Happy Birthday Dad!

Today's my dad's birthday! 

(Guess how old he is...I promise you won't be right :) )

Happy happy happy birthday to the best dad ever! 

Thank you for loving me unconditionally and always pointing me to Jesus! 

I love you! 

Goodbye BlackBerry...

...Hello iPhone!

After being a BlackBerry user for 3.5 years, I made the switch to Apple's iPhone!

I've enjoyed every second of it, and yes, I do feel like I'm in the "real world". 

Making good use of the instagram app with my two favorite juniors :)

It looks dead, right? Nope. Jumped up about two minutes after I took this. 

Really love my Bible app :)

Just walking through church and I run into this. 

Apparently everyone's getting ready for the Masters! 

Happy Thursday, friends! Oh yeah, I'm officially on spring break :)

ONE YEAR.

One year ago today, I woke up late for work. I think I stayed up late the night before reading, and like a typical Saturday morning, I slept in, and I didn't have enough time for a shower before work. I didn't care too much because it was just an Upward game day and wearing a hat would be completely fine. I grabbed my phone to text Drew (my boss at the time) to tell him I was on my way, and I saw a text from Casie. Baby Joe was here!!!

just a few hours old

Sweet baby Joe has been such a joy in my life in the past year! I was a little worried about how it would be having someone else besides Jack, but I cannot imagine life without him now!

at Joe's baby dedication last August

Joe is always, always, always smiling, and he's one of the most content babies I've ever met. It's been so fun to watch him grow into his cute personality over this past year. 

gift from Ash Ash :)

I'm SO grateful that the Lord's allowed me to be Ash Ash to these two sweet boys. I love how He chooses to give us the desires of our hearts in ways differently than we would imagine. 

always smiling :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Joe! I can't wait to see all the things God does in and through you. I'm so, so blessed to be your Ash Ash!

Found out the other day that this sweet boy is going to be a big brother come this fall! I'm so excited that there's going to be another baby to love on! I'm hoping for a girl :)

A Century Late.

I think I was born a century late.

I really do.

I've always been a big history fan, and I absolutely love the time from the 1850s-1950s. Especially the 1890s-1930s. Technology was changing and improving, and life wasn't like it had been in the past. Now, I do enjoy all the technology that we have today, but I think that it would have been so fun seeing the world change right before your eyes. My school is in the historic district of Augusta, and when I drive by all the old homes, I like to think what life was like a hundred years ago. I wonder what people did for fun, how they dressed up all the time, and just how their life was. So, because I really like that time, I enjoy movies/TV shows that are about that time.

For example...

Little Women

I've watched this movie since I was little.

One of our neighbors had it, and I would go over to their house all the time to watch it. 

This movie is set in Concord, during and after the Civil War. 

I'm not ashamed to admit that I can quote pretty much the whole thing :)

Anne of Green Gables

This is a 3 part series based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's books. 

Set in Prince Edward Island, Canada, this story of an orphaned girl takes place at the turn of the century (20th) up until the end of the first world war. 

My grandma turned me onto this story, and I've been watching it since I was little. 

The Waltons

This TV show was made in the 1970s. 

It's about a family and their life during the Great Depression. 

This show has always made me want to have a big family!

I didn't think there were many more shows or movies about that time that I could really like. I've watched my fair share. But the other day I was introduced to this gem: 

Downton Abbey

Oh my goodness. This show is so good. Granted, I've only had to work one day this week so I've had a lot of free time to watch this, but I think I would still enjoy it just the same even if I didn't have time to watch it. I've been really impressed by this show. It's about an aristocratic family in England in the early 1900s. It's so so so good. The next season doesn't come out until January, so I'm anxiously awaiting it! Until then, I'll just keep thinking about how I was born a century late :)

It's Been Five Years.

Last night, I was out with some friends and one of them said something about how something happened this same weekend a year ago because it was DNOW this weekend last year. It got me thinking about past DNOWs, and I remembered that it had been a DNOW weekend when I found out some pretty interesting stuff about my biological family. I did the math, and I figured out it had been five years since that DNOW weekend. Five years. Really? I couldn't believe it.

Five years ago I found out that these sweet people are more than just sweet people. They're a HUGE part of the reason why I'm here today. They're my birth mom's parents. My biological grandparents. (Pretty positive that my grandpa is pinching me on my back or something like that which would result in the awkward smile/laugh combo I have going on.)

