHOP NOW beside my (Lauren Faison) party

5. On the next page click SHOP NOW

6. Place your order

**If you order $31 dollars worth of product and want to get your next item for 31% off, the online store will not show this on your pending order. Amber and I will have to go in and calculate the discounted price by hand on Saturday! The pending price will NOT be charged to your credit card. On Saturday, after we have calculated the new total we will e-mail you the correct balance and when Amber closes the party, THEN the amount will be charged to your credit card! (Just an FYI! I didn't want you to worry)**

If you have any questions, you can either e-mail me at lefaison@ngu.edu or you can leave a comment and I will answer you as soon as I can! (I have class today from 9:00 am - 2:15 pm)

Thanks everyone!

Fix Your Hands!

2011-02-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Do you see those sweet little hands folded? Before each meal, we ask Janessa if she is hungary. She will either say "Bopee" (Bottle) or "MMMMM". Before we eat we always say the blessing and we tell Janessa to "Fix your Hands so we can pray!" At first we had to hold her hands together and she would sometimes get mad and shake her hands, but not anymore! She folds her little hands together and will hold them there until the prayer is over. She is such a sweet baby! I miss her so much while I am at school!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

2011-01-31T07:38:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to my awesome future sister in law!

Happy Birthday to you!!

I hope you have a wonderful day Amanda!

Princess Crowns!

2011-01-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

For Christmas, Ashlyn and Aydia received princess crowns! They got to decorate them with stickers. There was a catch through...they had to follow the directions and the stickers had to go on the correct number. So for about an hour, we sat and decorated these crowns. It was so funny how different these two were with putting the stickers on. Ashlyn just wanted to be finished so some of her stickers were crooked, but she did not care. Aydia on the other hand had to have her stickers lined up and in the perfect spot before moving onto another. They are so sweet and had so much fun making their princess crowns!

Working hard on the princess crowns!

For Christmas, I gave Ashlyn and Aydia glitter lamps! They wanted their picture taken with their princess crowns and their glitter lamps!
Princess Ashlyn

Princess Aydia

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Breaking Free & Happy Birthday Emma!

2011-01-27T07:00:00.004-05:00

Last night I started this bible study with a few girls at school! I am very excited about doing a Beth Moore biblestudy because I have never done one before, but all I have heard are good things about all of her studies! I am excited to get to know some of the girls on campus better as well. I know most of the girls that are going to be in this small group, but there are 1 or 2 that I have had classes with but I haven't really gotten to know them as well as some of the other girls! I'll have to let you know how it goes! :0)

Happy Birthday Emma Marie Livingston!!!

I CANNOT believe you are 8 years old!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day! I love and miss you so very much!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Pops and His Girls!

2011-01-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

She Loves Her Tiger!

2011-01-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

Janessa was given many hand-me-downs from my cousin Keith's little girl, Kelli. One of them was this little tiger seat. Janessa loves a pillow and he loves to lay her head down on it and snuggle for just a second (she is not a very cuddly baby!). Since she has received this sweet little tiger as soon as she spots it she walks over to it and loves it! It is too precious!

Loving the Tiger!
Being an aunt is one of the best blessing in the whole world! I just love it!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Christmas was very fun this year as Janessa was a year old and could interact with everyone! Our Christmas routine was the same as it is every year, but when little ones are thrown in the mix it always seems more fun! Everyone was excited to see how much Ashlyn, Aydia, and Janessa had grown! Christmas is always one of my favorite times of year! I love getting together with family!

Here we are decorating Granny's tree!

Granny with her Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren

Janessa's Sweet little Christmas Outfit!
Faison Christmas Tree!

MIA

2011-01-21T00:07:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!!! I am so sorry I have been MIA for so long!! Christmas break was crazy busy but don't worry I have plenty of pictures to catch everyone up on the things my family did during the month of December!! I will start posting again on MONDAY!!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Exams are...

2010-12-06T11:02:00.001-05:00

OVER!!!!

