WEDDING WEEK...

It's wedding week and all I can think about is what HAVEN'T I done?!?!? I feel like I am forgetting some big important part of the details but I have gone over and over everything and it all seems to be in line. Maybe it is just one of those moments :)

This week has felt so surreal and oddly calm. I have been laid back as opposed to my recently uptight state the past 4 months. I guess you just get to the point where enough has been done and if it doesn't work out the way you planned then at the end of the day you are married anyway and that's all that matters. There are great stories that come from the little mix-ups in life. That's one of the things I love the most about my parent's wedding story is that absolutely nothing went as planned. Granted my mom knew nothing about it until everything was over but the groomsmen were late getting to the church to usher the guests because they were on a mission (lead by their uncle) to find the getaway car that my grandfather had carefully hidden out of sight. Somehow, being in a city they knew nothing about, they still managed to find the car and ultimately demolish it with graffitti before returning to the church where they found my dad ushering in all of the guests and their mother (my grandmother) who was more than livid (if you knew my grandmother you would find that pretty humorous seeing as she could do absolutely nothing with 4 mischievous boys haha).

All of that to say it seems to be the little bloopers in life that make it all worth it! Those things that you think are the worst possible thing at that time always end up surprising you and from them come greater things than you could have ever imagined!

I am excited to see what bloopers pop up in my future with the love of my life by my side :)


4 more days...

On the go...

So the last few days have been crazy busy but I wanted to log on today to say thank you to all of our wonderful friends! We have enjoyed you all so much during this process and we are beyond grateful to have each of you in our lives. God could not have blessed us with more encouraging, contagiously joyful, precious, and hilarious people than you guys... we love each of you!

officially 10 days!

Oh so close and far away...

Our wedding day is getting so close and I feel like the days could not be going by any slower! Honestly, it has almost seemed out of reach until this past weekend...

Little side note... Wes and I drove to Luverne last Friday night in the terrible weather. Obviously coming from Birmingham we had to pass through Autauga County which got hit the hardest. Thankfully my sweet Dad is a whiz when it comes to the weather. He talked us through the entire night calling and telling us to stop for 15 minutes in Clanton, calling again to tell us to leave immediately, then calling us to see if we were in Montgomery and had made it through the line of storm cells that were passing through Pratville! If it weren't for the damage shown on t.v. later that night we would not have believed a storm even passed through. We never saw more than rain! My Dad literally talked us through the 5 minute window of time where it was safe to drive through Pratville. Once we were in Montgomery it was smooth sailing from there. How blessed I am to have a Dad to sit in front of the t.v. all night just so my fiance and I can safely make it home to him :)

The rest of the weekend was go go go! We got to be late Friday night after fighting through the storms. Saturday morning I woke up early to get my make-up done for my Bridal portraits that afternoon and Wes was off to the lake for a relaxing day with my brother, his wife, and some of their friends. Before I could get the portraits done Mom and I went to a seasonal shower at 10am that was thrown by some wonderful friends in Luverne. Wes and I got so many great things and it was so fun to sit down and open all of them with sweet people that I do not get to see very often. Love... Directly after the shower, we loaded up, went by the house to change, then off to Trendsetter to get my hair done. While having my hair played with (which I looooove) Mom, my Aunt, and my Grandmother ran some errands down town and unloaded the car. Then they came by to pick me up for a little surprise!

We got to the house and my sweet Daddy was sitting outside on the carport with my parents dog, Charlie. He had a small gift wrapped box sitting next to him. When I got out of the car I walked up and he handed it to me. I opened it and inside were the most beautiful pair of dangling, diamond earrings I have ever seen. He told me they were for my wedding day if I did not have anything else in mind to wear and if I liked them... HOW COULD I NOT LIKE THEM?!?!?! And I will just say, the design matches my dress perfectly. At that point he had not seen my dress up close either. I am so blessed to have such special men in my life... I love my Daddy!

After my sweet surprise we were on the road to Elba for the portraits which I think are going to turn out beautiful!

Sunday morning rolled around and it was time for Church. Our friends Amanda and Steve now live in Troy so they came to visit my home Church South Luverne. It was homecoming and my brother and his wife and my mom and dad were there. So fun to see everyone all at once. The sermon was wonderful. One of the most inspiring and convicting portrayals of the Cross I have ever heard. After Church we had a yummy lunch and then marriage counseling with my Pastor, Mike Green. Such a special man with a heart for the Lord like none I have ever seen! He definitely has an anointing and gift for sharing the truths of God in a way that everyone can understand. I am so glad he is performing our ceremony. His family is like my second family and I love them so much.

