Life is such a beautiful journey...

Hello blog world! I would love to say that I have recently been inspired to start back blogging regularly, but truth is I really haven't had a lot to say lately. Of course plenty of WONDERFUL things have been happening and God has been teaching me great things, but just nothing really stuck out to blog about like it use to. With that said though I just want to share my life with you guys.... the ups the downs... the exciting times and the times I completely screw up. Life is constantly full speed ahead, but if I can just be a light in someone's life it makes taking time to blog worth it .

With that said..... What does my life look like at this moment?

~ Senior in college (Whoop Whoop! Never thought this day would come!)
~ 8 Months from marrying the man of my dreams
~Falling more in love with the  Lord each day
~Scared to death of the "Grown up world"
~Realizing how I suck at submission
~Wishing I could remember the last time I went to the gym (I have a wedding dress to fit into!)
~Wishing I didn't have English lit glooming over my head...
~Taking each moment at a time
~Considering finding something chocolate to eat!

Sound like anyone else?! Life is crazy and has plenty of ups and downs, yet at the end of the day I have comfort knowing that tomorrow is a new exciting day.

PIctures from life!

Hello Fellow Bloggers! :) It has been a while since I have posted more than pics... oops! With two active jobs, finals here, and all that other jazz that no one really cares to here that leaves little time to write! I do not want to completely abandon the blog though so i figured I would keep up with pics! They do say pictures are as good as a thousand words! :) So thats what we will do! These pics are from our Junior/Senior dance/banquet at school! Basically a college prom, but not so fancy. After the dance matt and I had the provelege of being with some of our very good friends when they got engaged! It was SUPER exciting!! Enjoy! :)

JEN

The girls as we were getting ready!

Matt and I all dolled up! :)

Showing off the ring! So happy for them!!

It was precious!!

 

 

Quote

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that does not really matter. ~ Francis Chan

Life as of lately!

So, it has been a couple of weeks since I've blogged, but as everyone else life has been busy! A few things have happened....

~ I found where the wedding and reception will be!!

~I Said YES to my wedding dress!!

~ I started a new job at Rite-Aid and I love it!

~ There are only 3 more weeks of school left!

Such an exciting time of life! Here are some pics!

Matt and I at a grill out at school!

This is the church we are going to have the wedding at!

It is my grandparents church in Montevallo!

We asked Adah to be one of our two flower girls! We asked her sister, meagan

to also be apart of the wedding handing out programs! We brought them a Gigi's cupcake and Matt

asked them to be apart of the wedding the same way he asked "Ms. Jennifer"!

Confession...

I am a perfectionist with unrealistic expectations of myself... Who is with me? Since we moved the wedding date up to next may I still have a while,but I got on this kick of wedding planning. Seeing that this week is spring break I figured it would be perfect time. Who knew I would not for the life of me be able to find a place to have the wedding! I am determined to figure it out, but everything seems to be a dead end. I could go through the list of why different places will not work, but seeing that you, whoever is reading this could probably care less then I will skip all of those details. I have the photographer I want, an almost for sure dress, almost for sure catering plan, but just no place! The other thing is finding a job that can help us get an apartment when we need one. See I work like all the time, but it is babysitting which does not cut taxes. This is amazing until you start needing to prove that you can pay for an apartment. Soooo todays task was to apply to as many jobs as I could. We shall see how that turns out. Needless to say my head hurts... Am I the only one who ever feels this way? I refuse to be bridezilla, but it sure would help that refusal if I could find a place to be a bride!

On a good note though I found out I won free wedding bands from a competition i had entered! Also I got a free wedding picture guest book! That was nice! :)

JEN

Pics from my life!

Might I note that I am loving my new camera! :)

My New family! It was Matt's sisters Baptism and so we were all together.

We had a girls progressive dinner in the dorms! It was so much fun!

This was some of the girls on the first stop for sodas!

Some of the lovely ladies! :)

 

Just a peek into my life!

My New Family!

Matt's sister got baptized a few weeks ago and we went! Afterwards we all ate together. It is so exciting to think that I will soon be apart of their family!

 

Just a glimpse into my life!

