She has been so so so so so incredibly busy!! October has been a whirlwind and oh my gracious it is almost over! Let's have a little update shall we? First of all, on the wedding front they have had several showers since the last time we spoke.
Here we are at Brett's church shower which was one full of so many sweet people. We felt so loved!
My sweet hostesses for my next shower. THANK YOU Mrs. Kitty, Annie, and Essie! :) What a fun day!
So many sweet sweet friends and women who have been such role models and mentors in my life!
My mother-in-law and mother :)
Grandmother and I
We have also had the bridesmaids brunch. We decided that the day before the wedding would be full of craziness and didn't want it to be rushed! We wanted it to be a special day!
This angel came to town last weekend!
The whole group!
My sweet bridesmaids minus Kat! (We missed you so so much!!!)
The sweetest flower girl there ever was! :)
I have also taken bridal portraits and done a whole lot of planning the last few weeks! OH MY GOODNESS! ARE WE REALLY 15 DAYS AWAY????? :) I AM SO EXCITED!
Now, moving on to another update. 2 weeks ago today I got a job! Talk about a crazy time to get a job! Seriously, things are crazy! I am teaching first grade and really enjoying it! It is a lot of work but I cannot explain what a blessing and answer to prayer this job. God has been providing for us in so many ways! We are so grateful and so ready to start our life together!
Sorry for the lack of posting. I cannot promise that in the next couple of weeks I will be posting frequently but promise that after the wedding I will have more updates and posts about honeymoon, our house, wedding, teaching, etc.! Perhaps there will be a few more posts before I become Mrs. Kittrell! As for now, I am enjoying my time with my family and the last days before get married!
About a year and a half ago I began reading this blog about a girl my age who lived in Africa. This summer, I saw this video after following her story for that long. October seemed so far off and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her book.
Well, look what came in the mail yesterday...Thank you mom for pre ordering it!
(yes, I know it is backwards....)
I finished it in a day. As I sit here and type, on my very own laptop, I just got out of a shower that I was able to warm and cool to my comfort. I have eaten three meals today, and not to mention I had a choice of what I would like. I am sitting in a house with electricity and on a comfortable bed. I am not wearing the same thing I wore yesterday. I will go to a wedding shower tomorrow and probably receive dozens of presents that I don't necessarily "need".
Now, it is easy to read a story and be moved and convicted. It can cause me to feel guilty and can cause someone to think that their responsibility is to sell all that they have and move to Africa or some other third world country. Seriously, as I read, I felt a million emotions. I am in awe of Katie Davis and how she is living her life. I felt guilt for the comforts of my life. I felt sad for those that she takes care of and all of the ones that she cannot take care of. I felt convicted that I hold on so tightly to things in my life that do not matter. I was encouraged by her faith, her prayer life, and in general the way that she serves and lives.
No, I am not packing my bags and leaving this life in the states. I am still planning my wedding and still going to get married on November 12th. Let's face it, this is where I am in life and I am at this place, in this stage of life for a reason. God has orchestrated my steps and knew that I would be here for such a time as this.
Let me tell you what I was encouraged to do. First of all, as I mentioned, I was convicted about the way that I hold onto my comforts, my things, my relationships, etc. Why? NONE of this belongs to me but only to God. This world is not my home and nothing that is a worldly possession will last. I am praying that I will stop clinging so tightly and praying that I will give the Lord control...(which He already has anyways)
I have been more and more encouraged to wake up daily thanking Him for a new day to live for Him and also asking Him to direct my day and asking Him what I can do to serve and bring glory to His name. Right now that might be something simple like going to an elementary school to substitute for a day. It might mean choosing to not get frustrated over a silly detail while wedding planning. I may need to remember to be more considerate of the people in my life and remembering to thank them for all that they are doing. Or, it might mean taking extra time to pray for the people in my life, for my future marriage, and for the world. I don't know what my days look like but the Lord does and He will direct my days.
As I read this book, I couldn't help but think about my two weeks that I spent in Africa. Let me just say, that I was given deluxe treatment in comparison to Katie's daily life. Yes, I went to slums. I smelled the smells and saw the sights of complete desolation and poverty. However, I remember seeing the biggest moths in the shower, a gecko on my wall as I was turning out the light to sleep, and my feet never seeming clean. I remember at times thinking, wow, this is huge sacrifice. WHAT? I did nothing. Sure, the things that I saw did change my perspective and my life. I loved on those children and they truly stole my heart. However, I remember thinking that I had a comfortable life back in the states. I loved my time in Africa but could not imagine myself making that my lifestyle. Isn't that crazy? I mean, if my Lord told me to go to Africa, I should, without hesitation, go. I hope that I would. I truly don't feel that this is the calling on my life right now but there are times that I hope I do get to spend some time in another country.
I am not trying to convict anyone. Honestly, as I read about Katie's life I realized that being convicted was okay but action needed to follow. I certainly don't have millions of dollars to donate. I am not in a place where I have felt God calling me to see everything and move to the other side of the world. However, I can pray. The only way that I am going to truly see the power of prayer is to be consistent. This doesn't just mean that I pray for Katie and Amazima Ministries. It means to pray for those needs right around me. There are plenty of ways for me to serve and plenty of needs that I can meet. I am praying that the Lord change my heart and make me aware of needs. I pray that I wake up daily and say, "Lord, my day is Yours. How can I serve You and those around me?"
