a fun-filled summer...

jesse and i started seeing each other in may and we knew very soon that we were going to be married. we have such fun when we are together and truly love and respect each other.
not long after we met we took a day trip with abby and jared and went to lamberts in missouri for some yummy food!

a few weeks later we took a weekend trip down to alabama to visit jaemye, bryan and gavin before they moved to utah. it was such a fun weekend and i'm so glad we got to spend that time with them!

                                     we spent the day at the lake on saturday. it was so relaxing!

                               watching the donuts being made before church on sunday morning.

jesse and i "officially" became engaged in august (even though most of our wedding was already planned!). we had been waiting on my ring to come in to tell everyone at work and announce it on facebook. i was beyond thrilled to be able to tell everyone our good news.



what a change a few months can bring...

so, i'm pretty sure all of you who read this blog are already aware of what's been going on in my life for the last several months. i'm going to go ahead and blog about it anyway just in case and also just so that i'll have it on here!
on saturday, may 19, my little nieces were planning to go to noah landers birthday party. kristen sent both stacy and katie a text that morning telling them she wanted me to come because she had a guy she wanted me to meet. i went to the party that day and met jesse boyd...i didn't realize that my life was changing forever that day! jesse sent me a facebook request that night and we started talking...then we started texting and talking on the phone. we didn't actually go out on our first date until about a week and a half later since i went to texas for memorial day. once we actually went up for the first time we both felt an instant connection and started hanging out almost every night!
God has been so amazing in sending jesse to me. he is everything i ever wanted and even more. i am so blessed to have found a man who make me laugh, loves me the way i am, and most importantly, loves Jesus. he is truly a man i can respect.

i guess i'll let this be "part 1" of our story. i'll tell some more of it in another post soon.



texas fun...

this weekend i decided to go spend some time with the taylor fam in texas since i was off work for memorial day. i cut out of work early on friday and got down there around 6:30 that evening. of course, i made a stop at long john silver's for jules and me on the way in. it was some kind of yummy! we just hung out that night in the backyard.

the next day we got up and me, jenna and julie went to downtown kilgore and did some shopping. there was a new store julie had been wanting to visit so we went there, and we loved it! julie and i both bought the same dress : )

when we left there we went to the backporch for lunch and got to meet up with kelly ray! it was so good to get to see her...i haven't seen her since last year at kimberly's wedding. it was good for her and julie to get to know each other and i think they will have a good time hanging out. kelly and i are both looking forward to our girl's weekend in nashville in july!!

that afternoon when we got home we jumped in the pool to cool off! jenna was loving it.

the next day we went to church. this was the first time i've gotten a chance to go to julie and daniel's church. everyone was so nice and you could tell they just love the little j's! of course, how could you not??

daniel grilled out and julie made katie's bacon dip before i left on monday. little jett was asleep so i didn't get to tell him bye but i went in and gave him a kiss. the only thing that made leaving easier was knowing that they will be in town just next week for beth's wedding!



this & that...

i really haven't posted about what i've been up to in awhile, so this post is just going to be a rundown of things i've been doing lately.
for my birthday mom and stacy, katie and the girls took me to old venice for dinner. we ate on the patio and enjoyed lots of four-cheese pizza and birthday cake! that weekend i went to the beauty shop with melissa and jenn. i had the lamb chop and it was delicous! we hung out at molly fontaine's for a little while afterwards and listened to the piano.

the weekend after katie had blakely i went out to her and jeremy's house to  help with allie and tay. our church is working the concessions each saturday at the soccer fields in oakland and that saturday was my turn to work. as we were finishing up they were setting up for an easter egg hunt. allie and taylor had been cooped up all week so i went back and got them and took them to hunt some eggs. they got a ton of eggs!

blakely's billirubin was high for a few days so she had to be put on fluorescent lights to help bring it down. thankfully, this was able to be done at home.

little glo-worm baby

papaw with some of his girls

sweet baby blakely

julie, jenna and jett came up and we had so much fun spending time with them!!

this was the best we could do at getting a pic of all of the crazy kiddos

 

so, that's about all i've been up to lately. i've started back on facebook, so i'll be posting some pics on there again too.

update on my ethiopia trip...

well, things have been moving right along as far as my trip is concerned. here are some of the things i've taken care of:

1. i got my new passport! (my current one expires in june) this was quite the ordeal, but the new one is here in my possession now.
2. both of my spiritual references have been sent in by the appropriate people.
3. i have sent in all of my other paperwork required.
4. money is being raised.

