Back to Business

Well it is a New Year...2012 WOW that is crazy to me! 2011 was a crazy, interesting, life changing year. Just to recap, I started out the year alone, hurt, confused, and just overall wondering what the heck was going to happen next. I also met the most intriguing amazing man that at the time I wanted nothing to do with romantically but quickly became best friends with. I celebrated my 23 birthday, learned to heal, embraced my job traveling around for Liberty, and embraced who I am as a person. I watched my best friend celebrate her first year of marriage with her husband, watched my other best friend marry the love of her life, and helped another close friend heal from a devastating break up. I started attending a new church and love it, started talking "marriage" with my best friend, got engaged in July to Aussie and watched him leave for basic training for the army. I endured his absence, planned a wedding, completed one class for my masters, read A LOT, and spent 90% of my fall in a hotel room alone. I also saw all of my brothers in the matter of one week (something that never happens), watched Aussie graduate from Basic, found out my parents are moving to the same city as me, and that I was going to have another niece or nephew come in the new year. I met my in laws for the first time, married the love of my life and my best friend, and finished the year by kissing my husband at midnight!

So on to the new year one of new adventures and just a few goals...

Goals:

*Getting through 3 more Grad classes this spring

*helping others and giving of myself for a greater cause

*helping Aussie get through school and more training

*spend more time on the things I love..i.e. reading, crafts, Cory

*growing into the Godly wife I need to be

There are more but those are my most important ones...I also am going to pick up writing again..just helps with my de-stressing so its a healthy venting method ;o)

Basically I am blessed, I am happy, and I am so so so VERY in love with my soldier and so so proud of my best  friend that I get to spend my life with!

Where has the time gone!!

It is amazing to me that tomorrow is October 10!! The time has just been flying...so here is a countdown update..

40 days till Cory is home from AIT!
70 days until I walk down the aisle to marry my best friend!

On Oct. 23 I get to have my main bridal shower! I am so excited to celebrate my day with my friends here in VA. Oct. 22 is when I go to get my dress altered as well so for the next two weeks its called CRASH DIETING lol...gotta love being the bride!! I wont lie I am loving most everything about getting married but am just so much more excited about spending my life with Cory...

Speaking of PFC Cory here is a quick update on him...

He graduated from basic and ladies let me tell you he looked soo very handsome! We had a great time together just enjoying each other and I finally got to meet my sweet army sister Kim and her sweet family and of course they are just like family to us!! Cory is now in Missouri at Ft. Leonard Wood for his AIT. He is learning all sorts of cool things and seems to be thriving with this MOS. I am of course so proud of him and his determination. He will be coming home on Nov. 19th so of course that is the one date that is currently on my mind. It is so nice though that we now can talk every night on the phone for a little bit...Amazing that a little phone call makes such a difference...

Wedding is going well too...we have already begun to receive some things in the mail so my next three tasks are as follows:
1) writing thankyou letters
2) counting the wedding RSVP's
3) finding pine cones and tree branches to spray paint fun fun

I personally would like to recover a chair and start working on my broach bouquet but I still need to get fabric and more broaches. My sister in law also has me wanting to make a quilt maybe once life settles down in the spring I will try my hand at that!

That is about all that is new around here. I am home until Wed. morning and then I fly to Houston, TX for a few days and then am back and home for a week and then heading out on the road for a couple weeks again! Thankful that it makes the time go faster though!

