November Challenge Recap

I looked at several blogs to gather inspiration for our November "acts of kindness" challenge. There are so many fun and creative ideas out there. So, I thought I'd share some of the things I did this past month in case it might inspire someone else! 

Sometimes opportunities are so obvious and though right under our nose, it can be easy to overlook them. Automatically thinking about doing for others isn't necessarily something that comes naturally to everybody, myself included. But, I found it became much easier once I got intentional about it. I sat down to make a list of things I knew right away that I wanted to do but left some room for acts that I had faith would just present themselves to me throughout the month. 

Here are a few things I did:

- I love to read so I decided to create homemade bookmarks with Bible verses written on them. Then, I headed to a bookstore and hid them in books around the store. 

- I cooked some potato soup and took a container of it over to my grandparents house.  The recipe I used can be found here and it FABULOUS: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/perfect-potato-soup/ 

- I love the Barre Code. All of the instructors at the Middletown, KY location are awesome so I left reviews for all of their classes online explaining what I think makes them so great. 

- I said "yes" when cashiers asked if I wanted to donate $1 to various charities throughout the month. 

- This time of year there are all kinds of drives to support families in need during the holidays.  I participated in a few Food and toy drives organized by our church, gym and neighbors. 

- I made an "at home date night" gift for a couple in our neighborhood with two young kids. The gift included popcorn, candy, & the movie "Do You Believe?"  

-  A group of families in my neighborhood made traditional Thanksgiving dishes to send to a refugee family now living in Louisville.  

- I left a giftcard in our mailbox for our mail carrier thanking her for her service to us. 

- I donated items needed by a local residential area for children who've been abused, neglected or abandoned called Home of the Innocents. This didn't require a lot of money. When I read through their wish list, I realized I had many of the items around my own home that we never even use. 

Here is the wish list if you'd like to donate as well: http://www.homeoftheinnocents.org/document.doc?id=137

- I sent a letter to a friend in the military to let him know I was thinking about him during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

If you joined me in this challenge, I hope it's been a blessing to you! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

November Challenge

I've been slacking on blogging lately but I wanted to share the challenge Aaron and I are tackling in November in hopes that some of our family and friends might want to join in as well! To kick off the holiday season by spreading some love, we are committing to carrying out 15 acts of kindness or service to others. It could be something as small as sending a letter to a grandparent, paying for the car behind you at a drive-thru restaurant or praying for a particular person throughout the month. Would you join us? 

Romans 12:1 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.

We are here to love our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Secondly, we are here to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Bible tells us there are no greater commandments than these.  We are the hands and feet of Jesus on Earth. Though serving others may allow us to be a blessing to our neighbors (whether they are familiar or strangers to us), I am certain we are the ones that will be blessed through the experiences that we encounter through this challenge next month! 

Tag any pictures you take #spreadthelove

A birthday, a wedding & a new challenge.

June has been great but it's absolutely flown by! Aaron started his new job and is "in the trenches" doing manual labor to gain an understanding of the entire process that he will eventually manage. I know he enjoys being outdoors getting his hands dirty but the poor guy is developing the worst farmers tan ever.  He's sort of passed redneck and has moved on to maroon neck. 

I turned 25 this month (what?!). I'm not happy about. 24 was the last "young" sounding year to me.  

My sister got married (even bigger what?!?!).  I got to spend pretty much the first two weeks of June in western KY prepping for the wedding. Kelsey looked like a princess and the wedding ceremony was very special. Here are a few pictures I snapped as they made their way to the reception. 

I wish them all the happiness in the world. 

The hubs and I are wrapping up our Love Dare books. I have to admit that we slacked a little and won't finish them by the end up June but we are going to keep going. 

For July, our "challenge" is going to church every single Sunday. Now... that may not sound like much of a challenge because we go every Sunday normally anyway. However, we are going on vacation in July and I don't know about you, but when we go on vacation, we typically take a break from everything including church.  We've been researching some of the mega-churches in the area of Destin and are pretty excited to see what they are like. 

Vaca Part 2: Sand Pebble

I think this year marks the twentieth year I've been coming to the Sand Pebble in Treasure Island, FL for vacation at my grandparents' condo. We had a nice week laying by the pool mostly; Aaron is as "brown as a berry" as my Mammaw used to tell my sister and I when we were little. On Wednesday Aaron and I went to Universal Studios so I could experience the new addition to Harry Potter world. As soon as I got on the first ride (the Forbidden Journey) my face lit up with the goofiest smile. I'm glad we went through the single rider line for that one so Aaron didn't see me be a total dork. As far as the new park goes... The Hogwarts Express was a little underwhelming but we rode it both directions to get the full experience nonetheless.  Here we are getting ready to board the train:

The Escape from Gringotts ride was awesome but ended too soon. Walking through the bank was really neat leading up to it. It looked just like the movie. 