JEN



Loving just one person

Confession: I love 7th Heaven! I was given a season for my birthday and one of the shows inspired this post! :)

This world is a sad, hurting, sick, perverted place.... I have this thing about watching the news and I'm not sure why because it is always sad, but I find it highly interesting. It is true though that there are plenty of bad people and bad things that happen in this world. Another truth is though that there is a loving and just God. That gives me peace to know that a God who calls me His daughter Loves me and in the end will have the final word. Not everyone knows that peace though...

Back to 7th heaven though... In the show Eric (the dad and pastor) challenged his congregation one Sunday. His challenge was to do one good thing for someone. It could be continuous or a one time thing. We sit around and complain dat after day about how bad our world is, but what are we doing about it? What are we doing to make a difference? We post statuses of Fb and tweet about how Obama has screwed up our country, yet he has not taken away our right to love others. We still have the right to make a difference. We can still encourage someone. No matter how many bad things happen nothing can take that away. we are to be salt and light! What are we going to do with this right and privelege? Are we just goin to sit by and complain about what has been taken away yet do nothing with what we have?

Today is the time you can love someone today! People come a go.... hurting... what do you do? What do I do? I could put verses on here about loving others, but I trust that you know them. We know what we are suppose to do, yet we just dont do it. We do not take the opportunity to...

YOU TODAY can touch someones life and make it better... Is that not an amazing thought? So what will you do? What will you do to make one person's life better? The options are endless! Stop and think about it... stop and pray about it... stop and do it... SHOW SOMEONE LOVE

A glimpse of joy!

I love life! I almost always do, but sometimes more than others! Today was a gorgeous day and we had an extra hour of sunshine! Matt and I grilled out together for the first time and it was yummy! He is a great griller (Yes, I believe i just made up a word! :))! Check out the fun pictures! I cannot wait to continue experiencing life with this wonderful man!  

 

I promised him I wouldnt put this on fb seeing that I begged him to take an "Excited" pic... No promises were made about blogging it! ;) Note, he was excited about the cooking, but just not about the camera... lol

 

Now, be jealous! My man has skills! ;)

 

JEN

 

What is your reputation?

What do people think of you? So often we get bogged down with the "Don't care what people think abbout you!" or how people shouldn't judge you. Well, both of those are true, yet at the same time I do believe that you should be concerned about what people think about God because of you. Are you any different than the world? Can people notice that you are a christian without you having to say so? This does matter. I have a story from my own life that encouraged me to stand stronger on what I believe.

My old roommate Jmo (Jennifer Moreman, but since we have the same name I'm Jro and she is Jmo!) who is now the other girls RA has made a strong stand against movies or TV shows with sex scenes in them. She doesn't judge others who watch them, but herself personally has decided to not watch them. It is something that everyone knows, but if you are close to her you know this. I agree it is not healthy to watch them, but I struggle to keep the same standard. Let's be honest... how many shows are there that do not have some form of sex scene. It is hard, but besides that. Jmo has made a stand and I'm sure she struggles, but she fights hard. Well the other night I was watching a movie and it was not a bad movie at all. I'm pretty sure it was rated pg, but when jmo knocked on my door I invited her in. I looked at the tv and realized there was a rather passtionate scene on. Nothing that to someone with usual standards would mind. I knew that Jmo would rather not watch it though. Girls this is the type of standard we should set... She never once said I thing to me or has never asked me to change anything. She just simply stood for what she believed. She made no big deal of it or anything. How about you? Can you say the same thing about youself? Sadly most of us cant... So the point of this post is to encourage each of us to be more like Jmo in the way we stand up for what we believe!

JEN

Quote!

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.”

Corrie ten Boom

Value... Who has it?

Who has value? Lately this has been on my mind a lot... When I talk with girls it seems like a continues problem. Girls caught in relationships where they are not valued or treasured. They really do like the guys, but yet it doesn't feel right. After listening to their stories it becomes obvious. They do not see it though. The guy whether intentional or not does not show them respect. I do agree with submission to an extent. This topic can get divided very quickly and I understand that. I guess the point I am trying to get at is do not settle... Ladies please stand up for yourself. A guy will only respect you as much as your respect yourself.

I feel like I have rambled and not really made any sense... Hopefully I have. You deserve respect. You must first respect yourself first though before any man ever will. Any ideas on how to respect yourself?