When I think about where I was five years ago and where I am today with the whole adoption/biological parents issue, I can only believe that God has been walking down this path with me. Five years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be spending my entire spring break of my sophomore year of college with parts of my biological family. It can only be because God went before me and planned for all of this to happen, because, trust me, I wouldn't have chosen this path on my own.

I still remember the Monday after I found out about my grandparents being my biological grandparents. I was at school and for some reason we didn't have to work out during P.E. I remember sitting in the gym, spilling my heart out to Chelsea about the whole thing. She listened and gave advice when needed, but she mainly just listened, which was exactly what I needed her to do that day (so grateful that she still listens to me about this crazy stuff to this day!). For me, as a 15 year old girl who thought she knew everything about everything, life had been turned upside down. I really had never even imagined looking for my biological parents one day, so finding out that I had known my biological grandparents my ENTIRE life was crazy confusing to me.

Five years later, I look back on what God has shown me during this journey. He's shown me just how sovereign He is, by removing me from a bad situation and putting me with two loving, godly parents. He's shown me that He has me right where He wants me, which is something that I sometimes question, but I know I shouldn't. He put me here, with my people, who have graciously walked this journey with me and will continue to! He knew that I would embark on a crazy journey my senior year of high school, to contact and eventually meet my BD, and He put just the right people in my life during that journey.

Five years later, I'm even more grateful for my BM's parents than I ever thought I could be. I know I was grateful for them back then, but now I am even more so. They've loved me, they've supported me, and they've shown me that despite the fact that this is a weird situation, they love me just like they do their other grandkids.

Five years later, I'm glad that I've had these past five years and that I've been able to do exactly what the Lord had planned for me. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me for the next five years!

70 Days!

I'll be in this pretty place in just 70 days!! I go to Sydney for two days before I head to Pakenham, so I hope to get to see this pretty place (the Sydney Opera House). I'm so excited that I'll be in Australia this summer; I seriously cannot wait!

On another note, life has been pretty crazy the past three weeks. My boss was out of the country for almost two weeks, and I was the "woman in charge" of our high school ministry. It wasn't too crazy, but I'm really glad my boss is back in town :) Today, we had a mega yard sale to benefit our summer camp, and it was so cool to see God work! We raised LOTS of money, and I even got a few good deals. When we opened the doors this morning, we almost got trampled by all the people and a friend and I said we felt like it was Black Friday! Ha! It feels good to be done with that event, and hopefully we can get our student building back to normal soon :)

My spring break plans are set! My spring break is later than pretty much everyone else's due to the Masters Tournament being the first full week in April. So, there's no way I can really do anything with any of my close friends, so I'm making the week be full of family. My BD, his wife, and some of their friends are coming into town the first part of the week to go to the Masters, so I'll be spending a lot of time with them. I haven't seen them since September, so I'm really excited to see them! At the end of the week, I'm heading to Huntsville to see my BM's parents. I haven't seen them since Christmas 2010, so I'm really excited to see them as well! It will be good to spend time with family before I head to Australia since I won't have time this summer.

In the last week, I've gotten to see all of my best friends! Panera with Mary Beth, working out/hanging out with Chelsea, and pricing yard sale items with Caroline seriously made my life so much better! I'm so grateful for each of them. Also, if you've never worked out with your best friend, do it. Chelsea and I decided it's so much more fun that way!

I'll leave you with this verse from Mark...so good!

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. - Mark 11:24

Fill-in-the-Blank-Friday!

It's not a Friday if it's not linked up with the little things we do for Fill-in-the-Blank-Friday!

1.  The highlight of my week was   a successful dinner and sleepover with Jamie and Maggie last Saturday night! 

2.   If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be   traditional with hints of modern/contemporary updates  .

3.  My first vehicle was   a 2002 silver Honda Accord coupe .

4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is  my Erin Condren planner. Seriously .

5. My favorite way to waste time is  by pinning things on Pinterest .

6. Right now I could really go for   a few fresh strawberries, potentially dipped in Cool Whip   .

7.  This weekend I will be   babysitting, cooking, hanging out with some of my favorites, switching my winter clothes to my summer clothes, working on Australia stuff, and taking walks with my dog for the week, Chaco :) (i'm dogsitting) .