Is This Really Happening???

I have to say that this whole wedding thing is very surreal. Wednesday night was my last night as a member of my church. Wednesday was also my last day watching my sweet Anna Sophia. It was a little bit of an emotional day for me. The sheer enormity of the next two days is what brought me through it with my sanity still in tact.

Last night I packed for my honeymoon (almost completely packed!!) and packed a lot of the little things I had kept around "just in case". I think I went to bed around 1 this morning (=

Mom and I woke up (against our will) packed all of the food for the rehearsal dinner and the reception and headed down to the barn for some cleaning and preparations. When I got there my darling fiancé and some of the men from the mission had already put down the fresh sawdust/shavings and put out the rows of hay bales. It looked better than I even imagined!!! So April, mom, and I covered the hay bales with the blankets we had, cleaned up a little bit, and mom and April measured out and rolled up the burlap for my aisle runner. The rest of the decorating is going to be done by April and I CANNOT wait to be surprised!! (=

Tonight I made some sausage gravy and ate it over toast. My sweet niece Rebekah and her mom and dad are hanging out tonight. Tomorrow is the last day of preparations. Here is our schedule:

The kids have their awards ceremony at school at 8:15, then Mackenzie and I are coming back and getting our nails done, after that we are picking up my dress from getting pressed and then heading to the rehearsal/dinner. Saturday morning, I am getting up, showering (of course!), getting my hair done, and going to the barn. I am so excited!! I can't believe it's really happening!!

Anyways, I am so excited. I can't wait to be Mrs Brackett!

Here are some pictures of my last day with Anna Sophia. I love her so much! 18 months of my life were spent loving and nurturing her.

What a smile!!!

She loves her Magnadoodle

And she loves me too I think (=

She really loves rides in the car!

My going away gift from Anna and her brother, Jason. I love it!! (=

Tomorrow is the day before my wedding! How wonderful! I felt like this day would never come and here it is!!

Wedding Gifts...

We have gotten so many awesome wedding gifts. One thing I wanted and thought we couldn't get due to finances was a digital camera. I have never upgraded my technology in that area. Well tonight my wish was fulfilled!! My Aunt Neeci and her daughters bought me a Kodak Easy Share M341 (don't know what all that means). It is a wonderful piece of technology!!! I took a couple of pictures with it:

Got my hair colored and cut tonight and we did a "practice run" for my curl size (=

My sad little pile of belongings in my room =(

My sweet little kitty, Yma Jane Smith (soon to be Brackett as well)

Only 4 days!!!!! I can't believe it! God is so good to us!!

Here are the lyrics to the song on my blog; it is from one of my favorite musicals, Phantom of the Opera. I love sappy love songs! (=

"No more talk of darkness,
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
my words will warm and calm you
Let me be your freedom,
let daylight dry your tears.
I'm here with you, beside you,
to guard you and to guide you...

CHRISTINE
Say you love me every waking moment,
turn my head with talk of summertime...
Say you need me with you now and always...
Promise me that all you say is true
that's all I ask of you

RAOUL
Let me be your shelter
let me be your light
You're safe, No one will find you
your fears are far behind you...

CHRISTINE
All I want is freedom,
a world with no more night
and you, always beside me, to hold me and to hide me...

RAOUL
Then say you'll share with me
one love, one lifetime
let me lead you from your solitude
Say you need me with you here, beside you...
anywhere you go, let me go too
Christine, that's all I ask of you...

CHRISTINE
Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime...
say the word and I will follow you...
BOTH:
Share each day with me,
each night, each morning...
CHRISTINE
Say you love me...

RAOUL
You know I do...

BOTH
Love me - that's all I ask of you
Anywhere you go let me go too
Love me - that's all I ask of you..."

Moving Weekend

I have an awesome family. On Saturday we loaded up a little U-haul trailer with all of my things and headed down to Shelby to move into my new house. All of my sisters plus my mom and dad plus two of my brothers in law came to help. We got everything moved except for a few odds and ends at Dusty's house and the things I need for the upcoming week. Dusty and the kids got to spend the first night there last night!! (= If you remember, I posted a lot about the renovations to the trailer. Well the Lord provided something much better for us. He gave us this amazing house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs and a full basement (1/2 finished) with a bathroom and a wood stove downstairs. This is so much more than we could ever have asked for and definitely more than we could have ever provided for ourselves. The house needs a little updating so bear with us...I will describe things as I go (=

Dining room complete with a table big enough for all of us (= to the right is a sliding door that goes out to a deck

My sewing nook in my bedroom

Looking out from the sewing nook into the bedroom. We haven't figured out the set up for our seating area yet, but the master bedroom, closet, and bathroom is close to the same square footage as the entire trailer. Our bed looks a little sad but the bedframe is a work in progress (=

Our master bath (I told you this was more than I ever dreamed of!)