JEN

True Listening

I read a book the other day and in one small part of it they discussed listening. Something I figured I was pretty good at seeing that I am going into counseling. As I read more about it I became convicted...

Listening intells giving your whole attention (Eyes, ears, mind, heart) to one person, yet not saying a thing.

How often does that happen? I have girls who come into my dorm room and pour their heart out. How quick am I to give them adivce? Oh so quick... Yes, it may be what they need to hear and it may point them back to God, but have I really done my job as a friend? I really believe I havent. People just need someone to listen and care. I may care when i give them advice, but does it show that I care or does it just show that I know what they need to do? My old roomate is the best at listening. I can ramble and ramble and she just sits quietly, completely focused on me, nods so that I know she is keeping up, but yet hardely ever gives advice. Btw, she is also my maid of Honor.. Wonder why?! :)

What does true listening look like? I believe that it starts with putting the phone down... looking the person in the eyes... and shutting your mouth. I dont have to add in things or ask questions. There will be a time for that. Now they need to be able to tell what they want to tell, how they want to tell it and when they want to. More than anything true listening says, "I care about you and value you." When was the last time someone really listened to you like this? Sadly, probably not tht recently. Yes, people listen, but not passionately.


I challenge you as well as myself to care... to truly listen to our sisters in Christ... They matter.
JEN

For all you single people!- Amber's guest post

Girl Patient: My mom's last boyfriend was bald. He was nice, but she didn't marry him.

Kate: No?


Girl Patient: There's always something better coming around the corner. That's what she says...


Kate: If she's not careful, she can spend her whole life waiting.


The above conversation is from the movie, The Lake House.


While I was watching that movie on the eve of Valentine's Day (or as I like to call it, Singles Awareness Day) this year, the last line from Kate really struck my heart, "If she's not careful, she can spend her whole life waiting."

I've gone 20 years without a Valentine and, that quote reminded me that I could miss it. But, what if I have missed it? What if Mr. Right has walked right by me, in and out of my life, and I missed it? But before I begin to wallow in my self-I'm gonna end up like Jane Austen-pity, the Lord reminded me of something He spoke to me right at Valentine's day...while I was, well, wallowing in self-pity - lol.



I was thinking about Valentine's and I was talking to God about how I hated VDay and how it should've never been made into "love dove day" and how I wished I had a Valentine (especially since I've never had one) and in the sweetest voice, He spoke to me and said, "Why would you want to spend that day with anyone other than the one true love I have for you? Until I send him, you can spend the day with Me, the One who will never leave you or forsake you." It was in that moment I realized that I shouldn't want to spend VDay with just a random guy even if it were just a friend, I want to spend it with the loves of my life at this present moment, Yahweh the Father, Yeshua the Son and Holy Spirit! And I want it to be that way until Mr. Right comes along.


To close this blog (which took hours to get just right), I want to write to all you single people reading this. I know a lot of people don't mind being single, they love VDay, but whether you love it or hate it, whether you love single life or hate it, just remember that one day, God is going to send that one very special person into your life and you're going to have them for every Valentine's for the rest of your life...whenever the time is right and God sends him/her waltzing into your life. Who knows, He may have already sent them and you don't even know it yet ;)

Much love,
Amber ♥

P.S. And I've learned that the movies get it all wrong. The awesome guy that the underdog always falls for, never falls back. It's seriously a one in a million kind of thing. But I guess I'll be one of the million that holds out hope anyway...haha. Who knows, that awesome guy could be Mr. Right. Same goes for all of you out there...it's whatever God's plan is and remember, He knows best! Stay in tune with God, you won't miss it but don't rush it!

