♥ The Princess Bride ♥

I love the movie The Princess Bride... definitely one of my all time favorites! I just finished the book, and I have to say it is truly hilarious, and it is a wonderful love story, (duh, right?)! :) William Goldman is the actual author, but he references "S. Morgenstern," and he claims to be abridging his work. Well, that is all made up too, so there are two stories in this book, and it is done brilliantly. I wish I could go back to last summer when I had a class in Fiction... this book would have been awesome to do for an essay! :) I HIGHLY recommended this book! I will reread this book my whole life! It was awesome!

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book...

(my favorite quote from the movie is: "death cannot stop true love, it only delays it awhile").

• in chapter one, Buttercup realizes that she is in love with Farm Boy. Her confession covers two pages, and is amazing. It will take too long to write here, and I doubt if it was here anybody would read it, but I highly recommend this book especially cause this part! (If you want to borrow my book you may, and I will tell you where you can find this...its awesome!

• "Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches." Westley, Farm Boy, to Buttercup

• "When I left you...you were already more beautiful than anything I dared to dream. In our years apart, my imaginings did their best to improve on your perfection. At night, your face was forever before my eyes. And now I see that that vision who kept me company in my loneliness was a hag compared to the beauty now before me." Westley to Buttercup

• "Now Westley knew what she meant to say 'not a single syllable of it,' because a syllabub was something you ate...But he also knew an apology when he heard one. So he held her very close, and shut his loving eyes, and only whispered, 'I knew it was false, believe me, every syllabub.'" (more marriages would stay happily ever after if we could all use this refrain!) :)

• "Buttercup was searching somewhere for a sufficiency of courage. Evidently, she found it in his eyes."
  

• wondering if they will make it out of the Fire Swamp:
  "How can you be sure?" "Well, because we are together, hand in hand, in love." (Buttercup then Westley).
  

• "It doesn't matter whether you sent the ships or not. Westley will come for me. There is a God; I know that. And there is love; I know that too; so Westley will save me!"

• Sonny, don't tell me what's worthwhile-true love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that." (Miracle Max, ha!)

• "Liar! Liar!"... "Back, Witch-"... "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!" (this is in the movie too, this line cracks me up EVERY TIME I see it! Miracle Max and his wife).
  

So, here was a little romance for your day! Go home and kiss your sweetie and thank God for the blessing He gave to you! ♥

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

For my 22nd birthday today, My Lobster  and I had lunch with my mom, then we had dessert with a few friends. I had a great day. My hubby took a day off to spend it with me so I was VERY HAPPY about that! :)

MLobster and me at BJ's for lunch with my mom. My dessert was the pazookie, (or something like that)... IT WAS AMAZING! Pink candle too.... how did they know? ;)
Me and my friend B at Outback for dessert. Her husband C and  My Lobster are BFF, twins separated at birth. We are both so thankful that we are great friends too, (how terrible would it be in one set were bff while the other set hated each other, ya know?)
My friend J came out too! I am so glad we have become friends, and I know we have so much fun to look forward to in the future! :) (we have always known each other, but we have recently gotten close). :)
My Lobster and C playing while we were waiting. This picture was not staged... they played with this for a good 15 minutes! A little girl was playing with them at one point too! ha! When they get together B and I lose our wife roles and we become mothers to two 5 year olds! Seriously! I think this picture proves my point, if not the next one probably will...
What did I tell you?! lol

Some Truth to brighten your day! :)

"Glorious One, Glorious One! Light of the World, You outshine the sun! King of all kings, eternity sings: Glorious One!" (Glorious One by: Fee)

"He made the lame walk, and the dumb talk. He opened blinded eyes to see that the sun rises on His time... I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus live through you and me." (What life would be like by: Big Daddy Weave).


Jesus is the one and only Glorious One! He outshines the sun!!! He made the lame walk, the dumb talk, He opened blinded eyes to see, He calmed the storm with a whisper, He took a child's dinner and fed thousands, He is MIRACULOUS! The sun rises on His time! He is Amazing! "He is Lord of Lords, He is King of Kings, He is Mighty God, Lord of Everything! He's Emmanuel, He's the Great I Am, He's the Prince of Peace, who is the Lamb! He's my Living God, He's my Saving Grace, He will reign forever, He is the Ancient of Days! He is Alpha Omega, Beginning and End, He's my Savior, Messiah, Redeemer and Friend, He's my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for Him!"


