My Sweet Husband!

I just have to share this! Mostly so I will never forget!!

I came home from work yesterday and got a super sweet surprise from Micheal!

He had cleaned the entire house! I am talking dishes, laundry, and swept the floors. It was so sweet! We have a cute dry erase board on the wall in the kitchen and we write notes back and forth to each other. This is what it said yesterday:

"There is a reward for being sweet! I can be sweet too! I hope you like my surprise! I am glad I have forever to show you how awesome you are!"

Then he drew a little picture of the washing machine, the dishes, and a broom.

I LOVED it!

I will take a picture soon and post it!

I am one blessed girl!

Happy (Almost) New Year!!

Wow! In just a few short days we will be saying goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012! I always look forward to starting a new year! It always seems like such a fresh start. I am totally the kind of girl who will wait until Monday to start a diet. Or the beginning of the month to start something new. I can't stand starting something on a completely random day or time. LOL. I am weird that way. So January 1st is like the perfect "start" date! :-)

In honor of beginning a new year I have decided to put together a list of goals and plans I have for the new year.

1) Now that Micheal and I finally have all of our bank accounts in order. I want us to sit down and create a specific budget that we can both stick to. We have never shared an account before so I am excited about this new "married" step! (This WILL happen)! :-)

2) I have finally (after about 23 years of trying)  done good about having a quiet time with the Lord. In 2012 I want to really allow the Lord to use this time and for it to become something I cherish. I don't want it to become a structured routine that I check off my list. I want to be open to receiving exactly what he has for me. I am such a rule follower that I often feel like I have to journal, pray, read my Bible, and document my prayer requests during every quiet time. Then I completely overwhelm myself and end up giving up all together. The Lord has really been showing me that there are no certain steps to spending time with him. I just need to simply open my heart and enjoy talking to Him!

3) I know I have said this like a million times before but I really, really do want to start blogging regulary. This totally goes back to what I just said in #2. I feel like I need to take pictures and document every single thing I do and when I don't or get behind I just get overwhelmed and give up. This is something I need to work on in all aspects of my life. Things can't always be perfect and they won't always work out exactly like I want them to...and you know what...that is ok!! I have been reading several blogs lately and they all write about such simple things. Sometimes they don't even have pictures. And these are blogs that I LOVE to read. I just need to take some pressure off myself and have fun!

4) In 2012 I want to become a better planner. Now that I am finished with school I have a lot more time where I can help Micheal plan things for our youth group. Planning has never been one of my strong suits... mostly because of what I just got done talking about...I overwhelm myself that the outcome won't be good and so I just don't do anything. This year I am going to step out of my comfort zone and try to plan some fun events for our youth kids.

5) I want to fully enjoy this time in my life. Sometimes I tend to miss out on what is happening "now" because I am too busy looking forward to what is next. I did this a lot in 2010...for good reason... I had a wedding to look forward to!! But I do this in everyday moments as well. Micheal and I are in a very sweet season of our lives. We are married, with great friends and family near by, and we don't have kids! This is the perfect time to go on trips and just have fun!

Well those are some things I am going to strive to accomplish throughout 2012! I am reminded of a verse in Psalm 1.

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

 

Psalm 1:1-3

 

 

Here's to a PROSPEROUS New Year to ALL!!!

Wedding Fun!!

I am completely shocked that the last time I posted was in MAY! That seems like a million years ago! (well actually it doesn't completely shock me...I don't have the best track record for regularly posting).

Anyway... when Micheal proposed to me in December I already knew when I wanted to have the wedding. Micheal and I had already talked about wedding dates before he proposed. I have always wanted to have a fall wedding. That is my favorite season and I just LOVE the colors. But the one downfall is that we have had long engagement. Well 10 months to me seems like a long time to me! It has its perks though, its been a blessing financially because we have been able to save money and we have had plenty of time to pick exactly what we want without being rushed. However I have been ready to be married and start my life with Micheal for a LONG time now... so 10 months has felt like an eternity.

