What's up Wednesday!

Trying out What's up Wednesday for the first time and linking up with fellow bloggers...

1. What we're eating this week...

This week is a little out of the ordinary since T came home last night from his Memorial Day job in Paris, TX. While he was gone, it was dinner out and about.... because.... who wants to make dinner for one?? Not me! This past weekend we made dinner for a little birthday celebration at our home for Tyler-shredded chicken sandwiches from the crockpot. SUPER EASY and tastes fantastic.

Recipe Link

2. What I'm reminiscing about...

Past summers. With summer approaching I am thinking about the pool, sun, swimsuits, and getting a tan. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is pool-hop (while I usually find myself at this quiet, calm neighborhood pool at my parent's house..)

 ....and color my hair something fun and crazy. Last summer I went blue..

The summer before that was purple...

(I cannot believe that I actually kept up with the sunglasses that I'm wearing in both pics- a year apart) .. I've also done pink, but I need to figure out what color to use for this summer!!!

3. What I'm loving...

Right now, I'm loving this aches and pains muscle relief bath soak. It smells amazing and relieves all the pains in my legs after standing on my feet all day and playing soccer after school.

4. What we've been up to...

Graduations, showers, and Tyler's b-day! We've had 2 siblings, a cousin, and good friend graduate from college this month and have gotten 2 high school graduation invites in the mail recently for extended family... At work we've had showers GALORE for co-workers having babies and getting married. Our weekends have included many different showers like this as well. I'm super excited for the weddings coming up in the summer!!....This past weekend we celebrated T's b-day with friends and family. Tyler wanted to do something small for both of them so we went bowing one night and had family over the next. It was a delightful transition into the big 2-8 for him!

showers, graduations, weddings.... showers, graduations, weddings!!!

5. What I'm dreading...

End of the year organization projects to close down the school year. I'm a HORRIBLE organizer, but trying to be better... filing lesson plans, cleaning out piles, making things neater for summer school and next year, getting things ready for students to move to the next grade level...I mean, honestly, I'm good with everything just being moved to the computer on google drive!! Gotta love technology, but dang I sure do hate paper copies of it all! I guess it will come in handy next year.

6. What I'm working on...

Window panes!! With several recent orders, I'm excited about the way some of them have turned out. Here's one recent wedding pane...

7. What I'm excited about...

#SUMMERRRRRR!!!

8. What I'm listening to...

Lately, it's been a strange mixture of songs. These have been on my replay list over.. and over... and over again!

9. What I'm wearing...

Over the weekend, the rainy weather leaves me wanting to dress as comfortable as possible. Piko, leggings, converse.. shorts, tank, sandals. For work- black pants with a loose shirt and sandals. Ready for some sunshine... ASAP!!

10. What I'm doing this weekend...

We have a good friend coming into town from Lubbock, so we are catching up with her on Friday. There's a baby shower too, but I'm hoping to steal my man away for a date night Saturday or Sunday!

11. What I'm looking forward to next month...

#Weddings!!! 

12. What else is new...

We are taking a trip to Alaska this summer. T is going for work and I am tagging along. We are super thrilled to experience this amazing state! Any suggestions on what we should do while we are there?? We are open to anything!


13. Our favorite thing to grill in June...

Chicken, sausage, and ribs

Reader’s Digest Version of My Life Thus Far

Alexis is someone that I've always admired for her strength and integrity. She has worn these two traits from the second I met her and she has worn them well. I'm amazed at her ability to push through the unfair hand she has been dealt and to trust God's provision that has been working in and through her life ever since becoming a widow. Her story is one that has brought tears to my eyes every time we have sat together and talked for long periods of time. Alexis has a beautiful heart that you will see ever so clearly as you read about her life.

Alexis with her daughter

"My mother always says, 'This too shall pass…' no matter what the situation...