YAY!! Happy Christmas Break to me!! :0) I will be heading home TOMORROW!! Its going to be so great to be home!! I will get back to blogging asap! But until then...Happy Monday!!

Blog Time Out!

2010-11-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Bloggy Friends!! We are in the last few weeks here at NGU which means it is going to be a CRAZY next few weeks. Here is my schedule...

We have our LAST full week of classes this week (Monday 11/15 - Friday 11/19)
Birthday Weekend (Saturday 11/20-Sunday 11/ 21)
Classes on Monday 11/22 and Tuesday 11/ 23
Thanksgiving Break starts after our last class on Tuesday (11/23) and is over Sunday (11/28)
Final exams start that next Friday (12/3)
Christmas Break Starts after the last exam (My last exam is 12/6)

As you can see I have less than a month before I am home for Christmas Break!! I am putting my Blog on hold so I can make sure I get all my work completed! I will miss you Bloggy friends!!

Let me put a plug in for my Christmas Break...I have already had a few moms ask me to baby sit and I already have a few dates on the calendar. If I babysat for you while I was home for the summer and you need/want me over Christmas Break...I come home on December 6th! I can babysit on a weekly basis or you can call me as you need me! I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm coming home and you can call, text, or facebook me! :0) See you guys soon!!

Today Is....

2010-11-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

MY 200th POST!!

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for almost a 2 years and I have posted 200 blogs! I really enjoy blogging and reading others blogs as well! Have a great weekend everyone!

Janessa's Birthday!

2010-11-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday, after the Veteran's Memorial Service at church, everyone came back to our house for Janessa's Birthday Party! We had cake, ice cream, chips, and many different kinds of drinks! It was a lot of fun to celebrate my sweet niece's birthday! Once again, I am so glad that I was able to go home for the weekend and spend time with my family as we celebrated some very special birthdays!

Here is Janessa's Cake! (I have pictures of her playing in a piece of it but the pictures are on my dad's camera! I will post those pictures once he e-mails them to me!)

Here is our Big Birthday Girl with her ONE candle! She would not smile for the camera no matter who was talking to her and trying to get her to smile! She is just the sweetest baby in the whole world and I love her very much! Many people came to her party and we had the best time! She had fun opening presents and she enjoyed the toys that "Made a Fuss" the best! She is just so precious!

Janessa,

I cannot believe a year has already gone by! I miss you so much while I am at school and I love coming home and visiting with you! You are such a bundle of joy and you always bring a smile to my face everytime I am around you! You are the most precious little girl and I love you so very much! I hope you had a great birthday and enjoyed playing in your cake! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! I love you!

Aunt Lucy

Granny's Party!

2010-11-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, we celebrated Granny's Birthday! She would not let me take many pictures so this is the best one I have to document her birthday! I had to take it while she was not looking and distracted by her presents! We had a great time celebrating her birthday! My mom made a very yummy supper which I brought back left overs of! We had pork chops, potato salad, cole slaw, develed eggs, and rolls! For dessert, we had Granny's favorite Chocolate Chess Pie! I love going home and having a home cooked meal and what better than spending time with family while eating!

Granny,

I hope you had a great birthday! I am so glad I was able to come home for the weekend to spend time with you and celebrate your special day! You are the best granny in the whole world and I love you so very much! I miss you so much while I am at school and I cannot wait until Christmas break to have me and you time!! I love you Granny!

Love,

Lauren

Manda's Party!

2010-11-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 5, was my roomates birthday! We had a suprise party for her on Thursday night! We had such a great time! She had no idea!!

We had a mexican dinner with tacos, chips and dip, fiesta dip, and then for dessert, the cake was funfetti! We had so much fun planning and then suprising Manda with her party!

Here is the birthday girl blowing out her 21 candles!

The Birthday Girl with her princess crown
Manda and Vanessa (my partner in this whole suprise planning process!)

The group who came to celebrate!

Funny Picture!!

Happy Birthday Manda! Vanessa and I had a great time planning your brithday party and we are so exctied that you were very suprised!

Happy Birthday Too..

2010-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Granny (75) and Janessa(1)!