Love

Listen to the song and then this post will make a bit more sense. As I grew up, private school, youth groups, essentially a Christian home, I was that girl in that video. I was running as fast as I could from everything that was right. I was hurting, I was lonely, I felt rejected abandoned and so many other adjectives. The "Christians" I was surrounded by didn't care. I was written off and most of all I was bullied by the Christians which drove me even further away. I will be a bit transparent maybe too much so but this has been laying heavily on my heart because of a certain situation that happened yesterday. I was date raped in my Sophmore year in high school. The girls who found out about it were Christians and totally disowned me and even went as far as saying I asked for it because of the situation I had put myself in. I was judged constantly and became so lost and so alone that I turned every where but Christ to find love and acceptance. I had given up all hope and said forget it and in essence judged all Christians thinking that everyone was the same way. The Lord constantly and persistently pursued me. Even though humans had "forgotten" me God had not. He continued to protect me from paths of major destruction as far as my relationships with men went. He found me in my darkest hour when I contemplated suicide over and over again. It took a praying mother who never gave up and 2 friends (Ashley C. and Katie) to not let go of me for me to realize there was more. To realize there was love and that grace, mercy, and acceptance could be found in Christ. My life has never been the same. As I have continued on my faith journey and grown in the Lord my heart has broken to see that because we are human and we sin churches so often or Christians in general so often judge those who have the "bad" life or look different or think differently. Having been the drug addict, the suicidal one, the hurting young girl I spot it right on and have sadly to say been judged by accepting those who are not "normal" or "good". When I look at Christ because of my life, I don't see judgement, doctrine, theology, I see LOVE I see forgiveness, I see compassion, and I most of all see hope for the hopeless. I stop and look at those around them and wonder what has brought them to where they are at in life. What has caused this girl or this guy to turn to a life of self mutilation and destruction. There is always reason for everything and typically that reason is hopelessness, hurt. abandonment and so forth. Why can't we get out of our comfortable cookie cutter lives and try to  meet these people where their needs are at. Jesus spent time with sinners, who are we to say we are better and cant? I am thankful for my journey to where I am because I feel that God has placed a unique calling on my life but I think back so many times and just wish someone had asked or heard me...This all brings me to what happened yesterday. I was at a college fair and I always am praying for the students walking by as I see certain signs of behavior and as they make one of the most impactful decisions of their lives. A young asian girl walked by me, head down the whole way, I knew immediately what that meant (hurt, insecurity, possible abuse? you never know but when young ladies can't look you in the eye something is up) She VERY quietly asked for a brochure another sign of something isn't just right. I smiled gave her one and told her she was beautiful figuring maybe she just needed some encouragement that day. She looks up eyes appearing a bit too red for my comfort and says no and walks off. I watch as she walks away, her head is down, her shoulders slumped, shuffling feet, and she doesn't stop at any other table. I watched her as she stood by the wall not interacting with ONE person my heart breaking the whole time and praying about how to handle this situation. It was a public school so technically I was worried about what was ok and what wasn't especially since the school was overwhelmingly muslim ( I had no idea). I approached the only teacher close by and he waved me off saying she's just shy and quiet. I went back to my table still not at peace and watched as she continued to sit in the bleachers nose in the Liberty view book I gave her. I started to approach her and was told by the teacher to not speak to her. I asked why and she said that it wasn't acceptable for me to approach a student at a college fair. I was stuck...the next thing I knew was that the girl was gone...I say all of this to say I wish I had said I dont care and spoken to her anyway. I have since emailed the counselor about the situation and have yet to hear a response back. This young girl has been on my heart ever since. I encourage you dont hesitate, dont worry about what is acceptable, reach out to those who are hurting, reach out to those who are different than you that may have tattoos, piercings, weird hair, goth, you never know how they may be hurting, you may never know how you could be showing them Christ's love and hope for their lives. It may be a simple hug that changes their eternal destination. LOVE PEOPLE no matter WHO they are! Ashley saved my life 2 separate times when I was in my darkest hour, alone while my mom was at work by staying on the phone with me until she got home and just loving me with Christ's love. That is what it is all about! Praying that this will help us all to be reminded of what Loving is really about!

Ever just need a minute?

Now that's what I call taking a minute to chill....

So it has been a bit since I have blogged. PHEW! I feel like I have been running around crazy for the past 2 weeks. After I left South Dakota I had only a few short days to get everything together for me to leave for a month...so yep there were moments where I thought I might just lose my mind haha. But I survived! I have been in Dallas, TX for the past week working and it has been HOT! Funny how you never appreciate something as simple as true fall weather until it is no where to be found around you! I have so many exciting things to look forward to in the upcoming weeks! This week I am in Dallas again but then I get to fly to California for the weekend to work and while I am there I will get to spend time with my brother and sister in law and their sweet children! Then I fly straight back to Texas and get to spend an evening with my oldest brother and his family...THEN I will head to Georgia to watch Cory graduate and spend some time with him and from there I will stay the weekend with my brother and his wife and son! I get to see all 3 brothers in the matter of one week...I am pretty sure it has been years since that has happened I cant even begin to express how full that makes my heart.

