One Month Countdown: Our Story

So, in celebration of our one month until the wedding mark, I'm going to share our story with all of you (all of you who probably already know it, or watched it all happen...but oh well)!

Once upon a time, a girl told a friend that she'd go see his documentary screening at Samford -

- actually, let's back up a couple of years...

Once upon a time a girl went to freshman orientation at Samford University in the summer of 2007. All of the new kids got to stay overnight in the dorms and the orientation leaders put together a fun night for everyone. Part of this fun night was a DJ and karaoke. There happen to be a guy who was going into his senior year at Samford and he was in charge of the sound and music. The girl saw him at the beginning of the night, but as the night went on, she felt like she was seeing him more and more...and he got more and more silly. At one point he came right up to her and starting dancing like a crazy person. She thought to herself, "What a weird dude...fun...but strange." The next day she told her parents that the DJ guy was really odd, and that he danced by her for part of the evening (She didn't realize he was a student, so that made it seem kind of odd. But let's be honest - she told her parents because she was kind of flattered). Five and a half years later, the sound guy and the flattered girl are getting married!

...now we're getting ahead of ourselves, let's go back to the documentary screening -

So this girl, we'll call her Jessica, went to see a documentary screening for her friend. She was running late (kind of on purpose because she wasn't sure if she'd know anyone else there), and as she was walking across the quad, she saw a guy that she knew was mutual friend go into the screening room, we'll call him Jason. Jessica decided that she'd just slip in the back. When she entered the room, she saw that Jason had done the same thing. Boldly, she asked if she could sit with him. He said, "Sure, but can you sit over here {he motioned to the other side of him}? I have a friend meeting me." Jessica was sure it was a girl, maybe even a girlfriend, and this was about to get super awkward. Sure enough, it wasn't a girl...it was Jason's friend, we'll call him Kyle.

This was the documentary that started it all!

After the screening, Jason and Jessica talked for a little while. It was the first week of May 2010, and finals were fast approaching for those who were still in college {SIDENOTE: This whole time, Jessica thought Jason was a senior - but really he just worked at Samford doing freelance jobs and that's why she saw him there sometimes. She almost asked him if he was excited about graduation, but thankfully she didn't - that would have been embarrassing.} That night, a local church was hosting its annual Pancake Study Break, and Jason asked Jessica if she was going. She said, "Yes, it's actually my hall activity for this month," (she was an RA) and Jason said he'd see her there.

They saw each other at the study break, but just waved from a distance. Jessica's 21st birthday was later that week and her friend who had the screening, we'll call him Taylor, said that he was coming to her birthday dinner and was going to bring Jason. When she found this out, Jessica's stomach did a little somersault, but she didn't know why. As it turns out, Jason didn't make it to the birthday dinner - he decided to play basketball with some friends instead (it's okay he redeems himself later on in the story).

Jessica's 21st Birthday Dinner

After Jessica's birthday, she "friend requested" Jason on Facebook. They did a little Facebook "chatting", and some flirting on each others "walls". One night, while they were "chatting", there was a bit of a lull in the conversation and Jessica wasn't ready to stop talking. So, she told Jason her computer battery was acting strange (he worked at the Apple store). He told her to download some diagnostic thing, but he said that he'd make her a Genius Bar appointment the next day when he got to work - "If you give me your phone number, I can just text you the times that are available when I get there," he said. So, Jessica gave Jason her phone number.

After that, the two began texting a lot. Jessica was studying for finals, and she quickly realized that Jason had been out of school for a couple of years (she realized it without embarrassing herself, thankfully). She liked to study at Barnes and Noble at the Summit, and Jason came to meet her there after work a time or two. Over the next week or so, they became really good friends.

The week of finals, Jessica began to realize that she kind of liked Jason - probably as more than a friend - and he maybe liked her too. But, she was about to go back to Destin for the summer, and liking someone who lived in Birmingham would make things complicated; so they just continued to be friends.

Jessica realized right off the bat that Jason was an incredible guy. He did things like help her move out of her dorm room (even though she hadn't asked him to), and other little things that people don't usually volunteer to do (he always offered to drive, just little things like that).

Soon, the day came when it was time for Jessica to go home for the summer. Jason was sure that their friendship would end, or at least lessen, but it didn't! They continued to text throughout the day, even though they were five hours away and both working. The friendship seemed pretty resilient.

