Living Room Rearranged

We recorded this last night to show the in-laws what we've done with the living room. But on top of rearranging the living room we've also suspended our cable to encourage more creativity (from both of us!). We're excited to see what happens for both of us during the next six months without cable!

a newbie to marriage

At the beginning of my marriage to Adam I realized how selfish I was: single, only having to look out for myself.
My wants. 
My needs. 
My money. 
My time. 
Mine. 
Mine.
Mine.

I've had to change my mindset to "us" with all of those things.

Today I realized how selfish I still am even after almost 6 months of marriage. Sure I've changed my basic thought process since getting married but I'm still consumed with me, myself and I.

I have put MY life as the focus of my life. I've forgotten, neglected, shamed my first Love. I've put my physical life before Christ. It wasn't hard for my own desires to give birth to sin as the Book of James warns.
Thankfully, I have a Savior Who loves me and desires LIFE more abundantly for me.

My struggles:
Change. I hate change. I've been working with the Lord to overcome this fear.

No family. No job. No friends....all huge changes.all very hard.
New town, new state, new people, new job, new church....all new.all different.all changes. 

Adam is constantly telling me to affect change where I can.

So I've been pursuing friendships. I have been making the first move. This is hard for me because I tend to be very shy at the beginning of a friendship.
But.I.Love.Coffee. And having coffee dates takes pressure off of me because I feel like if someone comes to my house it needs to be the perfect little American home. And I am far from perfect.

I pray that the Lord will continue to convict me as I strive to live for Christ. I also ask for prayer that I will keep Christ first. That I will put Adam above myself. I ask for prayer as I figure out how to enhance Adam's life and not turn it upside down because of changes I want (but don't always need).

I'm a newbie to marriage and need prayers.

Wedding Photography - Susan Whitley

Susan Whitley is the sweetest photographer you'll ever work with! I hate having my picture taken but with Susan I believe I could have taken pictures all day! She made the picture taking process a breeze!

I made and decorated my wedding cake. The topper we bought from Amazon and since we had a photo booth for our guests enjoyment we decided it would be cute to take a picture just like our cake topper.

 Adam and I chose to have a "First Look" session. I got the idea from Jasmine Star (read this and this) and, I admit, convinced Adam it was the best idea! And it was! It was so special to be able to see Adam before things got super crazy! I even forgot Josh and Susan were in the room. I was excited about him seeing my dress, and to just see him. He started crying. Heavens, he has such a tender heart.

 Adam holding all the bouquets! My dress and all of my bridesmaids dresses were bought from Treasures in Atlanta. The lovely Williams ladies were so sweet and helpful in helping me choose the dress of my dreams!

 

The groomsmen spelling out my name "L.Y.D.I.A" :)

 

My precious Flower Girl. She gave me "thumbs-up" throughout the entire wedding ceremony. Her dress is from Etsy.

The bridesmaids bouquets (I bought the bouquets from Micheal's and then wrapped the stems with black ribbon and tied a shimmering silver blow at the top).

My gorgeous dress from Treasures 

 

 

Per Adam's request we took "football" pictures! It was a lot of fun!

 Moments before the wedding ceremony starts.

 

The reception was a blast! Everyone dancing and taking goofy pictures in the photo booth and eating incredibly good cake! Best day ever. 

Our first dance as a married couple during which I convinced Adam it was time to leave. ;)

My wedding day was incredible. I cannot thank Susan and Josh enough for coming South to give me such beautiful memories.

Wedding Pictures - Josh Jack Carl

I had the best photographers ever. I realize everyone thinks that but really I did have the best. My sister recommended Josh Jack Carl to me and we connected over Twitter. I asked him if he knew a female photographer who would be interested in working with him and he said he'd ask a friend and that's how I got Susan Whitley!

Here are a few of Jack's pictures. Adam loved working with him. He said Josh made everyone feel relaxed and comfortable and the guys just had fun! We appreciate everything Josh did for us and we LOVE all of his pictures!

A huge THANK YOU to Josh for taking such amazing pictures! 

I'll post another blog with some of Susan's pictures.

I Am Married and Alive

I've been thinking about blogging for a while now but every time I sat down to write nothing would come out. But, finally, here I am.

I'm married and have not fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still alive. :) I've been married for 41 days. I LOVE being married. I love not being eight hours apart and waiting months on end to see Adam. I love being with him.

But it's been hard for me. I've cried. I've been angry. I've been lonely. I've moved to a town where I know no one and the women in the church my age have to desire to introduce themselves to me. I don't understand churches who don't feel a need to welcome a stranger.
I have one friend and I believe she needs my friendship as much as I need hers. God provides.
I miss my family so much. I've never lived away from home and now I find it probably would have been beneficial for me to have spent some time on my own. I don't for a second regret the decision I made to stay home I'm just saying that it would have helped with the transition.

I don't yet have a job and it's afforded me plenty of time to watch TV shows I've really never watched before (Millionaire Matchmaker, NCIS, The Newlywed Game, etc, etc). I've spent so much time rearranging the house and trying to straighten and clean and do laundry! I wash dishes about twice a week. I wash towels once a week. I iron Adam's dress clothes all week. I have a lot to do but it's not near as much fun without someone(s) to boss around!