To refer back to the Big Daddy Weave song, how can we let Jesus live through us? Here is one way: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Philippians 2:3 Another way is to live out the prayer of a song by Chris Sligh, (yes, curly from American Idol 2007): Empty me, of the selfishness inside. Every vain ambition, and the poison of my pride. Every foolish thing my heart holds to, Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You!" (Empty Me)

How can we be obedient to God's call, the call that seems impossible: "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline" 2 Timothy 1:7 Another way is to remember the lyrics to a classic Stephen Curtis Chapman song, (God is God): "God is God, and I am not. I can only see so much of the picture He's painting. God is God and I am man, so I'll never understand it all cause only God is God!" God has a plan for us and we may have to walk by faith, (2 Corinthians 5:7), and know that He is in control and He will take care of us! :)

Life is hard, how do we continue living for Christ is such a difficult world:
"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

There is so much Truth, Love, Comfort, Direction, etc in the Bible! Have you read yours today?

Love is in the air...

My friend Christina has been dating Daniel for the past 6 years. They FINALLY tied the knot Saturday! It was a beautiful, Christ centered wedding! The pictures of her actual wedding are from Steven Leonard Photography, (my boss). See his links on the right! (ps, today I gave his blog a facelift... go see it and tell me what you think...)
Me and Jersey before I left for the bridal luncheon. He is sad cause he knows I am leaving him!

Me and the bride, Christina, at the bridal luncheon
Me and Jersey before the rehearsal dinner

I LOVE this one... we need to brighten it in photoshop, but still!!! Its already beautiful!


Me and my friend, Auburn at the wedding.

Bride and Bridesmaids
June 21, 2008
April 7, 2007

Sisters in Christ

This weekend we took the high school girls to Sugar Land Town Center for a girls night out. We all spent the night at the Marriot. It was a great night of fellowship and fun. My allergies started to act up, and by Sunday I was sick all day! I just couldn't function! Today I feel A LOT better!
                                                                
Kristi wasn't able to spend the night with us, but she did come to dinner with us, and we were so happy she did! I love these ladies! I learn so much from them on being a Godly wife and mother. See some pictures of their kiddos below. I do not like my hair here, but never fear... this Wednesday it will look VERY different... be sure to check in on Wednesday! :)

Kristin's little girl, Julia, "Ju Ju." She has another daughter, Gloria, who is 4 years old. I don't have a picture of her! :(
Kristi is pregnant with her second child and is due mid December! Please pray for a safe pregnancy and delivery!!!

Daisies and Jersey.

Target had these Daisy plates a couple of months ago, and I fell in love. I waited until they went on sale. Well, yesterday I realized they had! I was almost too late! I went to 4 Targets in our area to get this collection. It still is the WHOLE collection, but I don't need the WHOLE collection anyway! :) I just LOVE these plates and here is the best part... I would have spent $85 and I only spent $15! (6 different sets of 5 pieces). When we have a house daisies will be the theme in my kitchen! A couple of weeks ago I bought a daisy cutting board from the Christian store and it says, "Be Still and Know that I am God," Psalm 46:10. I saw it and fell in love! I love this verse and I thought the daisies were adorable. Little did I know that now I would be planning a daisy kitchen! :)

Isn't this the prettiest washing machine you have ever seen? :)



In other news, my poor baby is sick. Jersey woke me up twice last night throwing up! I took him out on the porch the first time and he went potty so that was good. The second time it was dawn so I decided to leave him out there just in case. I just now heard him outside throwing up again! :( One of my very good friends used to work for a vet so I just called her. He is throwing up bile, but if he were throwing up like a human, then I should be concerned. (2 weeks after we got him he threw up like a human and we had to take him to the ER and $600 later he was better). I called her because he was throwing up more often... usually he only throws up bile only once... now it has been three times. She said not to worry unless he starts acting differently. Please pray for his little body. Not only is he throwing up today, but he gets diarrhea more often than dogs usually do so I think he might have a disease. We haven't taken him to the vet yet for testing. Pray that God either a. cures him, or b. shows us his disease so we know the next step to take. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would love a dog this much! He brightens my day! :)

I love this picture! He is SO happy when he goes "bye bye" in the car!

anger.jealousy.sadness.

I have done pretty well in coping with my sister's death. I know God is sovereign, and He has a plan for everything and everyone! Sometimes, however, my flesh gets the best of me and I cannot help to feel saddened, angry or jealous. Here is a reason why I have felt this way most recently...