Jessica had a wedding to attend in Birmingham over Memorial Day weekend. She decided to come up a few days before the wedding to visit her friends that were staying in Birmingham over the summer. Naturally, this included Jason, and he caught on to that pretty fast. A few days before she arrived in Birmingham, he told her that his friend Kyle was playing in a show downtown and he'd love for Jessica to go with him.

Jessica arrived in Birmingham and spent the first evening with her friend, we'll call her MK. MK was going out of town the next day though, so Jessica was able to make plans with Jason. So, they spent the day together just going around and running errands. Remember Jessica's computer battery that she said was messed up to keep the conversation going? Well, she'd kept canceling the Genius Bar appointments that Jason had made her because she knew nothing was wrong with it. When she came up for the wedding, Jason decided that they could go together to get her battery looked at. Not so surprisingly, the Genius Bar dude told her nothing was wrong with it - go figure...

That night was the show that Kyle was playing in. Jessica went back to MK's house to change and say goodbye to MK. Then, without knowing it, Jason and Jessica began their first date, which included dinner at Rojo, walking around Morris Ave. in the rain, going to see Kyle play at Matthews Bar & Grill, and hanging out with friends at IHOP after the show.

Jessica and Jason were able to one more date (they had established it as a date by this point) in before she had to go home for the rest of the summer. It was the most perfect date Jessica had ever been on - and Jason was pretty happy with it too. The next morning, Jessica headed back to Destin. Unfortunately, their fear came true later on that week, and their friendship started to fizzle out a little bit because of the distance. They both agreed that they really enjoyed each other, but it wasn't  wise timing to start a relationship long distance.

--------------

In August, Jessica returned to Birmingham for her senior year. Jessica was hopeful that she and Jason would be able to rekindle their friendship, even if they never went on another date. Thankfully, they ended up being around each other quite a bit because Jason was doing a lot of work at Samford and Jessica was on campus three weeks before classes started for RA training. They also had a lot of the same friends, and they went to the same church.

One night after school began, Jason called Jessica and asked her if she wanted to go with him to shoot a video for a friend who was about to release a new album and Jason was making a video for him to promote it. We'll call this friend Bobby. So of course, Jessica wanted to go. They had a great time just laughing and joking around together, and it seemed like their friendship was going to be able to pick up right where it had left off. They hung out with together with their group of friends a couple of nights in a row after that.

Then, Labor Day weekend came and Jessica was taking some of her girl friends home with her for a beach trip. Jason texted her the whole time that she was in Destin, and secretly, she liked that a lot. She thought that maybe her "more than friends" feelings were coming back, but she wasn't sure yet. When she got back from Destin on Labor Day, she was planning on having dinner with Taylor because she'd covered for him at work (they were both RAs) and he owed her dinner. As she was waiting for Taylor to come out to her car, she saw Jason drive by, park, and start walking toward them. He went to dinner with them as well! After dinner (at IHOP), Taylor had other plans, so Jason and Jessica decided to continue hanging out.

Then the hung out the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and they've basically been hanging out ever since.

Jason took Jessica on a couple of dates that were very "them". One was a cupcake date in the afternoon to Urban Standard - cupcakes and coffee are two of Jessica's favorite things. They also went to dinner a couple of times - and a movie or two. On September 22, 2010 Jason took Jessica on a special date. He blindfolded her and took her to Davenport's pizza because it's square (she'd told him that she liked square pizza - like the kind from elementary school). Then he blindfolded her again, and he took her to a movie. After the movie, she was blindfolded again and he took her to Sonic (according to Jason, a boy and a girl have to be a couple before they can go there at night together - that's the classic Samford after-date place to go). Before Jessica could take off the blindfold, Jason took her phone, and wrote this:

Then he said, "Okay, you can look now," and she did, and she said, "Yes! I'll be your girlfriend!" Then he handed her pink roses and they became "Facebook Official".

Exactly two years later, on September 22, 2012 (one month from today), Jessica will meet Jason at the alter, and they will vow to love each other forever, as husband and wife.

This may be the end of this story for now, but it's just the beginning for the {almost} Morales'!