All of that to say this:

I have told myself from the get-go that if I could just make it to May the rest of the time would FLY by! Simply because I would be done with school and to me summer ALWAYS flies by whether you like it or not. Boy have I been right! There has been SO much going on this summer that I truly have no idea how it is already August. But for the first time in my life I am glad it is August! I don't have to go back to school AND that means that the big day is less than 3 months away! WOO HOO!

So its time for a wedding update!

We have had the dress, location, and photographer booked for awhile now. We are getting married at the Methodist church here in Lfd. I am really excited about the place. It will be just perfect! PLUS, since I work there I have lots of opportunities to take a peek in the sanctuary and picture how everything will look! :-) (Don't tell anyone but I may be guilty of practicing my walk down the aisle!) Hee Hee!

All of the decorations from the ceremony have been booked, bridesmaids dresses and suits for the groomsmen have been picked out, flower girl's dress has been purchased and tried on (it fit perfect!) florists have been booked, cake has been ordered, favors have been purchased, and lots of the little things like cake topper, napkins plates, etc have all been ordered! I LOVE when the UPS truck pulls up because everytime I get another wedding thing it just makes me that much more excited!

One thing that has been SO cool about the wedding planning is that my wonderful friend Heath Lowe designed my invitations. Heath and I have been friends since we were born basically! We grew up together and are still good friends today. Well, it just so happens that he is AMAZINGLY talented at computer design! It was really special to me that he made my invitations. He was so patient with Micheal and I (well me mostly... I may have changed my mind a time or two in the process). He took the time to make sure they were EXACTLY what we wanted. I can honestly say that they turned out better than I ever could have imagined. We got to pick them up from the printers today! :-) They are simply beautiful, adorable, and perfect! I can't wait to send them out so everyone can see them!

Micheal and I have also registered for gifts and scheduled the shower for September 17th. I will have to do a whole separate post on us registering for gifts because we took pics! :-)

Well I think that gets everyone back up to speed! Sorry for the lack of pictures but I kind of just needed to spill everything out! :-)

** One thing that I forgot to mention!! And its a biggie!! Wait for it....




My cousin, Kayla is getting married TOO!! :-) Her wedding is set for September 24th! So we are getting to do all of this fun stuff together! I am SO happy for her and Jake! So we have 2 showers and a wedding in Spetember, a wedding in October, Thanksgiving in November, and of course Christmas in December that I will get to see my family! By the time January rolls around we aren't going to know what to do! Ha Ha! Usually we only get to all get together couple times a year. So I plan on soaking all of this fun stuff up!!!

Last Assignment EVER!!

As of this very second I am working on my last ever college assignment!! (At least for my under grad career)! :) I have a lot of mixed emotions right now...the most prevalent one being..."I don't want to do this assignment!!!!". Ha Ha! This is not good considering it is a presentation to the behavioral sciences' faculty...so I kind of need to get motivated! Anyway this may be kind of silly but I decided this was a moment worth documenting! (Plus I am the world's worst procrastinator so this is an awesome excuse to take a "break"!)

So here is where I am spending my evening:

Saturday at 10:00am I will walk the stage! I am beyond excited!! A lot of my family and friends are coming to the ceremony and out to eat with us afterwards. We are going to eat at Carino's! Then hopefully the girls will all go to the movies! I love any excuse to get to see my family but getting to graduate certainly sweetens the deal!

Finally I just want to take this time to praise and thank my God for his faithfulness throughout this journey! He has blessed me abundantly through grades, friendships, and scholarships throughout this entire process! There were so many times when I was studying or taking a test and just feeling so overwhelmed. He taught me how to trust in Him to take care of the part that I couldn't. One of my favorite quotes is "Do your best and let God do the rest." I feel like this explains so much of the academic part of my college career. God always came through for me! Every. Single. Time. And even though I am a little bit stressed out about tomorrow and completely DO NOT feel like working on this presentation I know God will give me the strength to power through one more time! :) I am so very blessed!

Engagement Pictures!