I love them both so very much! They have both blessed my life in so many ways! I am so glad I was able to go home this weekend and spend time with them for their birthday's!

**I have celebrated a few birthdays this weekend! I will post about all of them this week!**

It has a "G" On It!!

2010-11-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

My sweet friend Bree (Jake's roomate's girlfriend) came to visit last weekend and brought Jake and I an engagement present! It is too cute! It is a picnic basket! She also gave us a blanket that matches that is plastic on one side and fleece on the other so when we go for a picnic, the blanket will not pick up grass and dirt! It was so thoughtful of her to give us an engagement present! I was excited about the present, but most of all I was even more excited that there is a "G" on it! This is the first item that I have with a "G". Since my last name will become Goetze in just a short time this made me very happy! Maybe soon Jake and I will go on a picnic!

Open Dorms (2010): Part 4

2010-11-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

I don't know if all of you have noticed the beautiful flowers in all the posts this week but they were a special treat from Jake! He went and bought them while I was in class and he had a break so he could suprise me on Friday night! He is so sweet and thoughtful! Aren't they just BEAUTIFUL?? Roses were the perfect centerpiece for our special dinner and night!

Open Dorms (2010): Part 3

2010-11-03T07:00:00.001-04:00

Open Dorm was from 6:00-10:00 so after we ate dinner, we had some time to just hang out! It was so fun! We played cards and watched a movie. I love spending time with Jacob! It was nice not to have to spend any money (except for on dinner). One of the ONLY downsides to the boys not being allowed in the dorms is if we want to spend time together we have to go out and spend money. Open dorms is always so much fun because we can play cards or watch a movie we already have and it is free! We laughed and joked and just had the best time!

Manda (my roomate) and her boyfriend, Ben, came and joined us for the movie. We chose to watch Hitch! This is such a funny movie! We got to watch a great movie with great friends!
Here is a picture of us at the end of the night! Open dorms is defiently something we look forward to twice a year!

Open Dorms (2010): Part 2

2010-11-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

There is an ongoing joke at my house that I cannot cook. The truth is...I'v never really been interested in cooking supper but I love baking cookies, muffins, etc. This is the first time that I have ever cooked for Jake from start to finish with no help...so the pressure was ON! Wednesday night we went to Bi-Lo and I let Jake decide what he wanted for dinner on Friday. He decided on Tortellini. I was sooo very happy that he did because it was so easy to cook! First I cooked the Tortellini and warmed up the sauce. Next, I mixed the Tortellini and the sauce together then put it in a glass dish and layered it with Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheeses and then put the dish in the oven to melt all the cheese. It was very yummy!
The rest of our dinner consisted of a garden salad, sweet tea, and Sister Schubert's dinner yeast rolls. I was very excited about how smooth the night went! I tried to time everything just right so the Tortellini and the bread would be finished cooking around 5:55 pm so that I could take everything out of the oven and turn the oven off before we had to check Jake in at 6:00. Of course I was running about 5 minutes late but thats ok! Everything turned out PERFECT!

Below is a picture of me setting our table!

Finished product! Everything was set and we were ready to eat!
After dinner, we had SaraLee cheesecake for dessert with strawberry topping!

Can I just say that the entire time I was cooking all I could think about was how I cannot wait for Jake and I to get married! I enjoyed cooking for him so much!

Open Dorms (2010): Part 1

2010-11-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

As a halloween alternative, all the girls dorms have to decorate for a given theme. We MUST decorate if we want boys to come in the dorms. Also, the professors bring their kids trick-or-treating through all the dorms (its a halloween alternative in the sense that we cannot decorate with ghosts or other scary stuff, but kids still come and get candy). In the past, we have decorated for the themes of children's books and board games. This year, each dorm chose a country and had fun decorating their section of the dorm. Our dorm chose FRANCE!
So...Manda and I chose to do...
Below is what our section of the dorm looked like! We had a starting and finish line, we borrowed a bike from one of my friends, and we used cut paper. I must say it was pretty creative and cheap!

