home sweet home

whereabouts: my parent’s house (aka the house i grew up!) in C-town

food craving: chocolate milk & a nice, ,warm glazed donut

song suggestion: moonlight sonata by beethoven

there’s so much to catch up on! a full update is especially in order to discuss my two absolutely incredible showers from this previous weekend! but i haven’t uploaded the pictures yet (big surprise) and i’d love to describe, elaborate and reminisce on the showers in detail with some sweet visuals!

until then i just wanted to say how neat God’s timing can be sometimes. jon is out of town this weekend on a youth retreat with 20 guys he and cameron have led and disciples over the past few years at pine cove! and it couldn’t have been more perfect timing for me and for us because i’m busy all weekend with wedding, friend fun, and family time! my brother flew into town on thursday and jon and i had dinner with my whole family that evening at Zander’s House, our reception restaurant, to finalize details and finally give my brother the opportunity to see what the big deal was about our reception site. my mommy had the day off today so as soon as i got off work we:

-picked up my wedding dress! (it’s perfection…i think i’m in love…with my dress that is…jon too of course!)

-got some family business out of the way

-went shopping for my mom’s mother of the bride’s dress with Chi Kim and Christine at North Park

-bought Christine’s bridesmaids shoes!

-had dinner at bistro b

-stopped by target to pick out curtains for my parent’s new living room furniture

and now i’m at home spending the night at my parent’s house! i stayed home over the summer before i moved into an apartment with katie and emily but it’s been a long time since my brother, mommy, daddy & i have all slept in the same house.

i love family.

it’s kind of fun to think about my childhood and the different seasons of life our family has gone through and to stand as a 23 year old now, on the cusp of adulthood (or rather within the beginning years of adulthood) getting prepared to get married & wander down my own path alongside my incredible husband-to-be. do you know what i’m talking about? i love the relationship i have now with my parents where i actually understand somewhat where they are coming from when they offer advice rather than being dramatically defiant, like when i was a teenager, and instantly thinking “they don’t understand me.” i love my family so much and i’m excited for jon to be a part of my family and to be a part of his!

my parents invited jon’s parents to a lunch in dallas to formally celebrate our engagement & meet one another! and jon’s family graciously drove up to dallas with such excitement! our families are pretty fantastic.

my brother was able to visit dallas at the beginning of march as well. this is a photo from that visit at jon’s house! yay rockband

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learning to listen

whereabouts: my apartment. i originally thought that i would be writing entries at various places with wireless internet but, alas, i have found myself blogging only in my apartment so i might consider changing this tidbit of info to something else more interesting. any suggestions?

food craving: tiramisu from eatzi’s!

song suggestion: a very sad guilty pleasure….Hanna Montana’s “See You Again”….please don’t befriend me

so this scripture has really been on my heart lately for the past couple of days and i’ve been reading it and praying over it.

“The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue,

to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” Isaiah 50:4-5

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness

and who seek the Lord” Isaiah 51:1

 

dictionary.com says that sustenance means:

sus·tain      /səˈsteɪn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-steyn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –verb (used with object)

1.	to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.

2.	to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).

3.	to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.

4.	to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.

5.	to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.

6.	to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.

it’s so neat to me that just knowing God’s Word is more than enough to pull us out of any and every difficult situation in our lives! the definition of “sustain” just shows the many facets that God’s word provides for us by: supporting us, bearing OUR burdens, experiencing with us, encouraging us, and supplying us with the basic necessities of life. also in both scriptures God calls us to listen to Him with “opened ears,” speaking directly to those who “pursue righteousness.” so…i’ve been reading this scripture and praying each morning to better listen to what He has to communicate to me. one way i know that He’s really been working in my life as far as the week goes is that i’ve realized the gifts of friendship God has provided me with. some of you know me really, but for those who do not then you should know that i struggle greatly with feeling insecure with my friendships. most people wouldn’t assume this about me because i appear social and outgoing BUT i often times feel as if i’m the outcast of the party. anyhow, i say this simply because this week i felt like i was finally listening to God as He assured me that He would take care of me and that He would provide closeness in friendships according to His perfect and holy timing, which He did and has always done. most importantly, i’m so thankful for my friendship with my jon jon and how blessed we are to have that together! anyhow, i feel less and less eloquent as i continue to write this entry but i just wanted to share with y’all what i’ve been thinking about lately.

 

on another note, i wrote in an earlier entry about my beautiful flower girl, Maya Joy Martin, and her fight against a rare cell disease for the past year. well…i have so much JOY to share with you that she has been completely cleared of her  illness and that chapter in the crazy Martin’s family life has been closed. Praise God for the world’ most adorable flower-girl-to-be!

jon and i LOVE her. how can you not?

alright! it’s 3am….what am i thinking? i don’t understand myself sometimes.  thanks for reading! it’s so encouraging and fun to hear about friends who have visited the site. thanks also for all the support!

