Recently in Congrats Category

Spencer's wedding was absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'm so glad I got to be apart of it! As expected, I cried a couple times throughout the ceremony, but when it really hit me was when Spencer and John kissed...of course I was happy, but it was just another one of those "It's really happening here and now!" moments. I have to say, Spencer looked absolutely GORGEOUS. I can't believe I got to see my sister in her wedding dress. All my life, I always knew that she looked forward to her wedding, and I often had the pleasure of listening to her plan it, even long before there was a man in her life ;-) And now, I finally got to see her living the happiest day of her life. She looked so happy when she was walking down the isle, and her eyes immediately went to John, of course ;-)

So many wonderful things happened today, I couldn't begin to list them all. I loved getting to see / talk to so many wonderful people during the reception. I loved hanging out with my sisters, mom and the women helping the wedding while getting ready. More than anything, I loved seeing my sister so happy. Thank you, God, for blessing my sister with such a lovely wedding and such a godly man!

Spencer and John, congratulations!!! I'm SO excited that you guys are walking through the rest of your lives together! I love you guys so much, and may God bless you in your marriage!!

Mark 10:8-9: "...they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

(I must give thanks to the many girls who were so sweet and caring to me, including my good friend Abbie, who has been ready and willing to give me comfort and a shoulder to cry on :-) Thank you, God, for blessing me with such wonderful friends!)

My sister, Spencer, is going to be married very soon. I just got back from the rehearsal, which started to bring a bit of emotion to me (though I know all the emotion is really going to come on the actual wedding day). I just can't believe it's really happening already. Last year, it didn't even come to my mind that Spence would be getting married anytime soon (simply because she's my sister, and it's often hard to picture your siblings in those situations). Yet here she is already. I'm expecting that things are probably going to feel a bit lonely and empty for me once the wedding's past, but I hope to make it a chance to start something new. What exactly that "something" will be, I don't know, but I'm excited to see what God will do in my life. And of course, I can't forget...Spencer, I especially can't wait to see what God will do in your life. I can't wait to see things unfold as you and John spend the rest of your lives together. I wish you the best for every minute of it. Your friendship (or sistership? ;-) has meant so much to me as time has gone on. I hope our friendship will continue to strengthen and grow as we both enter these new parts of our lives. I love you so much!

Deuteronomy 31:8: "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you..."

...as you've seen :-) I can't believe I haven't updated in so long! I'm so sorry. I haven't posted a Flickr update in forever, so as you can imagine, I've posted loads of photos since the last time I notified you all. I've posted about 6 or 7 pages worth of stuff! To save you time, I'll just give all the new stuff to you in categories:

Food / Drinks
Flowers
Visiting Starbucks
A day in old town Fredericksburg

That's only some of the many photos I've posted, so if you wanna browse page-by-page, you can go HERE :-)

So anyway, I'll update you on everything that's happened since I last posted, which was June 23rd (isn't this sad?).

As for big news, my sister, Spencer, got engaged last week! Yay! :-D I'm quite happy for her, and I'm looking forward to the wedding. I can't lie, when it first happened, it didn't really "hit me" for a while, if you know what I mean. But a couple days later, I watched Father Of The Bride (1991 version), and all the emotions came to me. That movie does a brilliant job of depicting the chaos and stress of planning a wedding, but more than anything, the sadness and difficulty of letting go of your soon-to-be-married family member. Considering the main story of Father Of The Bride, it's probably the hardest movie to watch when someone in your family is getting married. I'm very close to my sister...over the past few years, we've been nearly inseparable. We have so much fun together, and I can't think of any person with whom I've goofed off more than I have with her ;-) She's one of my favorite people, and I'll miss her a lot, but I know that I'll do my best to seize the time I get to spend with her in the next few months, and also after she's married. As much as I will miss her, I simply cannot express how happy I am for her. Congratulations, Spencer and John!