Cory Update: He is doing great!! He officially is a US Army Soldier! I could not be more proud of the strength he has shown and the man he has become! He called yesterday and it was so nice to just laugh with him and hear how happy he sounds! This next week will be easy for him because they are just preparing for graduation and stuff. I am praying that I will get to hear his voice more often since for the past weeks all we have had were letters! Cory is a special guy and I am so lucky to be in his life! 10 days until I am in his arms right where I belong :)

Wedding Update: So as of right now, not much new has happened. We made the final decision that all guys would be in uniform. Which pretty much means almost everyone except our dads and 2 groomsmen will be in uniform. I am pretty excited about that now just because it will really  make the pictures look great and just the overall effect of the wedding will come together. I also purchased Cory's ring from James Avery and am in LOVE with it :) 92 days until I marry my best friend..a Godly, committed, loving, strong, and amazing man!

Today, I am taking just a minute to breath, to relax, to take in the blessings in my life, to pray, to reflect, and to just rest in the Lord.

Craftyness

So basically I miss being crafty. I miss painting and sewing and sketching and everything else. Just don't have the time for those things anymore...but my goal tomorrow is to do one thing crafty and to take a trip to the craft store just to get inspired...here are some pictures of some old projects...

XO- H

Army Sister

I always have thought the quote about "Friends being the family that you chose" was corny but I can honestly say that it is so true. This military journey that Cory and I have begun has not been an easy one. It is hard when people say they understand and you know there is no way they truly can having not endured it. God knows when we need things most and I have to say that despite the amazing support I have gotten from all realms of my life, God knew I needed Kim. She is my Army Sister and a friend that has become just that my family. This picture made me think of us and the close bond that we have formed in such a short period of time with out having ever met. Have you ever happened upon someone and you just clicked? Well that doesn't even begin to describe the relationship we have built. We both stumbled upon the Basic Training facebook page about the same time and found each other. Her fiance is in another platoon out side of Cory's but we both had an instant connection. As we began to interact on the facebook page and pictures started being posted we saw a picture of Cory and Aaron together! We didn't think it was possible at all that they knew each other. At that point we started talking on a 24/7 basis. We have so much in common as far as our personalities, our age, our phase of life and so forth. It has truly felt like we have been best friends since we were young. To make things even crazier or truly just show Gods love for even the tiniest details of our lives...our soldiers had become close friends as well despite the difference between platoons. So much so that Cory and I couldn't imagine our wedding day with out Kim and Aaron there! So Cory asked Aaron to be a groomsman. We truly feel like we are family and rely on each other for support since we understand, we love in our frustrated moments, we share joy when letters arrive, and prayers when it is just hard to get through the day. Kim has been the answer to prayer that has gotten me through this journey and will be a life long friend that I will forever be grateful for. I love her heart and cant wait to meet my sister when I go to Cory's graduation! 

Our hearts <3

Sisters <3

XO- H

Last Day

Today is my last day in the state of South Dakota. Definitely a different culture all the way around. There is a lot of corn everywhere! I have to work again today but I leave super early tomorrow morning to get back to my home in Virginia. This trip despite the oncoming cold that is starting to hit me has been such a blessing. The team members I am with are all great and intelligent people. It has been nice getting to fellowship before we all leave on the road again next week and are alone for months at a time. God has been teaching me so much through these people I am with on a daily basis. Last night one of our recruiters performed at the festival we are working at. He is a talented guy and a Christian rapper. It was amazing to watch him switch between names. To us he is Jason a fun loving dedicated guy, to mostly everyone else he his Humble Tip. This was the first time I had ever gotten to see him perform. I just have to say that it will never cease to amaze me when I can visually see God using someone to further his kingdom. Every one that works for Liberty are such special people. It is neat to see how God has formed our recruitment team with such unique gifts and strengths. We all bring something to the table. I was just humbled this morning as I woke up at the opportunity that God is allowing me to have to impact youth for Him. I am strategically placed for a time such as this to help Liberty create "Champions for Christ". Sometimes I get tired or burnt out or not care about the importance of the role I am placed in, but this journey I am on is an important one it can make the difference between spiritual life and death for a lot of these kids. I am passionate about my job because of the impact and change LU brought to my life. I want to be instigating change in these kids lives! I will continue to strive every day to be used of God to make a difference. That is one of the main goals in my life!

XO-H