This past weekend Micheal and I got to take our engagement pictures! We had a blast! We were blessed to have LeeLee come down and take our pictures for us and they turned out great! She is so very talented and FUN I would recommend her to anyone! This morning LeeLee sent me a sneak peak of some she edited!

The one of us at the stop sign has a couple of stories behind it! Several months ago when LeeLee agreed to do our pictures she told me to start getting ideas of where I would like to have them taken. The first thing that came to mind was mine and Micheal's stop sign. In May of 2006, right after I graduated high school Micheal and I made plans to go to Lubbock for a date so he could give me my graduation present. We were on our way out of town but the weather was really yucky and there were some severe storm warnings so we decided we better not chance it. I was disappointed but I was still excited for him to give me my gift. When we turned around and got back into town Micheal had to run by his parent's house for something while I waited in the car. Once he got back in he pulled away and I started begging him to give me my present. The suspense was killing me and I wanted it right then and there. So Micheal put the car in park at the first stop sign we came to and that is where he gave me my promise ring. I remember being so excited and nervous when he handed it to me! I couldn't even see it because it was at night time and it was dark in my car. I had to turn on the light to get a good look at it! So needless to say that stop sign is very special to Micheal and I and I was so glad we were able to get a good picture of us there!

Also while we were taking pictures at the stop sign a cop pulled up to ask us what we were doing! Ha ha! We did look pretty crazy! There were 3 vehicles all parked on the curb and all of us (Me, Micheal, Mom, De, LeeLee, and Damon) were out in the middle of the road taking pictures. Micheal told him that we were taking pictures and the cop said, "Oh...at the stop sign????" It was so funny! Micheal was like "Its sentimental!" ha ha! He was like Ok and drove away! Everytime I look at that picture I will remember that crazy story!

I am so very grateful to have such amazing friends and family that would be willing to spend a hot, windy Saturday morning running around town with me taking pictures! I am so blessed!

3 Months and E.C.I

So, as of today Micheal and I have been engaged for 3 months! Some days I think, "Wow! 3 months already! October is coming fast!" and other times I think, "Only 3 months! It is taking forever!!". Ha Ha! I am trying to be patient and enjoy this time as a bride to be but it is hard because I am sooo excited! As far as the wedding planning goes everything is going smooth so far. We have the dress, church, preacher, photographer, bridesmaids dresses, colors, and some decorations... and we still have 7 months to go! I am not a professional by any means but I say that is pretty good! There are times when Mom and I look at each other and are like "Shouldn't we be doing something!". Ha Ha! We are pretty much figuring things out as we go!

I want to share an interesting story behind finding the photographer! You know how every bride has those certain things that she considers to be "non-negotiables" well one of those things for me was my photographer. I am not picky about most other things but I always knew from day one that I wanted a good anf fun photographer, however not one that was going to make my parent's and I go into debt! LOL! Well all of the ones we looked at in Lubbock were ridiculous! So my mom started calling around in Levelland to see what we could find there. Well the first lady to call her back was named Debbie Blackshear. My mom was talking to her and was totally impressed with the price and the package. So she gave her my name... well at this moment Debbie begins screaming, "Oh My Gosh, AMANDA MARTIN! You mean Campus Ambassador at SPC Amanda Martin!!!!" And my mom, who was totally shocked was like, "Yeah...". Debbie went on to say how much she enjoyed me when I was at S.P.C. and so on and so forth!

When my mom called to tell me I was shocked and excited! Everyone who was a campus ambassador with me at the time loved Debbie! We all called her Mama Deb because she was like a mother to all of us! However, I never would have dreamed she would have had that reaction to me getting married! Anyway, I am so excited that not only did we find a good photographer but we found someone who knows me and I know she will do a fabulous job! It is so fun to see how God's hand is in all things even when we least expect it!! :-)

That is pretty much all that is going on on the Wedding Front! I am so ready for summer and graduation because after that I plan on diving into wedding planning head first! I haven't been able to that so far because of school. My main time consumer right now is trying to get my 120 hours of practicum time in before the end of April. I mentioned my practicum in an earlier post and will go into more detail about what I am doing exactly. Basically, a practicum is part of the undergrad program and requires the student to get 120 hours of real life experience in a place that centers around their type of degree.

