Engagement Pictures

Brittany Grater (who happens to also be in my wedding!! Yes, she's the best) did our engagement pictures.

I LOVE THEM!

This will just be a brief preview of them.

I love them all, but I'll just put a few of my favorites here.

Enjoy!

6 weeks.

Well, we have 6 weeks until the wedding! Hard to believe it's so close.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! Four of my good friends got engaged! It makes me so happy to see the Lord uniting his followers in marriage. THey have a long road ahead until the wedding, but it is a fun, exciting road. They will learn a lot about themselves in the next few months, and about others. They will also learn a lot about the Lord's will for their lives.
This time of engagement has been good; I've learned so much. So many people have been a part of it to better prepare me and Jared for marriage. I believe the Lord is preparing us too. Satan has tried hard to deter me from the Lord during this, but you know, that's almost encouraging. It goes to show that we are in the Lord's will because Satan is trying so hard to sway us, to make things more difficult, to take the glory from God, and to make us forget why we are doing all this anyway. The Lord is so good. He is faithful always; even when we are not. So to my newly engaged friends (who may or may not read this), " press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phillipians 3:14).

Satan has worked hard to secularize weddings, and he has done a darn good job at it. Let us praise the Lord, and plead for the Lord to maintain the sacredness of marriage within his people that we may be a picture of the gospel to the lost around us.

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding

"It is most important habitually to contemplate our work in its proper character as a “work of faith.” As such, it can only be sustained by the active and persevering exercise of this principle. This is what makes it a means of grace to our own souls, as well as a grand medium of exalting our Divine Master. It is faith that enlivens our work with perpetual cheerfulness. It commits every part of it to God, in the hope, that even mistakes shall be overruled for his glory; and thus relieves us from an oppressive anxiety, often attendant upon a deep sense of our responsibility. The shortest way to peace will be found in casting ourselves upon God for daily pardon of deficiencies and supplies of grace, without looking too eagerly for present fruit." -Charles Bridges

That is a daily struggle, to do everything for the glory of God. It's so humbling to remember that I accomplish nothing on my own; everything is accomplished by and through the grace found in Christ. I pray that I will live in remembrance of that truth. Especially in these next few months with so much on my plate.

Well, the wedding is coming along quite nicely. I will fill in the gaps:

1. I ordered invitations from Paper Affair. They are beautiful! I absolutely love them. They are sitting in a box in the dining room right now. They will be mailed by the end of this month(promise).
2. I had my first shower!! It was so much fun. It was a Pampered Chef shower. A friend of my mom did a cooking show for us. I enjoyed it dearly. I got lots of new things and I cannot wait til they start arriving!
3. I ordered my dishes. My grandparents wanted to buy my dishes for me, so they sent money with my mom. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond and I found the ones I love!. They were not what I had originally thought I would like, but I fell in love when I saw them.
4. I randomly found the ties for the groomsmen at JCPennys the other day. THey are green and were only $15! Yay for sales.
5. I got my dressed altered last week. It went well. I am on the hunt for a slip right now though. The one at David's Bridal did not quite work. I'm probably going to have to order it online.
6. I ordered my Thank You notes from work a couple days ago. They should be in shortly. I think they are super cute.
7. I am on the desperate hunt for shoes right now. It's deeming much harder than I had anticipated. But shoes will be found! And they will not cost me a fortune either.
8. We have a DJ.
9. I am working on flowers as we speak.
10. I got my cake ideas together last night and will give them to the friend who is making it.
11. We got our playlist for the wedding finished.
12. We, as in my mother, Anna (sister-in-law), and myself, are going to the venue in a couple weeks to finalize all the tables and the setup.
13. I'm waiting on my Bridesmaids to let me know what they are wearing so I can get them some cute things:)

And I think that is it.....or at least all I can think of a the moment.

Now, that was just wedding. School is really kicking in and we gotta find a place to live! I know the Lord will provide. He is always good to give us what we need. Praise Him for that.

For Zion's sake

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

unti her righteousness goes forth as brightness

and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see yoru righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

But you shall be called My Delight is in Her,

And your land Married;

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons mary you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you."

