Happy Memorial Day

Today as well as this entire weekend I feel is so important and pertinent for our country to observe there are so many men and women who have given their lives so that we may live in freedom in our country.  So today remember those freedom warriors and their families and continue to pray for our troops.

This weekend has been a busy one, ESPECIALLY for my daddy and I.  Friday evening we drove to Jonesboro to see Claire Lynch, she's a bluegrass singer/songwriter for those who are curious!  We drove the 3 hours back home Friday night only to get back up the next morning to drive back to Jonesboro for a songwriting seminar that she and her guitar player were hosting.  This was right up mine and my dad's alley and we learned a lot but have yet to put our heads together to write a song.

I've listened to her since I was a toddler!!

Matt Wingate

On the way to Jonesboro we drove through St. Charles and Indian Bay, which were two of the communities most effected from the flooding of the White River.

Boat coming down parallel to highway 1

You can see the line on the house where the water was.

These poor people have lost everything and the farmers of the area have been devastated.  Fields that should be full of beans, cotton, and rice are now 5 feet under water.  Remember this area of the state in your prayers!

On top of all of my other activities of the weekend I decided to clean up and redo are upstairs balcony so that my mom and I would have a nice relaxing place to lay out.  We cleaned everything off, bleached the wood and power washed, stained and water sealed the deck, painted the iron patio furniture, got a new umbrella, and new bright colored lounge chairs!! This is my new favorite spot in the house! I'm actually blogging from it right now!!  Here are a few before and after pictures.

Before starting... NASTY!!!!

New stain

Finished product!!!

It's been such a great long weekend with my family! 

Life Lately Recap

 Well.... on top of being a bad blogger since graduation I have been VERY busy!
My first week after being home I decided to take off and try to relax a little while unpacking and getting settled before starting work.  This R&R consisted of the demolition of my room, because for the last four years I have crammed and made due with the way my closet was packed and unbearable because I knew that I would be moving again in three months.  Now I am not sure when I will be moving again so I have gone through cabinets, shelves, drawers, and my entire closet, throwing things away that are useless and boxing things up to give away and to be donated (after 2 weeks I'm still not finished).  From the las comment, please do not think that I am a slob.  On top of the demolition of my entire room I have spent a TON of my time outside with my mom working in the yard and the garden.  We have weeded, planted, mulched, and fertilized.  It happens to look just beautiful if I do say so myself.

Last night my family (minus my brother) plus my brothers girlfriend and one of her little sisters went to Little Rock to see the performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Robinson Center.  This is one of my ALL TIME favorite Disney movies so to see the performance in person was a dream come true.  I seriously couldn't stop smiling the whole time! If you ever get the chance to see it I highly recommend it.

I started my first week of work on Monday, I work at my dad's office so it's really not a big deal.  I couldn't really find a job anywhere else this summer becauseI will be in class starting in July.  But any extra money I can get helps because I am saving to help pay for Logan's and my honeymoon.  If you have any honeymoon destination suggestions let me know please!!!!  Wedding planning will also start picking up pretty soon (my plan is to get every i dotted and t crossed this summer) and I will begin to share more details.  I'm thinking about posting a sneak picture once a week of a simple detail to see if anyone can guess the image!!

Graduation

Well it is now official, I am now a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and am considered an alumnus.  It is very weird thinking that this coming August I will not be moving back to what has been my "home away from home."  For everything there is a season and with all these milestones I CAN NOT wait to see what God has in store for my future and what He will bring next. 

My family is AMAZING 

My future Matron of Honor, Casey, and her fiance Michael

Dear friends Taihlor and Drew

Last time at my dorm

As stressful as this time in life can be, trying to find jobs and trying to get into hygiene school, I tend to get preoccupied with trying to make things workout and forget that I am not in control of anything. I will face trials as I already have and sometimes I will fail before I will succeed.  My brother's girlfriend shared a scripture with me today that I will carry close to my heart.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

13 Months and the Sweetheart Tree

At this time in our lives Logan and I are counting down the days to some pretty big events.
1. Graduation from OBU in 5 days
2. Two of our best friends getting married in 68 days

                    and lastly

3. Our wedding in 397 days (1 year, 30 days, 20 hours, and 25 minutes) not that I am counting or anything!!!

Today is exactly 13 months until our big day and according to my "knot" profile I am (as of now) ahead of schedule on my checklist.  We have gotten the ceremony venue, reception venue, photographer, and caterer.  We have chosen all of our attendants for groomsmen, bridesmaids, ushers, house party, ring bearer, and book keepers.  However, we still lack a flower girl and are still undecided on the officiant. Planning has started to become more fun though.  We have chosen some of the small special details that we want included in our ceremony as well as some of the music.  I can absolutely NOT wait to get engagement pictures taken so that we can put our announcement in the local papers.

Since we are nearing the end of our college career Logan and I, along with two of our friends Graham  and Christin, decided to hike up to the bluff and take pictures with our initials on the Beta sweetheart tree.  It will be a long time before we are both back on campus and will probably be even longer before we will make that hike again so we wanted to make sure that we had pictures together with the tree because it does mean so much to us. (pictures to follow later)

Fun Girls

So since my sophomore year I have been a "big sis" in the Big Brother Big Sister program at OBU.  Jaden and Alisha have been my "lil sis'" for three years now and I absolutely ADORE them!!! Today was our last day to spend together before I graduate so since it was such a beautiful day we decided to spend it outside taking pictures. 

They are the most BEAUTIFUL and SWEETEST

They've grown up so much!!

I'm going to miss our time together each week and how funny and full of life they are.  They are just TOO fun and I'm incredibly jealous of the lucky girl or girls who get the blessing of becoming their "big sister" next year.