I would encourage you to buy Katie's book. Her story is an encouraging one. She seems to be a precious soul and I cannot wait to meet her whether here or in heaven!
This weekend was busy and productive. We welcomed October happily! The weather was beautiful and even though we were busy, we got to enjoy the cooler temperatures as well!
On Friday night, Brett and I attended homecoming at UMS. Brett always has to go but I tagged along. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed spending some much needed time together!
On Saturday, we moved furniture into our future house!! Oh my gracious. It looks wonderful and the furniture made it feel like a home! Thank you to my sweet family who took time to help clean and move things in! We cannot wait to live there together in a little over a month!! :)
On Sunday, the productiveness continued. We stuffed and licked all 366 invitations! We stamped them today and they went in the mail today!! So, you all need to be checking your mail this week!! This was such a huge relief to get these out!
Signed, Sealed, Delivered! :)
Thank you to my sweet mom for helping me lick them on Sunday and thanks Mangs for helping put stamps on them! I am thankful that we are able to get so much done this weekend since it is my last free one until November!! I am excited about a busy October and definitely ready for NOVEMBER! :)
It all started with the invite. I mean, I had to know that this was going to be the most perfect shower!
The decor in itself deserves its own post.....
Delicious cake....
Love all of my decor for my house!
Little details...
K's everywhere!! :)
Pictures of my sweet fiance and I....
Brett and Laura tic-tac-toe! haha..
Delicious food!
Adorable gifts!
So many sweet friends and family members that celebrated with me!
SO MANY BLESSINGS!
The best matron of honor/hostess in the world!
Beautiful gifts...
A blessed and overwhelmed bride!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to my sweet hostesses! Amy, Linds, and Aunt Amy, you all did so much to make the day so special and I could not be more grateful! Thank you to everyone who came! I felt so overwhelmed with all that I received and everyone that came to celebrate! Brett and I were both so amazed at all that we received and just feel so blessed and loved! This shower made the wedding seem even closer and more real!! I cannot wait!!
1. My first wedding shower is this weekend! I am so excited! I have seen a few things for the decor and lets just say that Pinterest has come to my house thanks to my sweet sister!!
2. My aunt Amy and sister-in-law, Lindsey are helping throw the shower so Aunt Amy, Olivia, Linds, and Virginia are all here! So much fun!
3. My cousin, Olivia loves to ride horses so we set it up for her to have a lesson while she was here. Yesterday, we headed out to Silver Lining Farms which happens to be quite close to where we are getting married. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon...
It is BEAUTIFUL out there...
Liv did such a good job. She loves it and I was so impressed!
3. As I mentioned.....this little angel who also happens to be the flower girl is here!!
4. It is the official first day of fall!!! Hoping for cooler weather very soon but if it doesn't get here until November 12th then that's fine! :)
5. 50...that's right 50 days until this is my new monogram!! :) I am just a little bit exited!!
I hope you all have a great weekend!! More on my shower after tomorrow!!
That's right.....we are so close! So little time.....so much to do!!
The days seem to be flying by! We are busy busy around here! Fixing up a house, lots of little details, bigger details :), subbing some, etc. Not enough time in the day! Plus I have my first shower next weekend! I am so excited! I have no doubts that it will be so cute! If I am basing it off the invites then it definitely will! More on that later!!
A while back I found a blog that I fell in love with. I was inspired by the albums that she made for her engagement pictures and her wedding pictures. I knew that I wanted to do something similar for my pictures. I was lucky enough to get pictures of the day that Brett proposed. For this album I followed Elise's instructions almost exactly. I even used the same little mini binders that she used. Now, I enjoy creating things like this but the whole cutting it down to size and all of that, I was not a fan of. I just did not have the patience for it at all. I know...I know...not that hard but somehow, I got frustrated. In the end...the album turned out cute. Not perfect but I was pleased. Here are a few of my favorite pages...Sorry about the quality of the photos that I took....
I kept the cover pretty simple. I just used chipboard letters.
Photos in the book were taken by Judson Meherg...We are so blessed that we have these pictures!
I actually created that book a long time ago but am just now sharing. This one of our engagement pictures I just finished and I am WAY more pleased!! I really love it!! I bumped up to an album that would fit 8.5x11. Now, yes, you do use more ink and since I printed all of these pages at home that is something I had to take into account. I thought it was worth it. I just like seeing the images bigger. I chose a Kolo album/binder and was so pleased! If I do this with wedding photos I will probably use another one of these binders. Here are all of the pages in this album. P.S. the images in the book are amazing quality...my images of the album, not so much. Sorry! All of these images in the book were taken by Bayleigh Murray. I cannot say enough great things about her!!
I love both albums but especially the larger one. A couple of differences in the text of the books....For the proposal one, I basically told our story of how we got engaged. It even was almost a letter to Brett..I called him "you" throughout the book. I started doing that for the engagement album but scratched the idea. I decided to go through 1 Corinthians 13 with the text on the pages. I also added a couple of other passages of scripture as well. All in all, LOVED creating the pages in Photoshop! I really loved the digital scrapbooking and that I got to decide how the pages were going to look.
Thanks for listening to the rambling. I just thought I'd share how I decided to create everything so that these pictures were all in one place!
In other news.....65 days until I am married. Gracious....hurry up! :)
