Twenty-Three and Blessed

Today I am officially twenty-three. The celebration started this weekend when family was all together. Eric, Linds, V, and my cousins were all here. Since my birthday is the 1st and hers is the 3rd we celebrated together!  

My parents got me my mixer. Wow. Being excited about this must mean I am getting old! :)

Eric and Linds got me some plates and tervis tumblers with a K on them....I'm excited to be adding a K to my monogram! 

Brett always asks me...."Does everything have to be monogrammed?" My response....."Yes!" 

Today I woke up and soon after Brett came over with Chick-Fil-A, flowers, and a present.

He got me my cake stand from my china!

We had a fun day and night! It is always good to be with family...

Sam showing us some tricks...

Pudge....

Uh oh...trick and a fail...

Ouch..

Brett, Palmer, and I...

Thanks for the platter Mangs!! I LOVE it!

Love you Mangs!

All in all....a great day! Cannot believe it was my last one as a Blackman! 

I am thinking my twenty third year will be the best one yet! 

he & she (july 2011)

:.. he and she ..:

He spent some time at home

She has slacked on blogging with a once a week post...

They have just about finished registering

He spent two weeks in Birmingham becoming driver's ed certified

She missed him and is glad that he is back home

She did get a lot of wedding planning done while he was gone...

He is enjoying his last few days of freedom before "big boy world" kicks in

They are getting more and more excited about becoming a family in a few months...

They truly are so thankful to see how the Lord is working out details in His perfect timing

Even when they don't understand :) 

Wonderful Wedding Updates

Well, we are 106 days away from the day that we will say, "I do." There are days when I feel like the time is dragging along and then other times where I blink and the countdown has drastically decreased. Thankfully, it has gone more quickly than I would have thought. I am so prone to be discontent but by His grace, I have found that I have been more busy and my mind hasn't been on the countdown. I want to enjoy this process of planning. God has orchestrated this time of seven and a half months for me to plan and I don't want to waste it or wish it away. 

But now, an update.....plans are moving right along. Camp Grace is where we two will become one and then party after we do so! Our photographer will be Alisa Lynn. We now have a florist and I have met with some close friends about the more specifics of our decor. This is definitely going to be more of a DIY event. The girls dresses are being made and are a pretty blue color. They will have some brighter flowers that will hopefully add some pops of color on that day. The only other big vendors we haven't booked (but are on the verge of booking) are our DJ and our videographer. 

The big to-do the past couple of weeks has been deciding on who will make our cake so naturally, my mom, matron-of-honor, and I ventured out to three different cakes shops to taste some cake. Here are some photos of the cake tasting. (sorry for the poor quality....just brought the point and shoot)

Matron of Honor is pumped about cake tasting....

Some places rolled out the red carpet for us.......

Some didn't......

Not impressed....uh oh...

Third and final.....

Sent us home with three different mini cakes!! Very impressed...haha

Mangs loved it...

Yum...we have a winner!

Even Pudge approved...

So...Cakes By Judi is what you will be tasting on November 12th and I don't believe you will be disappointed! 

This is happening people! Only about 3ish months left until I am Mrs. Kittrell!!

And after two weeks.....he comes home today!! EEK!! So excited!! 

Have a fun weekend folks!

What You May Not Know.....

Well, my sweet fiance is out of town. He is in Birmingham and has been since last Sunday. I know that in reality 2 weeks apart is not long but, I miss that boy! Thankfully, I will see him on Friday but I felt that it was appropriate for me to do a little post in his honor. So...without further adieu....

Here are some things you may or may not know about Brett....

1. His first name is Joel and I happen to love that.

2. Brett is funny. Very funny. No one can make me laugh like him.

3. Brett knows just about any and everything about sports. He can name people who played and coached long before he was born. He loves to play them and loves to watch them. It's a love/hate thing for me with how much he loves sports.

4. He is so smart. That boy  knows a little something about everything it seems. I am thankful for this because I know that he is so wise and loves to read and learn about anything!

5. Brett is a servant and works incredibly hard. He is willing to do just about anything for anyone.

6. Brett has never met a stranger. Ever. He can be found making friends with walls.... :) haha. jk. But seriously....he wants to be your friend too. No lie.

So....with that said... You should probably get to know him because he is basically awesome.

Oh....and I happen to be marrying him in 110 days. 

I Can Trust Him

This morning as I was doing a little of my Bible study I was taken to Romans 11. This is what I read:

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (vv. 33-36)

This was so great for me to read. I am amazed at how often I need the reminder that His plans are not mine and His ways are not mine. He is the wisest of all Counselors. How often, in my sin, do I try to handle things or go to others before running to Him? I can trust Him. He is faithful.

As we were singing in church this morning we sang a song that we had done several times over the last few weeks. It is called, You Are For Me by Kari Jobe. The verses talk about how He is faithful, constant, loving, true, powerful, and how He fills us and knows us. The chorus says, 

"I know that You are for me. I know that You are for me. I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness and I know that you have come now even if to write upon my heart, to remind me who You are."

This just reminded me of what I read this morning. He is constant. He truly is for me and only wants me to have His best. He will not forsake His children. He is trustworthy and I must trust Him!

Thank You for being constant Father. Thank You for the promise that You will never leave me. Thank You for offering me Your best!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sister!

Today is my sisters birthday! I cannot explain how truly grateful and blessed I am to have such an incredible, Godly, encouraging woman to call my sister!