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a delightful evening

yes…that’s right, i chose delightful as my adjective to describe tonight! i’m currently at my apartment.

my current food craving- chocolate chip pancakes! but i’ll be having them in the morning with my roommates since none of us have school tomorrow!

song suggestion: instrumental acoustic version of “And I Love Her” by the Beatles.

i just have to write about my night because it was just a good time of sincere fellowship and rich conversations with friends of different groups. my evening began with a sky ranch counselor reunion at McAlisters in Addison. my roommate and one of my closest friends from high school, Katie*, was there as well as three spectacular girls who i had met four years ago this summer. wow….it’s incredible to think that it’s been nearly four years since the summer after my freshman year in college. it was so neat to sit there and realize that our common thread was serving in a camp ministry together just a few summers ago and now to intentionally spend time together in a different phase of life was just too fun. the five us all live in dallas and what’s especially exciting is that there are several other sky ranch counselors in the area to connect with. hopefully katie, emily and i will host another sky ranch reunion at our apartment to further encourage everyone to stay in touch. the second part of the night consisted of my weekly discipleship meeting with laura and ingrid. we normally meet on thursday morning at 6:30am at a nearby starbucks but a conflict arose so we simply met up for a late coffee at 9:30pm, which of course i was ecstatic about since i’m a night owl but Ingie(Ingrid) has slowly evolved into an early worm so her bed time is much earlier than the time we ended up finishing! anyhow, it was just a good time of accountability and talking about how we want our time and relationship with another to deepen further and ultimately to grow in our relationship with the Lord through His scripture and our relationship with each other. It can be an intense time of conversation but at the same time we just enjoy being around one another and just laughing as well. It’s a great balance! Lastly on my nightly agenda I didn’t really have anything set to do and I didn’t have to go to bed “early” for work since we had the day off the next day so I called two friends with whom i adore, david and stephanie from UTD, and just met at my old college’s student union and had a blessed, candid and great time full of conversation and laughter. don’t get me wrong, this night IS not my regular agenda BY ANY MEANS but every so often it’s really a blessing to have a night full of quality conversations and people you love. it’s neat to think about my evening and consider how God has intricately placed each group of friends in my life: how i met them, our common bond, our compatibility, and how they’re influencing, and contributing to my life now. it’s times like this that i simply bask in gratefulness to God for the life He’s given me. the night owl, viv*Katie had actually grown up going to Sky Ranch most of her life and had highly encouraged a lot of our high school friends & jon to become counselors the summer after our freshman year)

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The First Post

in every post i think i’ll open with three things: my current whereabouts, food craving, and a random song suggestion 1) i’m at buzz brew’s off of fitzhugh & 75. it’s a wonderful little restaurant that most people would never know was here but the incredible karilyn mullenix recommended it to me…and we all know that any karilyn recommendation is a good one! 2)i’m currently craving…..iced water 3) Keane: Somwhere Only We Know i met jon here at buzz brews about 45 minutes ago and now i’m sitting alone b/c he’s left for a school meeting. it’s so cozy just sitting here on my lab top, sipping iced water and simply loving life. today it was quite dismal outside. it was overcast most of the day and it gradually became chillier but i really enjoyed it for some odd reason. i ran a few errands after work today and listened to classical music…there was something wonderful and calming about it all. and now i’m sitting in a restaurant just relaxing and writing on the blog that jon just introduced to me! i’m so excited to have this! also while i’ve been sitting i had a chance to read my good friend laura’s most recent blog post about her unbelievably precious two year old daughter, Maya Joy, who was diagnosed with Langerhans’ Cell histiocytocis (LCH) over a year ago. This is Maya Joy at Christmas!

Maya was recently considered healed from her illness but the past hospital visit showed that Maya may have signs of a reoccurring case of LCH. I share this with y’all because 1)Laura and her husband Kyle Martin are two of our dearest friends and they are both also individually mentoring both Jon and me. Laura and I meet with a good friend named Ingrid on Thursday mornings and Jon meets with Kyle and a lovely man named Roy on Tuesday afternoons.2)The Martin daughters are so adorable it’s ridiculous and we I love them to no end. 3)To ask for your prayers! I know if we just continue to have faith in God’s healing power that Maya Joy will be completely healed and free from LCH. This verse comes to mind:

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. -Matthew 17:20

Nothing is impossible if we have faith in God’s will. If you’d like to read Laura’s blog simply click HERE. She’s a great writer so I know you’ll enjoy reading how a faithful family endures and perseveres through a life changing and growing experience. OKAY! I’ve got to go! I’m so excited to complete my first post though! I’ll be sure to give y’all the down low about the “goods,” or rather the details of the wedding. Be sure to check every…uh….two weeks to see what updates have been made on the website. Jon and I are having so much fun with almost everything!God is great, life rocks, i’ve been eating way too much candy lately! viv

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