16 years ago on a hot, August day, I married my high school sweetheart at the church I grew up in at the ripe old age of 18.  He had just had surgery on his one good eye and we had no idea that 10 days later – they’d operate again.  His sight recovered and we moved on with life.  I graduated from college, got my first teaching job, and decided it was time to start our family.  

What a roller coaster that turned out to be!  5 years later God sent us our precious daughter through adoption.  Though I didn’t carry her in my womb, she is mine!  Just two short years later, our world came to a screeching halt. 

My husband of 11 years and my father were both diagnosed with cancer.  I’m going to be honest, fall 2009 was a rough one.  After basically being told there was nothing they could do for my husband’s stage 4 stomach cancer, we decided to keep living life until we couldn’t anymore.  Anymore came in June of 2010.  We drug our travel trailer home and he became sick, much worse than the other times before. July 29, 2 days after our daughter’s 3^rd birthday, he went home to heaven.  As he breathed his last, I sighed in relief and all I could think was, 'It is finished…'  He had done all God had called him to do.  7 months later, to the day, my Daddy was called home as well. 

I tell you all of this, not to gain your sympathy, but so you will understand that I am personally acquainted with grief, trials, and things not going the way I thought they should.  Yet, through it all, my God has been with me in every way imaginable.  He comforted me in the hotel bathroom after we found that the cancer had spread and couldn’t be removed.  He came to me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep and gave me the best hug until I was calm enough to sleep.  He reminded me that while dropping a screaming 3 yr old off at daycare is NOT the best way to start the day, I understood that I had a job to support us.  

One morning, a couple of years after I became a widow, I wondered where He was.  Oh, I knew He was there, but I didn’t feel Him the way I had become accustom to.  He revealed to me, on that short drive to work, that while we may not always feel Him right here, He’s like a daddy teaching his child to ride a bike.  Right there with you until He’s confident that you can pedal on your own.  He doesn’t leave…just stands back and watches you.  Proud that you believe in yourself the same way He does.  And if we fall, which we will, He’s right there to pick us up, dust us off, give us some words of encouragement, and send us back out there.  But always with the reminder that we are…Never Alone. 

 Nevertheless, the time of darkness and despair will not go on forever.  Isaiah 9:1 

This verse was revealed to me last January as I prepared to share my story and testimony at my church.  What a relief!!  He promises that darkness will not go on forever!  Another verse that has been an anchor throughout my adult life is Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven."

-Alexis

Wow... just wow... Moreover, Alexis truly is an incredible mother that continues to work hard at putting her daughter ahead of her own needs. She has raised a beautiful little girl into a blossoming 2nd grader full of life, love, laughter, and personality. I'm encouraged by her pursuit in seeking the Lord daily and reminded of His steadfast love through her journey. 

It is amazing that God has used and will continue to use Alexis as an inspiration to young wives like myself.. and any wife for that matter. I don't want to waste another second on petty arguments or things that are meaningless in the 'big picture' of this life. As God continues to work in you and in all of us, the only thing I'm sure of is the fact that trusting in something bigger and better offers a different sense of contentment in being ok with pain and grief because there is a greater purpose. We are all apart of something greater than our suffering.. something that intertwines our pains so that we meet or are around certain people at the time we need them most....I'm amazed at how God is and has changed Alexis through turning her tragic loss into something beautiful. The best part? That God has purchased Alexis to himself.. that instead of Alexis becoming angry and bitter over time.. He has given Alexis a reason, purpose for living. And not just living, but enjoying of every second that she is breathing in and out because of what she has gone through. It's tragic. It's hard. It flat out stinks on every level of stinking... but Alexis understands something that those who grieve with no hope don't.. and that's the sovereignty of Christ and knowing that through her darkness, mess, sadness, brokenness.. He is working for Alexis' good. She is navigating through life much differently than those that do not know Christ. He has made everything perfect for her in His timing while giving her a glimpse of heaven and fulfillment as she has grasped her need for Him is greater than the desires of her own heart.