{to find out more about the upcoming Sansom/Morales Wedding, make hotel reservations, look at their registries, get directions, and more, go to their wedding website}

Perfect Imperfection

Lately I've noticed that God is really teaching me a lot. Abba and I have been having some real "teachable moments" as my mom calls them. I used to really shy away from sharing what the Lord is teaching me because I felt like maybe I'd be judged for having not already grasp that concept - but recently I've noticed that I get SUPER excited when something clicks in my soul. You know that feeling when you realize something and you KNOW without a doubt that it's God revealing something to you because you feel a burning excitement in the pit of your heart? That's what I'm talking about. I'm so thankful that I've been able to experience this on multiple occasions over the last few weeks.

I'm a pretty passionate person. Some might say that I'm extreme. Not extreme as in weird (although I'm probably quite weird), but extreme as in I'm always one extreme or the other. If I decide that I'm going to do something or be a part of something, there's absolutely no turning back; I'm on board and I don't do things halfway. On the other hand, if I don't really care about something or if I don't think an idea is good, it's very obvious and it makes it really hard to for me to ever compromise (something I'm working on, trust me).

One thing that I've been passionate about since I've been a believer is pouring into other women - or young women. I have to admit that I haven't done this as much as I've wanted to since I've graduated from college, but I love it. I was an RA for three years in college and being able to sit up at 4:00 in the morning and listen to one of my residents pour out their heart about something that's bothering them is honestly one of the most satisfying experiences of my life thus far. It wasn't self-satisfying - I didn't really do anything. Most of the time I'd listen to girls talk about how they just broke up with their boyfriend and how they were never speaking to him again, only to find out that they were back together with the same guy a week later. But I got to listen. I go to pray. I got to give advice when they asked for it. I got to give a little bit of a different perspective if they  needed it. I got to share life with those girls in a different way than anyone else on that hall for three years. The best part of it is that I know that God placed me there to glorify Him.

I say all of this to say that I try to use my blog as the same kind of platform that I used my job as an RA. Sometimes the things that I write are probably way TMI (too much information), so I do apologize for that. But I try to write about things that the Lord is teaching me, so please don't fault me for that :) And with that - here we go.

Last night I had an epiphany.

Yesterday my office gave Jason and me a wedding shower. It was beautiful in every way and we felt so loved and blessed by everyone. In addition to the wedding gifts we got at the shower, we also received a grill in the mail (that just sounds funny) yesterday as a wedding gift. I bought steaks to cook this week, so when Jason got the grill, I told him that we could save the steaks for when he got the grill put together. So the poor guy went to work.

A snapshot of the wedding shower that Martin gave us!

I walked into my apartment that had a dining room full of moving boxes (Jason's stuff) and wedding gifts from yesterday and the shower I had in Fort Walton a couple of weeks back. Then, I looked in the living room and Jason was surrounded by LOTS of small pieces that were somehow supposed to fit together to make a grill. I felt like the walls were going to cave in on me.

So I decided that I would make some chicken noodle soup with the leftover chicken from earlier this week - just in case the grill wasn't finished tonight. Then we realized that we had a charcoal grill but no charcoals. So my roommate and I went to Walmart to buy charcoals. Long story short, the grill is put together, but I cooked our steak on the stove last night.

As Jason was sitting on the couch, a little frustrated and a lot hungry, I was in the kitchen still working. I kept thinking to myself that I'd worked all day, then I came home and helped him, and now I'm the one who is still up cooking him dinner - after I'd already cooked soup - and I could barely walk through my apartment without having to step over stuff. I began to get frustrated as well.

When the stove-cooked steaks were finished, I put them on a plate with some corn on the cob that I'd also cooked and took Jason's plate into the living room to give to him. As I came around the corner, I saw him sitting there on the couch, working on a video project that he's been doing and I realized something: not only has he been working all day too, he's still working just like me. But even if he wasn't still working, it wouldn't matter. I love him. He's the best friend I'll ever have and I'd do anything for him.

After dinner I was working on putting together some shelves and I went into the kitchen to get something to drink. When I walked in, Jason was putting away the clean dishes from the dishwasher and washing the dirty dinner dishes.

Before he left last night I told him the realization that I'd come to and I just wanted him to know that God is really humbling me and teaching me to show him love by serving. Jason said that while he was doing the dishes, he'd come to the same conclusion. We both laughed about it because we realize that if we didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and teaching us how to love each other well, the night could have looked a lot different. We didn't let our frustration get the best of us - instead we just made a decision to serve. As imperfect as we are as people, the grace of God has made our love for each other perfect.