Mangs, thank you for being such a wonderful example to me! Thank you for loving to cook and bake with me. Thank you even more for loving to eat with me! :)

Thank you for being the boss of our family! :) haha. Thank you for loving us all so well!

Thank you for being equally excited about my engagement and marriage! :) Thank you for being a far better maid-of-honor than I was... (my bad... :)..haha)

Thank you for encouraging me in everything from my walk with the Lord to running a half marathon!

Thank you for loving Handy Manny (jk...) 

I love you and I am so thankful that you are my sister!! You are truly such a blessing!!

Happy Birthday Mangs!

Virginia's Second Birthday

After weeks of planning it was finally time to head to LaGrange this past weekend to celebrate a very special girl. Birthdays are a big deal in my family most of the time. As we have gotten older, they are not  celebrated with a big bash as much, but with family and are slightly more low key. However, this little girl is one to be celebrated....and that she was this weekend! A few of us headed up on Thursday and the festivities began on her actual birthday which was on Friday!

((Warning....lots of pictures!))

Cheesin' with Aunt Amy

This girl loves to jump and has finally mastered actually getting some air!! :) 

Cookin' in her new kitchen!

We kicked off the day by heading to Monkey Joe's....

Monkey Joe's is an indoor play place full of huge inflatables, slides, etc. Look at this face....she LOVES it!!

Hey mom!

After Virginia was done playing, all the adults were wiped out, we headed to Virginia's favorite restaurant....."Chick Lay"

We went to the Dwarf House which is a Chick-Fil-A where you can sit down and order and you don't have to do the fast food thing. Same thing really but there are more options and you are served...

We actually went on cow appreciation day so this little peanut loved seeing the cow...

Cheeseburger!!!

Enjoying a little birthday ice cweam....

After a little shopping, we headed home to put her down for a nap. When she woke up there was more celebrating!! We ate dinner and she got to have an M&M cookie.

So excited for her "tweat"!

After V went to sleep we began setting up for her Minnie Mouse birthday party! Here are some pictures of the decor....

Pictures of her second year...

And food.....

Cupcakes Aunt Amy and I made....

Mickey Cheese....

Mickey jello jigglers....

Pudge and Mom

Time for a birthday cupcake...

Blowing out her candles....

Present time...

Literally.....18 adults and 2 children.....haha.

Virginia's bestie....HABEN (Haven)! :)

V got a swing! Uncle Brett and Uncle Pudge helping her try it out!!

Party animal!

Two little wiped out girls!

It was definitely a weekend to celebrate! Virginia Louise, you bring so much joy to our lives! I am so thankful for the last two years we have had with you!! We love you so much sweet girl!!

Engagement Pictures

At the end of May, Brett and I had our engagement pictures done. I knew when I got engaged that I definitely wanted Bayleigh to do my pictures! I met Bayleigh through Katherine and have obsessed over her pictures for a long time. I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted for engagement pictures and she did such an amazing job! It was hard to choose what to share so there are a lot of pictures but I don't ever upload anything to facebook anymore so I figured this is how I would share! 

Enjoy!

Outfit change! :)

Love this shot! 

Brett was such a good sport! I kept telling him thank you during our shoot and he just kept saying..."This is your day!" Thanks sweet boy! So....that is why he got this shot....he wanted one with the no swimming sign..go figure.... :)

Why are you smiling? haha...

Our relationship during football season.... :) haha. jk

"Grow old along with me....the best is yet to be!"

I love you!

All of our photos were taken at the place where we will say, "I do" in just a few short months! We had a beautiful day and that plus the location made for some pretty amazing pictures! Praying for beautiful weather on November 12th too!!

Thank you so much Bayleigh! You did a great job!

Have a great Fourth of July!

he & she (june 2011)

:.. he and she ..:

They had a very busy June...

They spent some time in LaGrange with Eric, Linds, and V

Then traveled to Phenix City and to north Georgia with the Kittrell family...

He did a lot of projects around Eric and Lindsey's new house and his own house....

She has really been enjoying her Bible study through the book of Daniel...

They began the process of registering.....

She thinks it is way fun and a tad stressful.....

He just likes the gun.... :)

She is still on the job hunt...

BUT, HE GOT A JOB!!!

They are so thankful that the Lord has provided this!

A Week With V

Two weekends ago, Eric and Linds moved into their new house. We got a good bit done that weekend but there was definitely still a good bit of unpacking, cleaning, organizing, etc. to be done. Well, when you have an almost 2 year old, that can be a bit challenging! So, we offered to take V home with us for a week of fun at LiLi and JimPa's house! We swam, shopped, played hard, ate, and had so much fun with this sweet girl! We also decided we would have pictures made of her. That didn't work out so well but Amy and I felt that we might could get at least a few decent ones! Between she and I and about 400 pictures, we came out with plenty of great ones! Here are a few of the pictures we took at Springhill College....

The trees make for a pretty backdrop...

Cheesin....

"CHEESEBURGER!!!" Her favorite thing to say when having a picture taken!

Sweet girl...

Lovin' her LiLi

I know....I know..... :)

Reading her books....

She is just beautiful!

She loves her aunts!!!

And we love you too little peanut!! Cannot believe we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday in just a few days!! Sorry for all of the pictures.....it was tough to choose though! 

Happy Tuesday!