We also researched what road signs looked like in France and tried to make some that looked as close to the real ones as possible!

Overall it was pretty fun and well worth it to have Jake come in my dorm!

Tune in tomorrow to see what Jake and I had for dinner!

Open Dorm!

2010-10-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

Tonight is open dorm! Boys are only allowed in the dorms twice a year (VERY supervised of course). This is the first night and the next is the Friday before Valentines Day! I am very excited that Jake gets to come in a see my dorm! I will hopefully post pictures next week! Have a great weekend everyone!

My Dad's Pet Zebra

2010-10-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Since Scott and Courtney got married and Ashlyn and Aydia have came into our lives, my dad jokes around about having a pet zebra. For example, if my dad is not at home when the girls arrive at our house, they will not ask us where he is, but they will wait until he gets home to ask him. They will say something like, "Pops where were you?" and he will respond "I was feeding my Zebra!" or something like that! It is too funny because then the girls will look at my mom or myself and say "He doesn't have a Zebra...Does he?" lol it is too funny! It has become a family joke around our house. Mom even started buying Little Debbie Zebra Cakes and this will be Ashlyn and Aydia's snack of choice on a regular occasion because thats what dad told them that is what the Zebra eats! The girls were Zebra's for halloween last year and could not WAIT to show Pops their costumes! They are soo funny! Eventhough they KNOW that my dad does not have a real Zebra it is fun to pretend!

Wordless Wednesday: I HAVE A ROAD IN SC!

2010-10-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Guess Who Came for a Visit???

2010-10-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

KATRINE!

On Thursday night, October 21,2010, Katrine and her sister traveled all the way from Indiana Weslyan University back to South Carolina for their fall break and they stopped at NGU for a visit! I was so excited to see Katrine! I miss her very much, but I know she is following the Lord's call on her life to pursue a major in graphic design which is not offered at NGU. When she got here, we stayed up late talking and just catching up. We used to do this all the time when we were roomates. It was not unusual for us to have to MAKE ourselves be quiet and go to bed. We could talk for hours and hours! Katrine is such a great girl and she was a wonderful roomate! Although I miss her very much I treasure the short time we spent together last week and I can't wait for her to come back and visit again!

After Graduation...

2010-10-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of things I cannot wait to have/ do and most of them will take place after I Graduate from NGU

1. GET MARRIED!!! Jake and I have been talking about marriage for a very long time and now it is SOOO close to time! I cannot wait until it is my day to marry my best friend!

2. MOVE HOME!!! Being so far away from home while in school has made me miss home soo much!

3. Get a puppy: Since Bonz died I have wanted to puppy really, really bad. Hopefully after Jake and I get married we will get a puppy (we will see!)

4. Have a house/appartment/ town home! I cannot wait to decorate a house! When we go to Wal-mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc I always go and look at the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. things to decorate with. I think it is so fun!

5. Learn to Cook: Although I know how to make a few things, I am really looking forward to cooking for Jacob.

6. Getting a Job: I have never had a job outside of babysitting and I am excited to have a consistant paying job

These are just a few things that I am really looking forward to doing after I graduate. We will see if all of these things stay the same once the time actually comes! :0)

Baseball Scrimmage Games

2010-10-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Our NGU Baseball Team just finished up their fall baseball practices as a team. They ended the fall by have a Red and Black Series. There were five games (Monday-Friday) the week before we left for fall break. The deal is that whoever wins the Red and Black Series has to pay for one player on the other team's dinner at Pizza Inn and has to clean the weight room every day for the rest of the semester. Going into Friday's game, the series was tied 2-2. The last game was SOO intense! The Black team pulled out the win! I love fall scrimmage games! It helps me to get to know some of the new players who have been recruited for the new school year! Now that the fall practices are over, the team will go back to working out in groups (outfield groups, infield groups, pitchers, etc.). Oh how I look forward to baseball season!!! COME ON FEBRUARY!!! :0)