This whole night reminded me of a conversation that I had with a friend from my small group back in June. She's been married for almost two years, and Jason and I really respect she and her husband's marriage. She told me that one of the things she's learned is that in marriage, you should always feel like you're doing more work - and that should bring you joy. You should constantly be trying to out-serve the other person. God has called us to serve one another in marriage, and I am so excited that God has chosen to teach Jason and I what that looks like before we're even married!

Well, enough rambling for the day. I hope that you all have fa fabulous weekend - but there's one more thing I want to leave you with on this Friday:

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:1-2

Defining Moments

Each of us have instances, circumstances, days, weeks, months, thoughts, words, etc. that are "defining moments" in our lives. We don't necessarily know what they are ahead of time, and many times we don't know when they are (possibly even when they're happening), but they're out there - and they find and define each of us.

I feel as if lately my life has been surrounded by a lot of heartache. There have been too many loved ones of friends who have departed this world. There have been too many marriages of friends or friends of friends that have been broken apart because of infidelity. There have been lost jobs, unscheduled moves, and some things that don't really fit into a category, but are just sad.

All of this heartache makes me hurt - sometimes I literally feel like my heart is hurting. And then I look at my life in the here and now and realize how truly blessed I am. Here I am on the brink of a joyous occasion where I get to become the wife of my best friend. Here I am on the brink of having on of my other best friends (my sister) move a mile and a half away from my apartment. Here I am working at a great job which pays the bills and is in my field of study. Here I am with an amazing and supportive family. Here I am with a loving and caring and faithful Savior who loves me unconditionally and died for me.

Just when I start to become a little jaded by how my life is looking in the here and now, God draws me back to reality. When I think about the past five years of my life, it is a roller coaster of ups-and-downs. There's been sadness and rejoicing, pain and celebration, along with suffering and comfort. Each stage of life is rooted in easy and hard situations sprinkled with defining moments along the way - that's how God grows us.

I'm constantly reminded that I'm living in a fallen world that is full of sinful people (including myself).

A defining moment is a time that have an affect on your life that is lasting.

Thinking about defining moments makes me think about a quote from the Esther book that I'm reading:

If I had known beforehand what I would have had to walk through to receive the victory, I might have said, "NO THANKS!" and merely walked away, but God is more generous than to allow that. Sometimes, in this way, I can view my lack of information (lack of ability to judge my situation rightly) as a blessing in disguise...of course, there are are times (more often than I would like to admit!) when I allow that same lack of information to become a source of frustration. (pg. 41)

Sometimes we go through things or times when we feel like every decision we make is going to be life altering - and many times we're probably right. But isn't it so encouraging to know that even as we're worrying and fretting over what to to do or what choice to make, God already knows? There are moments that we can look back on that we know define our lives - but God is the author of our story.

When sadness or difficult circumstances surround you, remember that. God has written our story. He knows the decision we will make, how it will affect us, who else it might affect, how long it will affect us, He knows it all! May we learn to put our trust in Him each and every day and may remember that throughout all of eternity He is the one thing that unchanging - He is always good.

"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." - C.S. Lewis, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

What I've Been "Reading"

So, I guess I'll let the cat out of the bag - I'm a big fan of audiobooks.

I love reading, but with a 8:30-5:00 job, planning a wedding, extra work with the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes, a fiance who I'd like to give my attention to, and somewhat of a TV addiction, reading doesn't happen as often as I'd like. A couple of months ago I bought a Kindle e-reader. I love it, and I've used it quite a bit...but even so I keep coming back to my audiobooks.

Last week I picked up a book from my bookshelf that my sisters sent me for my 22nd birthday. It's called Esther: reflections from an unexpected life by Jennifer Spivey. I actually thought it was a study book when I picked it up, but as it so happens, it's actually a daily devotional. So far, I'm absolutely in love with this book. My mom did the Beth Moore study on Esther a couple of years ago, and ever since I've been dying to really dive into that book of scripture.

Last week I also renewed my library card so I could download more audiobooks on my iPhone to listen at work. Audiobooks that can be downloaded straight to the Overdrive app seem to be kind of limited, so I did a search for Karen Kingsbury books. I've never read any of her stuff, but I've heard good things about her books, so I decided to give one a try. I picked Oceans Apart, and so far I've hardly been able to take my headphones out :)

If you've been reading my blog for any period of time, you know that I struggle a lot with body image and self-esteem. I am constantly trying to find the balance of a healthier lifestyle. Two weeks ago I started "Insanity" in the mornings. I love it. Last week, I didn't do it once. I tend to be either all or nothing these days - but I'm really trying to find a balance.