Awesome quote

Such Freedom

Lately life has been such a joy.... I have always loved my life, but I have felt more freedom lately. I'm not sure how to explain it or how to even really think it through. I know that I have gone through parts of my life controled by others. Whether you call it abused, manipulated, or what it happened. During those times without knowing it you lose your individuality. Over the last couple of years I have been regaining it, but not until lately have a really felt as if I have freedom to be me. Some of this I completely realize was imposed by me. I thrive off of perfectionism and being the best I can be. In doses that is great... although often it isnt in small doses. This is a fault. It can look good on the outside, but on the inside it can drive you up a wall. The small things that i cant seem to let go of. I have to be perfect. the sad reality is no one is perfect. That doesnt always matter though... I have to be perfect. Am I alone? I highly doubt I am. I believe matt has really helped me realize how I do not have to be perfect. I can have a bad day and not be equaled to a drama queen. I do not have o feel guilty if I am not always happy. It is ok to be sad, angry, or upset. Whoever tells you these things? I hoenstly believe churches do not know how to deal with pain and hurt very well. They think they do, but when it happens we often put a lid on it, tie it up with a few pretty verses and then send it off like it never happened. This is not reality. Life is messy and not perfect. Freedom comes when you realize you are who you are and that is ok. Now yes I still thrive off of perfection and love to do the best. Yet, it is ok if I dont. It is ok if i relax instead of doing that homework that isnt due for another month. Mybe I am the only one this driven, but I hghly doubt it.

Ladies.... there is freedom.... there is peace... there is joy! It sounds weird, but I love the verse where it talks about taste and see that the Lord is good. I feel like I've een bypassing the tasting and seeing part. I've been on a race and diet (Arent we all?lol) and yes I was there and yes I was reading my Bible and all, but there is such a difference in tasting and seeing that the Lord is good than just skimming so that we can get on to the next thing. Taste it. See it. Abide in it. I imagine a kid playing in a fountain. Such pure joy. That really has nothing to do with those verses except being in it... feeling it... enjoying it... lavishing in it... Oh how beautiful.

Some days I get to the end of day and wonder if anything I did mattered. I run 100 miles per hour and barely stop to really enjoy life. This is my passion as of lately... Stop and smell the flowers... Enjoy life and the freedom that is found in Christ!

JEN

Homemade Tortilla chips!

I love making things!! Im not sure why, but it gives me such great joy to make things! If I think I saved a penny then I am extremly happy for the rest of the day! :)
This is howI made homemade tortilla chips...

I had already bought and frozen some extra tortilla shells when they were buy 1 get 1 free. So I thawed a pack out.

Then I cut them in strips. You could do triangles or whatever shape you would like. I just did strips to be easy. Then I put them on a bakng sheet. I sprayed a tad of pam on the top and dazzled them with salt. I used a toaster oven since our dorms did not have an oven. Keep a close eye on them because trust me... the first batch burned within 10 mins. Just shake every once in a while to make sure they are being cooked evenly. The wala! They were great even days after! Still fresh!

Wedding planning bliss!!

 

The planning has begun!! I have asked some of my Brides Maids!! I asked Matt's sister first, but was not able to get pictures... :/ The rest have been documented! Such fun!!

 

 

 I special ordered Gigi's cupcakes with a ring on top! It was my turn to pop the question! :)

I also created on snapfish a personal card for each one... Pictures of us together over the years and then on the inside it asked different things and the last part was Will you be my Brides Maid? Such excitement!

 Sarah said YES!

JMO Said yes to being my Maid of Honor!

Delight said YES also!!

 

A few more to go!

Love Unawakened

I have always liked the name of this blog. In the very beginning Kathryn came up with it and I've always thought it really captured the idea of our blog. Well as a couple of years have passed and I am now engaged I have realized just how powerful this name is. The saying "Guard you heart" is tossed around so much and I am not even really sure that people (Even the ones saying it) know how to do it. It sounds good and if done is good, but it is never as easy as it sounds. The longer I am engaged the more I realize things. One main thing is innocence and how beautiful it is. We all make mistakes and trust me this is not a brag session. I am thankful that some how I was able to keep love unawakened. In middle school and high school people "fall in love" all of the time. It is an every other day occurrence. I hear girls telling guy friends they love them and I still question whether that is good or not. That is off subject though... One of the things I held strong to was not tossing around the word "love" with guys. I tried my best to not get caught up in any ooey goey feelings. They were many times that others would have already been saying the "Love" word, but I held out. Looking back now did that really do anything? Yes, I think it did. I was close to engagement before I told Matt that I loved him. I had decided in my heart that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with before I let the idea of loving him in. To me love is life. He told me he loved me before I was ready to say it. I was fine with it, but I never felt pressured to say it back. I will never forget the night that we were in the parking lot and I looked up at him (Remember... he is 6'7"!lol) and quietly said "I love you". He asked me to repeat it one because he could not really hear me and secondly he wanted to make sure I had really said it. It was a big deal! I went inside and told my roommate and the look on her face was shock, but the more we talked she realized how I really meant it.