The boys room. It is bigger than it looks, but it is hard to get a good picture. I am working on bedspreads LOL

Mackenzie's room. She got the good deal! She is using all of my old college bedding and all of my pictures that were in my room. I am so glad she gets her own room!

My full sized oven and flat top range (= Complete with apron and dish towel hooks! Just outside of the doorway to the left is a little bar area with lots of storage. We put our paper products, surplus foods, games, movies, etc. in there.

My mom and sisters completely organized my kitchen for me. I am very thankful for that because I am very bad at that stuff! Notice the dishwasher.... (= Didn't have one at the trailer

The kitchen has tons of cabinet space and I even got that junk drawer I always wanted!!! I am getting a shelf for our little plants. Hopefully the herbs will grow quickly and I can transplant them to the deck!

My man making a funny face as usual. To the left are the cabinets I was talking about earlier. Great storage!!

Taking a much needed break! (=

I am thankful and I am humbled by the manifold blessings that my Heavenly Father has bestowed upon Dusty and I. I don't fully understand it but I give Him all of the glory.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

Wedding Workday and "Girls" Night Picture Post

Rebekah made a big mess right before we started working LOL

Mama sewing and Rebekah sleeping in the basket

Working on my veil...can't wait to post pictures of it (=

Melanie cutting out my bolero and Ashtyn playing on the total gym

I had to take a little snuggle break

Mama hard at work...she has made this thing happen!

These are amazing!

Girls night is not complete without Krispy Kreme!

Or a musical

Or face masks with my soon to be step daughter!

David is such a good sport! He did masks with us (=

Peeling is the best part

LOL Melanie is hilarious!

(= I have the best brothers in law

Rebekah couldn't take it anymore. She was sleepy

Prairie Flower Farm Giveaway!

I found this blog through two of my blog friends. Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm is having a sweet little giveaway. She has a great blog from what I have seen and I look forward to following her. Click HERE for details on how to enter for her giveaway.


P.S. Only 9 more days!!! We are in the single digits and the HOMESTRETCH! I appreciate all of the loving and encouraging comments I have gotten in these crazy busy days! (=

It's Crunch Time!!!

I wanted to post pictures but I don't have a camera :( and my sister is so busy that the pictures we took on Saturday are not uploaded yet. So....just use your imagination!
In case you haven't seen my countdown, we are 11 (that's right!!!!!) days out from the BIG day! At this time 11 days from now I will be getting ready to walk down the aisle in 45 minutes! How exciting is that??
So Saturday we had a work day with Mom and Melanie (my sister and MOH) and Melanie's sweet baby girl, Rebekah (she will be 3 weeks tomorrow!). We had a whole list of things to do and slowly got to check things off.
Things we did:
1. Made my bolero/shrug
2. Made my birdcage veil (can't wait to put up pictures of this after the wedding)
3. Hemmed my dress
4. Finished Mackenzie's dress
5. Cut out Melanie's dress
That may not seem like much on paper but I sure can rest easy :)

Things to do:
1. Sew Melanie's dress
2. Hem the boy's pants
3. Move as much as possible to the new house
4. Pack for the wedding/honeymoon
5. Finish bustling my dress
6. Figure out what kind of lipstick I'm going to wear??!!???
those are just a few...thankfully I have Mel and Mom organizing me LOL!!

This is definitely a fun and exciting (and sleepless) time!! Counting down the days...

True Love...From my Perspective

I have had a sad situation come up with an old friend in my life. It made me stop and examine my past and present relationships and sparked a revelation of sorts. I realized that the things I did in the past to make my relationships worked were only futile acts. Why? Because it wasn't true, Godly love. Here are a few characteristics I came up with from my own personal experience that may help others decipher real, Godly love from infatuation, lust, or whatever it may be.
1. True Godly love never ever requires us to compromise our Christian morals.
2. True Godly love never separates or alienates us from our Christian family and friends.
3. True Godly love never causes us to question BIBLE principles.
4. True Godly love never brings reproach on the Lord's name and it never hurts our Christian testimony.
5. True Godly love never pressures us to do things we don't want to do or don't believe it is okay to do.6. True Godly love never takes us out of the Lord's will for our lives and I honestly believe if you are in the Lord's will you will be serving HIM.
7. True Godly love is unselfish. I honestly thought that love like this didn't exist. But it truly does. It is totally realistic and possible for a person to put their spouse's needs before their own but only if God is the glue that holds a relationship together.
That's all I thought of. I hate to think that there are girls out there who get sucked into relationships with "Christian" guys and things just aren't what they seemed. God has a perfect someone just for you! I'm glad He gave me my Mr. Right (=

P.S. It dawned on me today that after I get married I will not have internet at home....so my posts may be as sparse even after the wedding as they are now. Oh well...the Lord knows what He's doing (=

Happy Thursday....