Part of the reason that I didn't get up in the mornings last week was because of pure exhaustion. I was tired in every way possible: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I kind of walked around in a bit of a trance all week too - so working out at 6:00 a.m. was definitely not on my radar (even though every night I set my alarm like I was going to get up and work out).

Both books that I'm "reading" have really helped me cope with self-esteem/body image stuff as welly as my exhaustion.

First, a few quotes from Jennifer Spivey:

God is in complete control of His creation. He is continuously working to see His purposes come to pass. Even behind the scenes, sometimes seemingly hidden from human eyes, God is in control. His providence -- His ACTION -- is especially important to search for His providence and action during the book of Esther, as His name is never mentioned. (p. 25)

In every detail, in every moment, God is there loving you, encouraging you, rejoicing with you, grieving with you...The Word tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. (p. 25)

It is in the Lord that was find out freedom, and keeping this hope in our hearts will keep us free to worship and serve Him without fear. (p. 26)

God saw me where I was, and He was interested in drawing me closer to him...He had created me. God knew, as I did  not yet know, that my personality was a part of His creation. Somehow, even chatty and clumsy and laughably imperfect, God would be able to use me. The wrong expectation had created anxiety. The right expectation had created peace. (p. 26)

James compares the Word of God to a mirror, showing us what we are and who we are. The wrong kind of expectation can turn our focus away from the Lord, and make us forget what we are supposed to look like: we will "immediately forget what kind of man" or woman we are. (p. 26-27)

If you find your personal expectations or the expectation of those around you a hindrance [to His glory], let them go! (p. 27)

In His providence, you were created with a specific purpose. In His love, you will find the tools you  need to fulfill that purpose. (p. 27)

The Lord wanted them to focus on the NOW situation, and not be consumed with the sadness and fear that might overtake them during the captivity. (p. 32)

Confidence in His love for you will free you from the opinions of the people around you. (p. 33)

If praise from people can build you up, then disapproval from those same people can tear you down. (p. 33)

The Bible says that the power of life and death are in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). It is so true. Please, friend, do not allow your life to be held captive by someone else's words: find your life in what the Lord has to say about you! (p. 34)

Even in emotional situations, getting some distance may mean gaining some perspective: stepping away for a period of time can make all the difference in the world. (p. 39)

Our God is sovereign. By definition, sovereign means supreme ruler, possessing ultimate power, able to act independently and without support or clearance from an outside source...Once we realize that God is sovereign, we must leave our lives in His hands. (p. 41)

If I had known beforehand what I would have had to walk through to receive the victory, I might have said, "NO THANKS!" and merely walked away, but God is more generous than to allow that. Sometimes, in this way, I can view my lack of information (lack of ability to judge my situation rightly) as a blessing in disguise...of course, there are are times (more often than I would like to admit!) when I allow that same lack of information to become a source of frustration. (pg. 41)

Okay, so maybe that was more than a few - but SO encouraging, right?

I won't tell you every little detail of the book by Karen Kingsbury, but I do want to touch on how I've related with it so far.

The basic storyline is that there's this married couple, completely in love. They have two daughters and their life together seems pretty perfect. His name is Connor and her name is Michelle. Then there's this single mom and 7-year-old boy who live across the country. The single mom dies in a plane crash early on in the book. Connor finds out that the little boy, Max, is actually his. He had an affair with Max's mom eight years before, but never knew that he'd gotten the girl pregnant, and didn't know that he had a son. He'd never told his wife about the affair because it was during a layover in Hawaii and he never saw or spoke to Max's mom again. So far, I think it's kind of a story of redemption and healing. There are a couple of relationships that are fine, but not great, and I think that by the end they'll all be restored - or at least that's what I'm hoping.

Here's where my feelings come in - 

Michelle immediately blames herself and the way she looks when she finds out about the affair. She thinks that if she had been thinner, had lost her baby weight, etc. that Connor would have stayed faithful to her. The book talks about her binge eating (eating an entire pack of Oreo's one day and drinking nothing but herbal tea the next and hiding food in her desk) and her on-again off-again dieting habits because of her lack of self-esteem and finding her identity in how she looks. At the beginning of the the book, before anything about the affair comes out, Connor thinks about how he loves how his wife looks, even though she's gained a little weight since they were married, he loves her and loves how she looks - to him, she is the MOST beautiful.