Isaiah 162:1-5

I came to this chapter in my reading plan recently. It's so beautiful. After chapters and chapters of foretelling of the destruction of Israel, he says this. The Lord delights in us and rejoices over us like a bridegroom to his bride. After the idolatry we commit and the prostitution of ourselves to those other than our Husband, the Lord, he still rejoices in us. Why? That is the question. How can anybody, let alone God, love us that much? It's just something I've been contemplating lately: the enormous and unfailing love of God.

A NOT so simple Goal

Ok so I thought I picked simple goals....that's a lie. I tried really really hard but I just can't think simply. I always think big and accomplishing (if that makes sense). So needless to say I haven't accomplished much. I DID buy some cute little doodads to start making jewelry though!! That's a start right? I'd say so.

I also started school today. booooo. It actually wasn't terrible. I was reminded that I really do deep down inside have a fondness of school. I like learning new things. It's just the whole thousands of dollars is weighing on my shoulders as I strive to do well in a class. I have to do well; I paid for it. Anyway, I had my Romanticism class today. Kinda boring but I think it will be interesting. I get to read some classics, i.e. Pride & Prejudice and Frankenstein! I won't be that exclamatory when I'm actually reading them though.

I will be at school at EIGHT IN THE MORNING!!!! I know I"m insane. I will take on 280 8 o'clock traffic head on! I will conquer it too. Hopefully. Then I will work and take on TWO english classes back to back until 8pm tomorrow night. Pray for me. Pray for Jared (Joke).

Anyway, Save the Dates are out. Everyone didn't get one because we only got 100. Everyone will get invitations though ( well everyone who is invited, that is). I will be ordering those within the next week or so. That will be another adventure. I work on everyone else's invitations day in and day out, but now I get to work on my own!! It will be fun, but a little intimidating too. I mean they have to look good; it's my job. It'll be interesting!

Well, we're off to Macon this weekend. It shall be the beginning of many Adrienne-Jared-Macon Adventures over the next 4 months. I think it will be fun. This post was supposed to just be about my inability of accomplishing 4 goals...not so much.

4 Simple Goals

I ran across this post in my reader from A Beautiful Mess and thought it was a cute idea. I think I will do it. It will be a fun thing to do that is not wholly wedding-oriented. And hopefully I'll get some things done that I want to do.

So here are my goals:
1. exercise at least 3 days a week This is not meant to be hard on me; just something to motivate me a little more because I do want to be healthy 2. make handmade jewelry for each of my bridesmaids I know this is wedding but it's something I really would like to do and I would also like to get into jewelry making since I love jewelry so much:) 3. write a letter of some sorts each week This one is my favorite because I LOVE STATIONERY! 4. be able to fit into a pair of wide-leg jeans I have I have had these jeans for quite a while and have been able to wear them on and off. They kind of fit weird but they are absolutely adorable, so I'd love for this to happen:)

Well, there they are. I suppose I'll be posting on how it is going over the next few months!

The days are flying by...

Well, it''s official. I'm terrible at blogging. I'm good at reading blogs but terrible at writing them. Maybe now that I'm out of school for a while I'll actually keep up with this. It's been a month since my previous blog so now I am 5 months to a new life.

Wedding plans are moving swiftly. Everything hasn't snowballed yet, but I can feel things starting to pile up. I got the majority of the Save the Dates out a couple days ago. We still have a few more to do; we're just waiting on addresses. I will be ordering the invitations in the next week or so (this is going to be my favorite part). Then, I think it will be mostly details from there. We have decided on dessert for the reception. I think it will be fabulous! And.... the best part of the ENTIRE thing---I will be with my sweet man. finally.

This summer has been wonderful. It has had its ups and downs, but as a whole it has been a great summer. I've never been happier than when I am with Jared and just spending time with him. Even if we aren't even close to one another, just knowing he is close is enough after almost 2 years of him being really far away. I wouldn't change the long distance, but it has definitely made being with him so much sweeter. The Lord is good. He knows what He is doing. It's such a peace to know He has it all under control.

I can't promise more soon because I don't have a very good track record for that, but I'm going to try real hard!