All of this to say, I feel the big day getting so close and wrapping up some loose ends this weekend made it feel closer and more exciting than it has through this entire process. Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of "getting things done" that we forget to enjoy the ride along the way. That is what Wes and I have decided these final days before our wedding are going to be. Enjoying our time as an engaged couple and anxiously anticipating the arrival of a beautiful day ordained by Christ!

12 days of bliss...

Sleepy time...

Last night as I was writing a new post I fell asleep. It was only 9pm... Lame I know! The weeks are taking a lot more out of me lately. Last night was supposed to be 16 days until the wedding but because I went to sleep early it's now 15 days... YAY! I guess going to sleep early isn't too bad after all :)

Meet Amare...

Meet our sweet little boxer baby Amare! Also known as Amare Avatarie, Amare Farticus Finch Butt, Puppy Butt, or Amare Fart... for obvious reasons.

We love our sweet little addition to our family and couldn't imagine life without her. She definitely fills our apartment with mischievousness, laughter, and a whole lot of love. Since Wes and I got back from our honeymoon she has been beside herself with excitement over both mom and dad being at her home all the time. She's been more playful than I have ever seen her before, which is saying a lot! She has also been horrible... I mean jumping on the couch for a little sit when she has never been allowed on the couch before, eating random things while we aren't watching, and sticking her head in the shower curtain while we get ready in the mornings. She has a lot of personality though and knows exactly how to work us. She does whatever she wants to and knows that right now mom and dad are really happy and won't get on to her ;) She basically does her thing then comes over to where we are sitting and lays her head in our lap and licks us, as if to say "I'm sorry!" Then she is back doing the next thing.

The other day I walked back to our bedroom to find her chomping on some of my laundry and Wes left his pizza alone for 2 seconds and it was stolen! The culprit would be one cute little pup who is taking advantage of her freedom. But what in the world would entertain us if she weren't there? haha

Meet Amare...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder....

Wes came back into town tonight from a work trip in Florida! He had been gone since Monday and I was so excited to see him. I was also really pumped to tell him that I started our new blog last night. I knew he would be just as overjoyed as I was and it would bring up wonderful conversation about our upcoming life together. Then we would sit and laugh and say sweet things over dinner and spend the rest of the night thinking about what our wedding day was going to be like. Obviously I am a girl and those of you who are married probably know where this is headed.

Reality.... I told Wes about the blog and he was glad to hear I found something to occupy my time during the waiting period. Not exactly what I was expecting but he was excited none-the-less!He even asked what the link was and went to the website to read it. After a little time had passed I asked him what he thought. He looked at me and said "Well, it was a little shorter than I thought it would be... was there anything I missed on the extended profile?" I asked him to show me what part he read. Evidently he missed the entire blog post, scrolled past it, and had been staring at the profile and gadgets section for the last 15 minutes hahaha. I am going to really enjoy living with this man!

17 days and counting...

Let the countdown begin...

My first thoughts on launching this blog in replace of my old one were to create a blog that would incorporate my new, "better half" into my life and update others on the direction my life was headed. My second thought was not to launch the new blog until after our wedding. Obviously I got a little excited (aka I've run out of things to occupy my time with before the wedding) so I have decided to let everyone in on the count down until our Big Day! For those of you I may not see very often and need to be updated.... I'm getting married!!!!! The Lord has been generous enough to bring an amazing man into my life and I couldn't be happier. My fiance, Wes Miller, is the love of my life and one of the most humble and Godly men I know. Through this process I have seen him grow closer to the Lord on a daily basis and I cannot tell you how excited I am to see God grow him into the man He has called him to be. What a unique and special experience this has been.

A little bit of background...

Wes and I met through a friend of a friend after I moved to Birmingham in 2007. It actually took us a little while to become friends because I was in and out of our group for a while. He was part of a group of guys that just really stole my heart the more I got to know them. God used Wes and our friends Sam and Fletcher to speak to my heart over the next year and to heal some areas that I thought were completely hopeless. One example of how small our faith can be at times but how faithful the Lord continues to be through our UNfaithfulness! Continuing on to 2009 - 2010 I became close friend with all three of them with no thought of there being anything more. I think for the first time in my life I could look at a group of men and see them as true brothers instead of potential dates (and ladies.... let's be honest! We all tend to do this and you guys are not exempt either ;). As I spent time with them Wes and I really hit it off and realized we were very similar in a lot of ways but still no thoughts as to where that would lead.