Girls, each  day I grow more and more in love with Matt. It was just a few weeks ago that I really became overwhelmed with love for him. My heart had not been tossed around so much that this was just old hat. It is new and exciting! Love is being awakened!! At the appropriate and right time this is a beautiful thing! I cannot imagine feeling this way about a guy and then just having him leave. Girls go through that over and over. That is not the way it is intended to be. So if you are young... hold out. Hold out on saying it, but also on the emotions of thinking it. Guard not just your heart, but your emotions, thoughts, and words. Those are what leads to your heart. Do not flippantly give them away. They are valuable.

Homemaking

I have a new found love.... Being a homemaker! Even though I am not married, yet Matt and I still cook together and all due to both living on the same campus that does not have a meal plan. True confession time... I totally stink at any type of crafts or anything like that. It just is not my spiritual gift and I have embraced that. Well, none the less though I love saving money and feeling responsible. Honestly, it is a very strong desire of my heart to be a good steward of what I have. For this reason I love couponing and using what I have. So lately I have gotten into this phase of wanting to make things! You never realize when growing up what all your mom does. I was homeschhooled and so I knew my mom made her own bread and all, but never really thought about it. So I plan on changing out Mondays for different things that I've enjoyed doing whether is be something I cook, make, or whatever! Feel free to share any recipes you have as well!

I cant wait to be a wife!! :)

JEN

Fruitful Friday

Forgiveness is not the freedom to sin, forgiveness is freedom from sin. ~ Unknown

What would I have changed?

So now that I'm engaged I've been thinking... What would I have changed? This is a tough post. I am not exactly sure what I would change. I would not be who i am today if I had not gone through and done what I have. I made a conscience decision through my teen years to save almost everything for my future husband. I have made mistakes though and things that i wish i could change. I will say at times I feel like i settled. I got tired of waiting. I knew the guy wasnt the guy i would marry, but it felt good to be liked and so i would go further emotionally than I should have. Also, times that i wasted so much energy and thought worrying about my future that I didnt enjoy the moment. Girls your single years seem to be dreadful when really they are a gift you will most likely never have again. I love being engaged, but one of the things I keep realizing is how my single years are over. My teen years have passed and so have my single years. Part of me says, "PRAISE GOD!", but the other part ask if I used it for all i could have. I've always heard that your single years are when you have the most time for God and I beleive that is true. As you get older you have more responsibilities. Are you taking advantage of your single years? Are you making the most of them? Some day you will no longer have them. Also, are the decisions you are making today going to be something you are proud of one day or something you will wish wouldn't have happened? Just a little food for thought! :)

Back to the Basics...

I have been thinking lately about when my love for God and passion became real. I had the privilege of growing up in an amazing home. I was homeschooled and went to church regularly. It was just something I had to do though until I was around 13 and went on my first mission trip. I believe that was when I realized that not everyone had the same opportunity I did and quit taking it for granted. What did I do though? I honestly remember sitting in my room for hours just reading my Bible and other Christian books about different issues. I’m not just talking one night. It was my hobby and love. I have more books from my teen years than I can count. I loved to read and learn more. I remember when sexual issues first came up. I began by looking in the concordance of my Bible and looked up every verse in there. I was passionate and I cared. Why am I not that way now? I still love God and am very passionate. I believe we become comfortable in our walk with the Lord though. We settle and get comfortable. I want to get back to what it was like in the beginning though. When I took it seriously and was in love with God more than anything else. Who is with me? I want to love God tomorrow more than I do today!

JEN

Finally Friday!

He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

~ Unknown

Are you good enough?