today, God just went above and beyond what i had expected or hoped as far as the money was concerned. i got a text from a dear friend who told me that she and her husband have been praying about how to tithe their tax return. after discussing it, they decided to donate it to my trip! they donated $700 to the ethiopia medical trip today!!! i was so surprised, excited, humbled, and wowed at how God meets our needs. please keep praying for me as i prepare to go on this trip. it will be here before we know it! check out my fund thermometer to the right : )

blakely kate....

on tuesday katie went in to the hospital to be induced to have blakely! allie and taylor were so excited to meet her.

ready to be big sisters!

last pic as a family of four

me and katie

blakely kate was born around 1:00 and weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces. she has the cutest little chipmunk cheeks!!!

ready to go home!

the new white family 

medical mission trip...

i am so excited to tell everyone that i will be going on a medical mission trip in october of this year! it is kind of crazy how it happened...about a year and 1/2 ago i was really feeling unhappy with my job and just felt like i needed to do something more. i started looking around on-line and found an agency that offered short-term mission trips to south america. i turned in an application but never heard anything back...then i ended up switching positions in the hospital and just making some changes in my life and i didn't think about it for a while.
at the beginning of this year i started reading the blog http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. then i read her new book "kisses from katie" as well as the book "the forgotten children". both of these books were amazing and really got me thinking and praying about missions again. literally about 2 weeks after i read this book, the agency that i had looked into over a year ago called me out of the blue and asked me if i was interested in going on a mission trip! i couldn't believe it! i called them and got some info on a trip to tijuana, mx. i just didn't have a peace about this though because i couldn't find out anything as far as credentialing on the agency as well as safety issues in mexico right now. but...i was thinking about missions more and more now so i went to katie davis' blog again and it led me here http://www.visitingorphans.org/.
this agency is based in tn and takes multiple mission trips to a variety of places each year. i looked for a medical trip and found one to ethiopia in october of this year. i wanted to sign up immediately but didn't want to rush into something so i prayed about it for several days and then put in my application and my deposit. i have been accepted to go on the trip and am very, very excited!! we will be working in an orphanage and out in the city while there.
right now i'm in the preparation stage so i'm working on filling out all of the paperwork. i'm also working on getting my passport renewed because mine expires in june of this year. the cost will be between $3200 and $3400 depending on the cost of flights and that will include the airfare, 3 meals a day, lodging, transportation while there, and translators....basically everything except any souvenirs i might want to pick up. i've put a fundraising thermometer on my blog to show how much i've raised for the trip and how much is left to go. i'm asking for everyone to please pray for me as i prepare for this trip! please pray for me physically, spiritually, and emotionally as i get ready to go minister to these children. i'm so excited to see what God will do in ethiopia.

laundry room redo...

i recently decided that i wanted to fix up my laundry room and make it look a little cuter. with a little help from dad and stacy, i'm so happy with the results!!

so, this is basically what it looked like before. a really cluttered, really plain room. it didn't have any storage except the cabinets over the dryer and i can't reach those without a stool. i wanted to bring some storage into the room and also some color. my first thought was to make a cushion to put on the little bench which up until now has been totally non-functional. after i started thinking about putting a cushion on there i decided to do a curtain to match it as well as paint the bottom of the bench.

i bought this piece from pier one (my fave store!!)

dad built this little shelf that i can reach over my washer and dryer

to hold all my laundry things, and then he hung my

ironing board over the back of one of the doors.

i got this idea off of pinterest on how to store cleaning products

my favorite part of the room!

i painted the bench red and got the letters and fabric from hobby lobby.

dad made the cushion and stacy made the curtain for me.

i absolutely LOVE the way everything turned out!

everything ties together perfectly and my laundry room

is so much prettier than when i started!

going to the chapel...

this past weekend was meagan and trey's wedding weekend in corinth, ms. melissa, eliza, alison and i left memphis around 3 on friday for the rehearsal dinner. there were some interesting match-ups as far as the bridesmaids and groomsmen...even though it was all done randomly. after the rehearsal we left and went to the dinner. the food was delicious and it was great to be able to hang out with friends!
we had to be at the bed and breakfast the next morning at 9:30 for the bridesmaid brunch.

our bridesmaid gifts were button-up shirts with our initials monogrammed on them and navy pashminas with our initials monogrammed as well. the brunch was given by meg's aunt peg and was really nice. as soon as we were done there we headed to the salon to get our hair did.

wearing our shirts meg gave us

meg's mom paid for us all to get our hair done! so nice!!

the beautiful bride with the memphis girls

melissa, alison, eliza, me, becky, charlesy, pj, kayla, meg, and guy

we had such a fun time at the wedding!!!