Edwards Road Baptist Church

2010-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Edwards Road Baptist Church is our new Church home away from home. Jake and I have been going to this church since the spring of last school year and we really enjoy the services. The music is more contemporary than Stony Hill and I like it. The church is pretty large. I'm not sure how many members there actually are but on a regular Sunday Morning there are about 1,283 people at church. This includes worship, children's worship, BFGs (I'm not sure what this is...maybe something like Sunday School), and Nursery. There is a great mix of ages who attend each sunday morning. There is a college service that is offered which is seperate from the main service but Jake and I always choose to go to the main service. I like being in church with people of all ages! It makes it feel more like home. If you can imagine the Senior Pastor at ERBC, Aaron Rayburn, reminds me of Jamie Dew and Paul Reid. He has a very similar preaching style to Jamie but acts and talks like Paul! I am glad that Jake and I finally found a church that we both enjoy. Church hunting is no fun and I am so glad that we have finally found a church that we can call home while we are at NGU!

Wordless Wednesday: Oh How I Love These Girls!

2010-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

New Baseball Attire

2010-10-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is my third year at NGU and this is my first NGU Baseball shirt that I have ever bought. I have never really liked any of the shirts as they are usually gray and black or something else that looks like a boy. I bought this shirt just last week and I cannot wait until I get to wear it to the baseball games. I'm sure I will wear it some this fall as I go and watch some of the fall scrimmage games! Oh how I love watching baseball games! :0)

Suprise Date Night

2010-10-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

All week, Jake talked about planning our date night this past Friday night. He would not tell me where we were going or what we would be doing. We went to Ceasars Head State Park. It is located about 35 minutes from campus and it has a beautiful view.
We had to wait for Jake to get out of practice before we could leave, so it was a little darker than we would have hoped, but it was still so much fun. We were able to see the sunset and as you can see in the pictures below there was a very faint orangish and a pink/purple color behind the mountains! It was so Beautiful!

Lucky for us there was a sweet couple there when we got there who took our picture! This was such a special night. Jake and I took a picnic. Our food consisted of egg salad, chicken salad, Ritz crackers, grapes, chocolate chip cookies, mountain dew, and hershey kisses. hmmm it was delishous! We had our picnic on a big rock and we had a wonderful view of the mountains.

When the sun went down it started to get very cold. It got down to about 57 degrees while we were up in the mountains. Thankfully we had taken a few blankets and we were pretty comfortable. Once the other couple left, we were up there by ourselves and we used this opportunity to catch up with each other. Oh how I enjoyed this special time. We talked about so much stuff! We talked about how God was working in our lives, our wedding day, what we thought marriage life was going to be like, Christmas Break.... we talked for about 2 hours! We stayed until the park closed and the park ranger had to tell us they were about to close! (Opps!) We had the best time! I am so glad that Jake planned this special night! He is such a wonderful fiance! :0)

NGU 5K

2010-10-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday (9/25/10) my roomate and I participated in a 5K at school. This is not the way a normally spend my Saturday mornings as I'm not much of a runner and it is about 3.2 miles long. My professors offered extra credit for anyone who did the race. My roomate agreed to walk with me and we enjoyed ourselves so much! We spent this time talking about EVERYTHING! It was so much fun spending time with my roomate getting to know her even better and exercising! I have been trying to do better since I have been at school and this was a great way to do it!

Here is a picture of one of my friends Kaycee and I before the race. We realized that I was 71 and she was 72! We are not sure how they decided what numbers we were but we thought it was pretty neat!

Blueberry Muffins

2010-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Another one of my favorite things to make since I have been at school with a kitchen is "wet" blueberry muffins. We call them "wet" at my house because we had a cup of frozen or fresh blueberries to the muffin mix which makes them very moist. I have gotten to where I do not like blueberry muffins unless they have big juicy blueberries in them! My roomate loves it when I make muffins! If you make muffins and use the mix from the grocery store you should try adding a cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to the mix and taste for yourself! YUMMY!!

Wordless Wednesday: The Future Mr. and Mrs. Jacob William Goetze

2010-09-29T07:00:00.000-04:00