Around September of 2009 God called me to a new job in Nashville, TN and I accepted with no hesitation. I knew the job was something the Lord had cultivated in my heart over the years and I stepped into an internship position with a PR company in the middle of a very down economy. I left a full-time job at a ministry that I loved knowing that I may never go any farther than this internship but I knew it was something I had to trust God with. As this process unfolded and Wes and I got to know each other a little better I began to think that there could be something more between us. Mostly I just passed it off as a fleeting thought, convincing myself that there was nothing there. Something unimportant that I was just day dreaming about but would never happen. I was moving to Nashville in a few months and there was no way that would work at all. Little did I know God was spurring the same thoughts in Wes as well.

Then with the weekend of my departure right around the corner Wes decided to more-or-less "talk" to me about his feelings. I was completely caught off guard and did not respond well at all. I believe my first response was "well, where did that come from?" Not exactly what he was expecting... oops! I was leaving that weekend for Nashville and so many thoughts came flooding into my mind. How could this work? How could this possibly happen when I was about to leave? And even... Do I really want to leave now? We talked things out and decided to wait for a little while to see if things progressed after I moved. Looking back, this was mostly my idea because of a lot of fears I had tied up in everything and again, a lack of faith in what God was doing.

A few months passed after I moved and Wes and I kept well in touch. He was so consistent in calling and keeping up with me that I never had to worry about what he was thinking or what his intentions were. He made them VERY clear :) We began dating about a month and a half after my move to Nashville and God has been drastically growing our relationship ever since. There were many hardships and adversities we faced in our time of dating and a lot of things God brought us through. However, in all of these things He has continuously grown us together as a couple and closer to Himself. He continues to bless us, even when we do not deserve it. Our relationship has been a huge test of our faith in God and his plan for our lives and a testament of God's unconditional love for His children! He even provided a full-time job for me back in Birmingham so we could be closer and continue growing together. Although my time in Nashville was one of the best in my life, it was only for a season. God used that time to bring us out of the hustle and bustle of every day life and provided an escape to a different city with friends who only knew us as a couple. It was a sweet time and encompassed some of the defining moments of our relationship.

A very important day...

On Saturday, December 4, 2011 Wes decided to wake up early in the morning to take me to Huntsville to a park where we used to meet when I was in Nashville and we could not see each other on the weekends. One weekend at this particular park God revealed to us that there was more to our relationship and that He was moving us forward to marriage. (picture taken by Wes's brother, Brad Miller, at Monte Sano Park in Huntsville) I was very concerned about leaving Birmingham that day because I had my first major event that I was planning for The Foundry (my new job in Birmingham) that night. I argued with him and asked him why we could not just go another weekend? He asked me to trust him and told me how much fun it would be to get away and de-stress before the event that night. I was absolutely clueless as to the events that would unfold that day. Somehow He talked me into leaving and off to Huntsville we went.

On the way there I asked to stop three or four times to get snacks or coffee. Once we finally got there, we got out of the car and I started to get the food out for lunch. Wes asked if I would like to leave it there for the time being and take a walk instead. I agreed. We walked straight out to the most beautiful look out point that reaches out over a huge valley. The view was beautiful that day and we were the only people in the park besides a lady and her daughter who were playing on the swings. As we were standing there Wes began talking. I honestly don't remember what he was saying to start with because I felt him back away from me and I wondered why. Then I remember him talking about our relationship and what I meant to him. How he had seen my heart for the Lord and my composure and faithfulness in many different and sometimes difficult situations and how in awe he was of that. I remember thinking he was crazy and giving me way too much credit. I turned around to look at him to understand where all of this was coming from only to find him down on one knee. I immediately knew what he was doing. I was so overwhelmed that I dropped down to my knees with him! Silly I know hahaha. Then I heard him ask the question that I had been waiting so patiently and at times impatiently ;) to hear. "Jessica, will you marry me?"

I SAID YES!!!! Whole heartedly and with absolutely no hesitation. He would probably say that I answered before he finished and that may be true :) I love him so uncontrollably and unconditionally, a way that I have never loved anyone before. We both have flaws and at times we get frustrated as every normal couple does but I know at the end of the day that this is the man I have been created for. Created as a helper to continue bringing glory to our Savior through our life together.

God has been so good to us and has proven his love for us time and time again. Our prayer is that in this new journey we continue to seek His will above all else and continue to share the love of Christ to others through our words, actions, and lives. Please be in prayer with us as we wrap up this time of planning and step into our new roles as husband and wife. That God would continue to strengthen us individually as well as a couple and that we would be willing to say "God your will be done" and "here we are... send us!"

Pray with us this verse: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." - Pilippians 3:12 - 16

Officially 18 days to go.... Let the countdown begin!