Can you believe it??? Only SIXTEEN more days until the wedding!!! (=


P.S. Dusty's youngest boy Andrew refuses to give me a kiss until Dusty and I are married...we will see how he does that day LOL!

Happy Mother's Day!

I know I know, a day late and a dollar short! HAHA! I hope you had a great day honoring your mom! We sure did. We had dinner with most of the family and we were able to get mom just what she wanted, a 90 amp flux wire welder. That's right. That's what my totally cool mom wanted for mother's day! She is amazing. She said she would make me a pot rack for my kitchen (=
I was 3 weeks away from being a step mom this mothers day but the kids made sure I knew how much they loved me and Mackenzie made me a hand beaded bracelet in lovely shades of purple. I wore it to church on Sunday. I truly have the best kids a girl could want.
Life is just moving right along for me. I am a happy happy girl! (=
And guess what??That's right...only 19 more days until we say "I do"!!!!

Happy Monday! Happy belated mothers day!

The Coolest Book in the World

I got this book from my mom and sisters at my church shower. It looks so awesome. I haven't gotten to read out of it in depth but I skimmed through it and let's just say I am so excited to try and put it to good use!!! It may be a good idea for a 100th post giveaway???!!!??

P.S. 24 days til we say "I do!" and share a big smooch in the doorway of the barn!

The Beatitudes of Marriage

My Pastor's wife did the devotion at my church shower last night. I thought it was really a blessing. So I am going to share with you the beatitudes of marriage that she went through in the devotion. I can see the importance of these things even before marriage.

• Blessed are the husband and wife who continue to be affectionate, considerate, and loving after the wedding bells have ceased ringing.

• Blessed are the husband and wife who are as polite and courteous to one another as they are to their friends.

• Blessed are they who love their mates more than any other person in the world, and who joyfully fulfill their marriage vow of a lifetime of fidelity and mutual helpfulness to one another.

• Blessed are they who attain parenthood, for children are a heritage of the Lord.

• Blessed are they who remember to thank God for their food before they partake of it, and who set apart some time each day for the reading of the Bible and for prayer.

• Blessed are those mates who never speak loudly to one another, and who make their home a place “where seldom is heard a discouraging word.”

• Blessed are the husband and wife who faithfully attend the worship service of the church, and who work together in the church for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

• Blessed are the husband and wife who can work out the problems of adjustment without interference from relatives.

• Blessed is the couple which has complete understanding about financial matters, and have worked out a perfect partnership, with all money under the control of both.

• Blessed are the husband and wife who humbly dedicate their lives and their homes to Christ, and who practice the teachings of Christ in the home by being unselfish, loyal and loving.

  
  

  If I could add one thing to this list it would be "blessed are the husband and wife who do not speak negatively about one another to their friends or family". I have had women that I hardly know tell me all about their husbands faults and failures. That makes him look like a punk {for lack of a better word}. As wives, especially if your husband is serving in a ministry, you should do everything you can to build up and exalt your husband {without being prideful of course} because a woman's tongue can make or break her husband's testimony. The same can go in reverse order.

  
  

  So I thought that was a blessing. I hope that everyone can get something out of this. I have a mile long list of things to do today so I'd better hop to! I can't believe I'm starting my day at 10:15. I'm ready for lunch by now on a normal day LOL! Have a happy Tuesday!!

  
  

  "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to himthat is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
  Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
  And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. " Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

It's Moving Time!!

*True Love*

Here's an update for everyone: Dusty and I will not be living in our beloved trailer. It is bittersweet. The trailer is cozy. It is home. It has a 5 story tree house in the backyard and swings and a rabbit hutch and gardens and a workshop. Best of all it has a utility room. I love that! Not to mention my pantry....

BUT the Lord knew our needs were beyond those things. The house we are moving into has so much that we need. It has a separate bedroom for Mackenzie. A room big enough for all three boys. A huge master bedroom with a closet the size of Dusty's current bedroom {okay I am exaggerating but it really is a huge closet!!} A master bathroom with a jetted tub and separate shower. A very big kitchen with abundant counter space and a DISHWASHER!! Also it has a full sized range and oven. A chest freezer and a fridge/freezer combo. A dining room where we can eat real family dinners. A kid's bathroom. A basement with one side for a workshop {with a wood burning stove} and one side that has a bathroom and what could be another bedroom. Great cellar space for canning under the house. A deck and a yard with trees enough for each child to have their own tree house. We also get to keep what furniture we want. That includes a dining room table and chairs for our whole family, matching living room furniture and a recliner, gas logs, a twin bed w/ mattress and box spring, a pool table, and other miscellaneous items. All of this for what we were paying for our sweet single wide trailer. Isn't God so good? Dusty and I are so blessed and we truly don't understand why the Lord would show us favor. But we are thankful. We hope to start moving into the new house in a week. (= Pray for us!!