I have started a few projects. Mostly with wedding pictures and dressing up the frames a bit. It's simple, cheap and takes a perfectly good frame to a piece of beautiful art!

All you need is fancy scrapbook paper, clear tape, and a picture frame! Just cut the paper to fit the matting and tape together. I actually taped my picture to the paper as well so it wouldn't fall when I hung it up. And you're done!

Look at how ORANGE his beard looks! I love it. I hope my kids have red, red hair! :)

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

I've been thinking about you a lot today. I miss you and wish you could be here. I often feel pushed and pulled into so many directions with this wedding and it would be nice to have you here to help guide me.

I'm headed into my last couple weeks at home. I've worked hard in helping Dad with your babies and with the house.
Honestly, sometimes my siblings feel a little like my own and I love them more than anything and the thought of leaving them breaks my heart. You gave birth to some *amazing* young men and an *incredible* young woman.

I try not to think about leaving since it makes me want to cry. Adam is my one and only and I want to marry him more than anything. But I worry about them even though I know they'll be alright. They are all grown now and don't need me. So I'm sure once again I am the one needing them more than they need me. They have stolen my heart and I'm going to miss them.

I'm trying to tie up my loose ends around the house. I'm painting the dining room. I hope to get to the kitchen and hallway before I leave in August. I've tried to paint every room as dramatic as possible. I remember how much you loved Mrs. L. B.'s house and her striking paint color in every room.
I've painted the hall bathroom a bright purple. Almost everyone comments on how bright it is and all I can think is, "Well, Mom would have loved it".
I painted the living room a deep red. It's definitely the defining feature of the room. And I'm in the midst of painting the dining room two colors. The wall has chair-rail wood trim and I've painted the wall above the trim a shimmering gold and the wall below a glistening bronze. I plan to have elegant burgundy curtain to bring the living room and dining room together. It will definitely be dramatic and I know you would love it.

I hope you are proud of the work I've done, the time spent, the love given. I've worked hard to fulfill your desire for me to care for my siblings. I hope you don't regret prepping me to be home.
I pray I've given enough to my siblings. I was/am not always the best example and I've failed many, many times. But I do love them and I do want the best for them. I hope they know that.

I know the Lord's plans are best but I wish with all my heart you were still here and were able to be here for my wedding. I love you and miss you so much.

Love,
Lydia

Lydia & Ree

Forget Julie & Julia, I give you: Lydia & Ree (The Pioneer Woman)!

I am engaged. My fiance, Adam (my own MM: Music Man), has roots deep in the heart of Tennessee. We're talkin' good ol' southern food that'll make your knees quake and your tummy settle low in your middle (probably literally considering the amount of butter it takes Paula Deen to make any southern dish).

So I'm on a mission: to make sure my cooking skills are up to par with MM's mom and aunt.

I've never been a bad cook but I have not cooked as much as I used to and even though I've been cooking since the ripe young age of 11....AND even though my brother, Spank, has always told me I'm a better cook than McDonald's (that's *got* to be pretty good!) I'm still worried. I want Adam to LOVE my cooking. And I want to feel confident in my cooking for him.

The race is on! I've got a month and a half until we say "I Do" so I'm cooking a meal with a recipe or two from The Pioneer Woman cookbook at least once a week. I bought it probably a year ago and haven't cooked a thing! shame on me.


also please do not take notice of my free weights, dirty laundry, shoes, etc., on my floor.




Tonight was my beginning! I fried up some Chicken Fried Steak and Mashed Potatoes. O.M.G. They were both soooo good!

I don't have pictures of the steak cooking because I forgot about my camera until it was too late.

my beginning mess

the end project:

The potatoes were a joint effort with the brothers and Pop. They cooked potatoes, mashed them, and then I added some pepper and baked them in the oven after putting more butter on the top.

I think supper turned out pretty well. The guys grilled asparagus, mushrooms, corn, and peaches while I was cooking (too many starches I know! It hit me after we all sat down).  

I know they are all more than happy to help Adam out by taste-testing! Cup-bearers fit for a king!

Lesson for the night: I need to come up with a way to keep my meat warm if we have to wait for grilled veggies to finish.

I'm getting there. 

Overall: no complaints. at. all. 

Meal #1 with Lydia & Ree down! A couple more to go and Music Man will be one happy hubby when all is said and done. 

Premarital Sex - Year Later

A reader commented on my last post and asked how I feel now.... a year later after having premarital sex.

A lot has happened in one year.

And it may take a couple posts to bring my life up to date.

In the mean time, how I feel? Sometimes there is still pain, a lot of pain. But there is joy and I am healing.

Last summer I went to a therapist and she really helped me jump-start my healing process by showing me the Love of the LORD.
I also started a girls-only book club called WOP (Women of Purity) and we read Emotional Purity. I had read the book before but never truly realized how important it is to be emotionally pure. And they all helped me heal even more.
I also met a man. A good man. A man who desires to make a vow before GOD and man to protect, love, cherish and not to ever leave me.

Having premarital sex with a man who wanted nothing more than to check off "virgin" on his sexual quest list left me scarred and on major defense when it came to men.

Adam has had to break down walls and he's done it with such love and gentleness that I know it's from the Father of Love.

Adam and I are getting married in August and my heart sings with joy. God has blessed me and He's healing my wounds.

And I am thankful.