This fire breathing dragon was pretty cool. The heat off of that blast was impressive. I was glad I didn't use much hairspray that day. 

I even rode the Dueling Dragons roller coaster and I DO NOT ride roller coasters. Unfortunately, I think that ride started a downhill spiral of motion sickness for the rest of the day. We went on a slew of other rides after that in the other portions of the park but the Mummy ride (one of the better ones) was it for me. I've never gotten sick on rides before so I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to more Potter that evening. Actually, I don't know if it was the rides or having to see dozens of people with those ridiculous selfy sticks that made me sick. Anyways... Once I knew I was done for the day, we headed back over to Diagon Alley to drink frozen butter beer and watch the magic fountain squirt unsuspecting people with water. The butterbeer was even better than I expected. I'm looking forward to trying some of the homemade recipes for it that I found on Pinterest. 

I had a great time. I was definitely meant to be a wizard. I'm happy Aaron tolerates my vivid imagination but I'm still holding out hope that I can convert him one day. He did crack a HP joke when we got home yesterday. Proud wife moment! 

This is pretty much what the other days of the week looked like:

On the last day, Aaron and I went to the Don Cesar (where we got married) to have brunch. Ever since I saw the hotel post a photo of their chicken and waffles on Facebook last year, I've been wanting to try them. They did not disappoint. Aaron and I both were pretty much licking our plates. 

It was a great vacation but Aaron and I were definitely ready to get home to our own bed by the end of the week. He starts his new job June 1 and is really looking forward to it. Keep him in your prayers! 

By the way, we are still working through those Love Dare books I mentioned a few posts ago. I would highly recommend them for any married couple at any stage. They really give you perspective and remind you of what's important! 

Vaca Part 1: Cruising

Aaron and I just came back from a great two week vacation. The first week we went on a cruise out of San Juan to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten on the Carnival Liberty. It was by far the best cruise we've ever been on. 

At St. Thomas we did a little shopping and then got back on the ship for several hours to soak up the sun and enjoy this awesome view.

We pretty much had the boat to ourselves which was super nice. That afternoon we took a sky lift up to Paradise Point to view the island and St John. Here's a shot of us overlooking the ship:

The next day was the one and only sea day we had on the ship. We laid out most of the day. That night was the first "formal" night on the ship so we had lobster for dinner (yum!) and enjoyed getting to know a couple that we shared a table with. 

The following day we arrived in Barbados. We'd prearranged a catamaran excursion with Elegence which I would highly recommend. There were only 9 people on the very nice and large boat and the staff literally waited on us all day long. 

We snorkled with sea turtles which I loved. Here is a shot of Aaron reaching for a turtle (also my favorite picture from the whole trip):

Next we snorkled at two different shipwrecks. There were tons of fish. 

After that, we sailed on the catamaran for about an hour touring the island while the owner fixed us a traditional Bajan lunch.  If I said to Aaron, "this is awesome" once, I must have said it a dozen times. I may have started to repeat myself due to the amount of Mount Gay rum punch I was consuming... But what can I say? The Bajans know how to make rum. It was the most relaxing excursion we went on all week. If you go to Barbados, look up Elegance Catamarans. 

The next stop was St. Lucia and we went on a tour with the Real St. Lucia Tours company. A guy drove just Aaron and I around the island all day long. It was sort of unbelievable that we had a totally private tour. St. Lucia is a stunning island.  It's mountainous as all get out but stunning. Our driver took us to all of the great look out points, the Tet Paul nature trail, a warm spring waterfall and natural pool, several local shops, but our favorite was snorkeling between the famous pitons. Aaron and I both agreed it was the best snorkeling spot we'd ever been to. The view below the water was great but looking up at those massive volcanic spires was something I just can't describe in words. Aaron is still talking about how amazingly beautiful and lush that island was. 

We stopped at St. Kitts the next day. We didn't have anything planned but we got off the boat to do a little shopping. Aaron loved these little guys. Can you believe it?  My husband, who won't even pet my sister's dog, wants one of these creepy little monkeys. 

Our last stop was the beautiful island of St. Maarten. We took a Power boat trip with Soualiga Destinations and it was pretty thrilling. We snorkled with turtles again and then stopped at several spots to jump off the boat to swim.  They took us to a local restaurant for some Guavaberry frozen cocktails and fresh mahi mahi. That afternoon we snorkled at another spot and then stopped for a swim in front of the most exclusive resort on the island. The cheapest room went for $1,500 per night.

We also went to the beach right by one of the top ten most dangerous airports in the world. There is no wiggle room on the runway whatsoever and it's a major tourist attraction because people can stand right behind where the jets blast their engines. 

