Blessings

Loving the song "Blessings" by Laura Story... very simple message but so true and I feel like it probably hits home for a lot of people. Learning so much about the blessings in my life right now. Counting them one by one...

Here is a little blurb of Laura sharing her heart behind the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9irePc-iI


as well as the full song.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0



Enjoy....

Life...

So recently The Millers have been a little out of pocket. This trying to balance life with another person thing seems to be a little more difficult than previous assumptions would let on! Between getting the apartment in functional order, my work on the weekends, Wes's out of town work trips on the weekends, and the little ins and outs of everyday life we feel like we haven't even seen each other since the honeymoon.





The past two weeks have been especially difficult for me because Wes has been swamped with work. We knew it was something that he would have to jump right back into but it is still difficult none-the-less! He was out of town from last Wednesday to Sunday morning and then flew out of town again Monday night and finally got back home this Wednesday night! What a week?!?! Being a newly wed and basically having to do that transition via phone conversations (very limited phone conversations) is not fun. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This weekend is MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!!! Which means... 4 day break from work and life with a little trip to the lake. How fun!





But for this particular post, I would like to focus on last week and some of the things I learned while away from my sweet husband. First of all, absence really does make the heart grow fonder and I feel like I love him more today than I did yesterday.... which is saying a lot ;) Also, no matter how hard things may seem the hard times always come to an end and the time right after is the sweetest. Praying last week for my husband's safe flight to Tampa, then back to bham, then to Charlotte, and again back to bham was so encouraging. Not only did the Lord grant him safe travels but made his flights so easy. That is kind of hard to come by lately... if you are a frequent flyer you probably know what I mean. Just knowing that the Lord doesn't guarantee us another day or more time with our loved ones or even an easy life makes those times when he grants us those things even sweeter and I am so thankful for that.





I pray that for the rest of our lives God continues to make us take the time to realize how blessed we are. Even when life seems very difficult and those times come around more often than we like I pray that God would continually remind us that He, the Creator of the universe, is the one thinking for us and that nothing that goes on in our life surprises Him or catches Him off guard. He is always aware of what we are going through and is constantly working it together for our good. To shape us and mold us into who He has called us to be. Into a people that will bring glory to Him through all things.

Sneak Preview...

Here are a few of the pictures from our Wedding April 30th! Just a few teasers before the rest of them come in. Thanks Brian T. Murphy and Miana for doing such a wonderful job on these! So excited to see the finished product...

Check out T.Photographic for more information...

We are OFFICIALLY the Millers...

Well, April 30th came and went and was an absolute whirl wind of emotions. There was a lot that around that date this year. My brother turned 24, we had some of the worst storms seen in Alabama in a long time, Prince William and Kate were married, and Osama Bin Ladin was killed. But none of that mattered on April 30th. The world stood still as I prepared to walk down the isle to my best friend in the entire world. The day was so special, filled with wonderful memories that I will cherish for my entire life. Wes and I said "I do" at his home Church in Birmingham, Shades Mountain Baptist and my pastor from home, Mike Green, pronounced us man and wife in front of God and our sweet friends and families. It was a fairytale kind of day ending with one of the best dance parties of my life! Our band was awesome and it was so great to spend that time with the people closest to us before starting our life together.

We honeymooned in Maui, Hawaii which was breathtaking. We want to move there now haha!!! We had a blast exploring the island and experiencing life together. Right now we are trying to get settled in the new apartment which has been quite an experience! We have no where to put any of our wonderful wedding presents but we couldn't be happier together.

It's gonna be a wonderful life....

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...