With my degree being Family Studies there were a lot of different avenues to take. Some places I could choose from included anything from working within schools to working with women protective services.  I chose to do mine with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).

Basically ECI is a program for children form birth to three years old. They come into the home and evaluate children whose parents are concerned might have developmental delays. The delay could come in any type of form imaginable it could be speech, OT, PT, nutritional, etc. and ECI will come in and provide different types of in-home therapies for the child. It is such a wonderful program because it is covered by insurance so most families don't have to pay a dime and the initial assessment to see if the child qualifies is always free. ECI staffs speech therapists, dieticians, occupational therapists, licensed professional counselors, physical therapists, and many more in order to provided one on one care for each family. I have been shadowing Stephanie Coffman, Early Intervention Specialist, since January and I have learned so much!

About 2 weeks after a started my practicum Stephanie allowed me to do some of the therapy sessions by myself. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. There are definatly some difficult moments when dealing with babies and toddlers. However, there are also those amazing moments where you feel yourself connecting with the child in an awesome way and you stop and think, "Wow! I am really helping him!".  Mainly I have worked with kids who have speech delays. It is so rewarding to hear them start talking more and more as the weeks go by! I love it!

If you know anyone who might benefit from ECI's services please pass it on! I believe if more parents knew services like ECI were available to them they would definitely take advantage of them!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Catch Up!

I don't know about you guys but 2011 has just been an AMAZING year so far! I can see God's blessings pouring out on his people everywhere I look.

 In late January our friends, Brian and Stacy adopted a beautiful brand new baby boy named Barrett Keinan Turpen. He is just perfect! God's hand was truly in this adoption because Brian and Stacy found out about this mother-to-be who was looking for someone to adopt her baby and less than 48 hours later the baby had been born and Barrett was with his new mommy and daddy! It is so neat watching God's blessings pour out on people you love!

Stacy with her brand new baby boy!

There are several other babies who will be making their debut in 2011! My best friend Meghan will be having her 4th little blessing in August! She actually found out she was pregnant on the same day Micheal and I got engaged! :) My friend Kara is expecting her 2nd baby boy on Good Friday so that is just around the corner and we are all very excited! Also, Micheal's sister Miranda and her hubby are expecting their first baby in August! Micheal and I will be getting a new little neice or nephew! :) I am so excited because this is the first neice or nephew born on Micheal's side that I will officially be "aunt" to from birth! Micheal's oldest sister has 2 boys who I have known from birth but I wasn't officially Aunt Amanda! (I like the way that sounds!) I am so glad Micheal has older sisters otherwise I wouldn't be an aunt for a long time because Adam is only 15!

On February 14th Micheal and I got to spend our first Valentine's Day together as an engaged couple! We had a great time. I had a hair appointment in Levelland that afternoon so Micheal took me to that and then we headed to Lubbock! He took me to eat at Red Lobster which is one of my favorites! And then we went to see the new movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, "Just Go With It". We both thought it was really funny! I had told Micheal that the only thing I wanted for Valentine's was a date but he didn't listen! :) I got some beautiful roses delivered to work and he also got me a personalized keepsake box. I absolutely love it! :) He is so sweet!

Micheal got to pick out what was engraved on it.

The top says: Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (He tells me that all the time)

The bottom says: Micheal & Amanda

:)

Also in February Micheal and I traveled to Amarillo to participate in Disciple Now at South Georgia Baptist Church. We are always so blessed by our experience in Amarillo and this year was no different. We always leave with new friends and fun memories!

So now I look up and we are already half way through March and Spring Break has already come and gone. I am so excited because that means graduation is less than 2 months away! I cannot wait! Everything on the school front is going great especially my practicum! I will share all about that in my next post! To end I will share some pictures of some of my favorite things! :)

Sunday lunch with friends!!



Wedding shopping with my family!

Going to Adam's Play with the Family!

Me and Nanny

Me and Dad

Adam had to dress up like a girl! :)

Happy Sunday Everybody!!