We had an absolutely fabulous time. I am so happy it worked out so that Aaron and I could take that trip together. & to top off an already great trip... We disembarked and headed straight to Treasure Island, FL for another week. More to come.... 

May Fun

I am so excited that its May.  There are so many fun things happening this month.  This past weekend, we had our third annual Derby party and it was the best one yet.  It was a beautiful day to be outdoors enjoying the races, good food and even better company.  There were several great hats but Aunt Mel was the winner of the best hat competition.  Here are some photos from the event.

 

On Sunday, Aaron and I tried out our new kayaks in Floyds Fork. We went around5:30 p.m. and were in the shade most of the time.  It was perfect! We came up on a log in the water that was covered with turtles sunbathing which was really cool. I have a feeling we are going to be using the kayaks frequently this summer. 

 

 

Next up is Mother’s Day and then Kelsey and Tyler’s wedding shower (yay)!  And to top off an already great month, Aaron and I will be flying to Puerto Rico in a few weeks for the start of a lengthy vacation.  Aaron has to hear me say “I am so excited” at least twice every single day.

 

As with the other months this year, we are also challenging ourselves in a new way in May to be more like Jesus. Around our first Christmas after we got married, my aunt and uncle surprised us while we were on a trip by setting up a Christmas tree in our home and leaving ornaments for us to decorate the tree with together.  Another surprise they left for us was two copies ofThe Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick.  The book is a 40-day challenge for married couples to understand and practice unconditional love. We’ve committed to completing the challenge throughout May and June.

 

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:7-

April

Now that we are into April, Aaron and I are starting our next challenge.  (By the way, we were both more than excited to have some sweet tea/soft drinks after Lent!) For April, we are reading the book of John.  We are also challenging ourselves to tithe obediently.  I must be honest, it is a struggle to even admit that we don't already. It's not that we don't give anything but we certainly don't give as we are capable of and should. In a post several weeks ago I quoted Luke 12:48:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded...

I know this verse can be applied in many ways that have absolutely nothing to do with money but for me, it was sort of a wake up call to reflect on my willingness to and attitude toward tithing.  The attitude part is really crucial.

2 Corinthians 9:7 

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 

Although we are using months as check points for reflecting on something new to focus on, I am noticing these "challenges" are becoming part of our daily lives... except for the giving up caffeine - that was a one time thing! ;) The point though is that these planned monthly goals have given us some direction and a place from which to start. I challenge you to reflect on where God might want you to pay special attention over the coming weeks and take action. 

 Some highlights from the past month:

We went to see Little Big Town at The Palace. It was a great show! 

Mom and I joined Kelsey as she registered for her fast approaching wedding! I also picked out her wedding shower venue... SO excited!  Sneak peak: 

Aaron and I were baptized again via immersion are now members of Southeast Christian Church. It was pretty cool to get to share that experience with my husband! 

Last weekend, we got to witness more than 50 people get baptized at SECC's Easter service (many of which were spontaneous). They ended up baptizing 779 people Easter weekend across their campuses which is amazing. It was such a cool thing to witness. Aaron and I had never seen anything like it.  

https://www.southeastchristian.org/sermons/

We also had a great afternoon hiding and hunting Easter eggs with the cousins. Those cutie loved finding "monies" in the eggs. 

Happy hump day, y'all! : )

Weekend Getaway

We just had the most wonderful weekend. My grandparents gave us a gift card to a bed and breakfast and we finally used it at Willis Graves B&B in Burlington, KY.  Between the fresh baked cookies waiting in our room each day, the outstanding breakfast each morning and the rustic digs.. I was in heaven.  We stayed in the cabin on the property. It was picturesque with the snow. 

It may sound funny but my favorite part was the bathroom! It was so relaxing. Their attention to detail was amazing. 

And the food.... YUM 

Here are the gingerbread pancakes. They were delicious. Our favorite was probably the creme brûlée French toast. 

On Saturday, we went to the Newport Aquarium. Yes... poor Aaron is married to an overgrown kid. I was so excited because we did the Penguin Experience. I am obsessed with penguins. The first gift that Aaron ever gave me was a stuffed penguin. I really wanted to just grab one and run. This little momma laid behind my feet the entire time and even laid her head on my boots.  She'd just laid an egg the day before so she was recovering. 

That afternoon we explored Hyde park for a while. After that, we headed back to the B&B to relax... Which meant devouring the cookies and watching several episodes of Swamp People (one of the few shows I can get Aaron to watch with me). It was the best day! I thoroughly enjoyed the nonstop quality time with my husband especially since he'd been out of town all week. That man is my soulmate. Moments like those remind me how lucky I am to have someone I can totally be myself with. 

I would highly recommend the Willis Graves B&B if you are looking for a relaxing getaway. It's close to Cincinnati, Oh and Newport, Ky so there are plenty of fun things to do nearby.  We will certainly go back!