 I've been thinking a good bit lately about what others expect of us.... We have the normal school that everyone is expected to do great at, then there is sports, (basketball, gymnastics, cheerleading, softball, horse back riding, track, or etc) music (Band, piano lessons, singing lessons, any special instrument lesson, and etc), spending time with friends/family, 8 hours of sleep (that is a joke... i know!), work (Heavens to betsy some of us actually carry full time jobs with everything else going on!), volunteer hours, church, and then if you have time left over we are suppose to spend an ample amount of time with God. Not only are all of these requested... they are expected! As women we have so much thrown at us and yet we are still expected to be perfect at it all or at least we feel like it! Have you ever felt like you just couldn't meet everyone's expectations? It was impossible and no matter what you did it just wasn't good enough... It may be that you are working all the time and your boy friend keeps saying, "You never have time for me anymore" or your mom says after you get home from school and an assortment of sports practices, "I just never see you any more..." and then two seconds later she says, "Did i not tell you to make your bed, wash the dishes, and put away the clothes before school this morning?!". Now, before I get to far into this please realize that Im not bashing responsibility at all! I do think we need to be responsible and believe that if we say we will do something we need to keep to our word. Although, this is where Im going with this... we are not perfect and we will fail. Not everyone will love us and that is just life. I whole heartedly believe that we need to give our best effort in everything we do, but if we are doing so much then how can we do that? I've come to the bottom a few times in my life where i was just doing so much that I just couldn't do anything else. This weekend was one of those times. I've come to realize that my body gives me signals when Im on over load... such as, my ears hurt (I wont have an ear infection, but they will just ache), my head hurts, or Im sore all over. It's just the way my body works. It may not be the same for you, but do you know what your signs are? Some people get really irritable, others get very emotional, etc. With all that said, you should never get to that point. God is a God of peace. Yes, life isnt a meadow full of wonderful smelling roses, but at the same time it isn't.

What do I propose? First, PRAY!! Secondly, put your priorities in order... Honestly, Im the worlds worst at this. I love  to please people and so if you ask me to do something i will most likely say yes. This isnt always the most God honoring thing though.... If we are doing so many, "Good things" that we cant do the few things God REALLY has planned and set aside for us to do with our whole heart. I may be the only person that ever feels this way, but I highly doubt it...

I challenge you to write out all that you do (every single thing...you may need more than one piece of paper!) and acknowledge that yes, you are good enough! You may not be perfect, but as long as you try your hardest thats ok! Decide what you want to be your main focus. God, family, boyfriend? When you only have time to do one thing before you go to bed what will it be? One thing I was challenged to do the other day was for one hour each night to turn my phone off. This is my time to spend with God, family, do home work or whatever I need to get done that night. Not just "not txt" bc we all know how that goes, but to really turn it off. It helps so much to just get away from the world for a little while!

Money Monday

Tip- Use up food! Sounds simple right? So many people have so much in their pantry that they cant even remember. This is sad. To save money and just clean out start the year by having a week where you get nothing at the grocery store except maybe milk and things that perish quickly. No cangoods, meats, or snacks. Use this week or your pantry maybe could last multiple weeks to use up the food you already have. If you rather not do this than atleast weed through it all and give what you are not using away! Someone else can eat it! :) You would be amazed at what all you have that you never use.

Fablous Friday

"A beautiful woman uses her lips for truth, her voice for kindness, her ears for compassion, her hands for charity her heart for love. For those that don't like her...she uses prayer." ~ Jolly Rutten ~

2012 at a glance..

This last year has been such an adventure! I've loved every step of the way though! So here are some pictures to show you what this last year ahas been like through my eyes! :)

 

 

I went as a chaperone to the youth trip last new years! Fun times! :)

Matt and I began dating... Who knew what would happen in a year!

Oh how I miss this man.... He passed away at the beginning of the year.

I hope to live by the legacy he left behind.

Girls night at school!

I was the children's leader at Enon for most of the year... we did many events!

This one is when we had a pizza party and went to the park!

Easter!

My Bro Graduated

This is one of the reasons I love this man... :)

We took almost 30 kids bowling...

I worked with these teens and others sharing the Gospel with kids this summer!

Pics from our trip up the East coast to D.C. and many other places!!

I GOT ENGAGED!!!

We took wawa to see her sister!

 

Christmas! :)

 

I hope 2013 is just as great as 2012!!

 

JEN