I'm at a point in my life where my expectations for myself just aren't realistic. If I were honest with myself, I would change about a dozen different things about my body if I could. I have a DEEP underlying fear that my fiance (almost husband) will someday wake up and find me unattractive after we get married - or worse - he'll find someone else that he's more attracted to than me. I can totally identify with Michelle - I would blame my weight and my outward appearance. (Note: Jason has never showed any sort of sign that he would ever do that, but it's just a fear that I have - no one freak out!)

I've already admitted several times in my blog that I'm an emotional eater. Here's something that I've realized though - I'm such an emotional eater that I actually emotionally eat because of my body-image issues! What the heck?!?

All of this just goes to show how out-of-whack our human perspective is. If I could do as Spivey said, and just gain some perspective, even in emotional situations, my life would probably look a lot different. I've also got to let go of the expectations that I have for myself. They're obviously dysfunctional and they're tearing me down.

Why am I writing about all of this today? Because I know I'm not the only one. The fact that BOTH books that I just happen to pick up and "read" right now talk about unrealistic and unbiblical expectations that women have on themselves. This tears us down and shows me that this is a common issue.

May we find rest in the power of His Word, His love, and His promises. There is hope in Christ, and there is confidence in Christ!

May we be freed from the darkness of our own expectations today.

Confidence in His love for you will free you from the opinions of the people around you.

Bump It Up: Week 15

Thank you all of the overwhelming support that I received from my posts last week. Jason's Vimeo page has received tons of views and I won the photo battle! Thanks so much for all of the support - we are truly humbled.

The Martin babies are growing like little weeds inside Bethany's and Meg's cute little bellies. Here's two photos from week 15, day 4 of their pregnancies:

They're just too precious for words!

On another note, Jason and I get married in 40 days, 3 hours, and 57 minutes! I cannot wait!

Photo Battle

Today I am participating in a photo battle. I know that this sounds rough and tough, but it's really just a simple challenge between another Alabama Baptist Children's Homes employee and me.

Here's my picture:

And here's her picture:

If you'd like to vote, go to the ABCH Facebook page and "like" the photo that you think represents Education & Back-to-School the best!

Thanks for voting!

Overflowing with Pride

Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday!

When I was in high school I had a teacher who would always welcome us to whatever day it was. Sometimes on Thursdays she would say, "Welcome to Friday, whoops, wishful thinking," and I felt like someone had run their nails down a chalkboard.

Anywhoo, Jason has been hard at work over the last couple of weeks going through hours of video footage that he's shot this year. Finally, last night he finished up his 2012 Demo Reel. I know I'm a little biased, but I truly believe that he's the best videographer out there.

Unlike most of my blog posts, you don't have to just take my word for whatever I say. Today is a special day - today, you can see for yourself:


2012 Demo Reel from Jason Morales on Vimeo.

If you or someone you know is in need of a videographer for a wedding, commercial, promo video, website video content, vacation highlight video - basically anything video related - my fiance is the man to call (or email)!

As you can see, I'm extremely proud of my guy for everything he does. If you'd like to get a hold of him for any video related questions, you may contact him at jasonfrankmorales@gmail.com.

Bump It Up: Week 14

Cute little pregnant ladies at Martin.

Here they are at 14 weeks, 4 days.

Lookin' good ladies!

August...the month of WHOAH!

In case you didn't know, today is August 2nd. August has always been one of those weird random months where a lot of stuff happens, but I always feel like it creeps up on me.

Source

This month I get to say that "I get married next month."

This month my sister moves to Birmingham...about a mile and a half from my apartment...to start Samford.

This month we have two wedding showers and get to fellowship with some really great friends at each of them.

This month my parents will celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary.

This month my  mom will go from being a high school teacher to a middle school teacher.

This month I will solidify everything for my wedding (hopefully).

This month I will shop for "cruise clothes," as I've been calling them.

This month marks the one year anniversary of my first "big girl job".

[anyone tired yet?]

This month my baby sister becomes a high school senior.

This month our RSVP cards are due.

This month I pick up my wedding dress to keep for my wedding day.

I think it's pretty safe to say that August is a catch-all WHOAH kind of month.

Enough rambling on my list of August to-dos. What will you be doing this month?