I am a "blog stalker" of a certain family. I do not know these people, but they are Christians and they are in a battle to adopt a child from Guatemala. I check their blog daily for updates on the adoption. They are my brother and sister in Christ, so I feel less of a "stalker" with this in mind. :)

Anyway, on May 21, (3 days after what would have been Tracie's 20 birthday), 7 people were in a car accident on the way to Disney World. 3 people dead at the scene, 3 people in critical condition, and one without a scratch, (the only one wearing a seatbelt). One of the 3 people in critical condition was friends with the blogger. One of the reasons I am angry, (not at God but in general), is that if they were buckled up... NO ONE WOULD HAVE DIED! When Tracie died, she did NOTHING wrong except over corrected. She was wearing her seatbelt, she wasn't on her cell phone, she wasn't speeding, it wasn't raining, she wasn't sleepy, (it was around 11 am), she wasn't under the influence (she didn't drink), etc, etc, etc. This was a comfort to me from the start because I knew that God wanted her... no question about that. Still, when I hear of people being careless, it drives me mad! Ya know?

Back to the present, this is why I am a little jealous, sad, yet thankful. Yesterday she was pronounced dead. While her parents were about to sign the organ donation paper work, (Tracie was a donor, My Lobster and I are donors too), blood started flowing back to her brain. The doctor came in and said, "It's a miracle, she is alive." She obviously still could lose her fight, but still pretty amazing!

Well, why did Tracie have to go? She didn't deserve the fate... if she had been unseat belted, or intoxicated or something than I guess I could understand, but why her?

I am jealous over the fact that she may live after all, (not that she deserves to die, absolutely not, but still). This whole situation makes me a little angry too. However I am thankful. I was thankful from day one that God took Tracie fast. He could have chosen to put her in a coma, and then taken her a few days later. I am so thankful He did not. I am thankful that we did not have to endure false hope, ya know? Or He could have left us with the decision to "pull the plug." Oh how I pray to never have to do that ever! God, if you want one of my loved ones, please take them,.. don't make me decide! Like, if this girl dies after the miracle from yesterday... how will her family take it? I think it would be pretty hard... or what if ultimately they have to "pull the plug" after the miracle and sleepless nights of hope? So all in all I am thankful!

The first year after Tracie died was said to be the hardest. It was, but certain events were harder than others. My wedding, (6 months almost to the day after she died), went very well. When I remembered her I smiled, surprisingly. I took her 19th birthday harder than the one year anniversary of her accident. This year when her birthday rolled around I did not grieve as I did last year. Like I said, after the first year it gets "easier." I cannot believe that in almost 4 months it will be 2 years since she died! WOW, time is crazy! It gets "easier" now, but it is so weird to me that 10 years from now, I will be 31 and Tracie would be 30... we would both be mommies and our kids would probably be best friends, (like Tracie and Lauren were). It is so wierd to me that my kids will only know their Aunt Tracie as an 18 year old girl from pictures.
Tonight I find myself in the same emotion as I did around her 19th birthday, May 18, 2007. Like, I am weepy and emotional... I am still in shock to tell the truth. This is not something you easily comprehend. I keep thinking, (and dreaming), that one day she will come and say, "I didn't die, here I am... y'all are so silly to say that I died..." I know it won't happen and I look forward to the day when I can just remember my sister and not hold out for her... ya know? I know I will see her in Heaven, and I rejoice that she is with Jesus... I don't know what I would do if she didn't know Christ and she was in Hell. Praise the Lord I don't have to even think about that!

Another blog I was "stalking" the other day "Hanging with the Bradford's"... Roxanne Bradford had this to say... I would paraphrase, but she said it so nicely:

"We were created by God in His image, right? So...with that said, we were created with TENDER hearts! God gave us hearts that can be happy, sad, and broken, and He rejoices in that. We can honor God not only in our joy and happiness, but in our sadness too. He is glorified when we are true to the hearts that He gave us. I mean, come on, even Jesus cried! In suppressing every negative feeling we have, we are denying the tenderhearted and CHRIST-LIKE spirit that God has given us."

This was so awesome to me, and tonight it is just what I needed to hear! I think when emotions of my sister arise I subconsciously push them aside, (not fully, but I do not experience them fully either). I think subconsciously I think that if I am sad that God will think I am mad at Him for taking Tracie. Stupid, I know... God is SOVEREIGN! He knows all the feelings of my heart, so why should I hide them from Him? HE GAVE THEM TO ME!

I guess I will end it here... my sweet hubby and puppy are snoring in unison, and while I am not tired because of my emotions... I think I will say goodbye and honor God with my tears, then go to bed. ♥

 The four of us (height differences weren't this drastic... we were standing on uneven, angled ground...lol). This was the last siblings picture ever taken. The shirt I am wearing is the shirt I was wearing the day of Tracie's accident. Weird, huh? (August 2006)