pretty pretty princess.

have you ever heard of the game pretty pretty princess? it was my favorite game as a little girl.  there's a spinner and a game board with a jewelry box in the middle. you spin the spinner and move your piece around the game board, each spot on the board displaying a piece of jewelry that is in the jewelry box. there's a crown, a necklace, two earrings, a bracelet, and a ring. the piece you land on is the piece you put on. whoever gets all the jewelry on first wins. this is humorous because my big, intimidating father played this with me when i was little. he'd put on the jewelry and everything, but in the end i was always the princess. on one of brian and i's first dates, we were talking about our childhoods and i told him this. 

several months later, january 30, 2010, exactly one year ago today, brian proposed to me with the game of pretty pretty princess. he has always called me his princess and i have this little girl thing about me that loves all things princess. he later told me that as soon as i told him about pretty pretty princess being my favorite childhood game, he immediately knew that this was how he would ask me to marry him. 

so i thought i would share the story...but ill give the short version:

brian visiting me at UK for his and his mom's birthdays. this is just a few hours before he proposed and i have no idea. p.s. wasn't my kitchen totally adorable?

i received pretty pretty princess as an early birthday present from his mom, since my birthday is just a week later. brian and i go back to my apartment and play, "just for fun," or so i think. we play and brian ends up winning, which completely was not supposed to happen. he takes the crown off of his head and puts it on mine, telling me i've always been his princess and how much he loves me. he talks to me for awhile about this. then he starts rummaging through the jewelry box and says, "but wait...you're missing the most important piece!" i immediately know just what is going on and my heart stops. he pulls out the ring and asks me to marry him :)

then he says he has another surprise for me and drives me to my favorite cafe, where some of my closest friends and family were waiting to celebrate with coffee and desert. 

and so i tell them all the story, which they already knew, and show off my blang. 

and then i have to explain to my roommate that i will have to move out of our apartment in a few months and move in with a boy. she doesn't take this so well.

 we pose for some pictures.

and he loves on me a little.

my mom had gotten my girlfriends some dress-up rings :)

and so us girls all admire our rings...but one of these rings is not like the others! 

and i hug my friends because i love them and they love me and we are happy. i am hugging my friend anna here...visit her blog and see how she helps women who have been victims of sexual exploitation in central america. 

and so four months later we became man and wife...and oh how i love being his wife :)

awkward & awesome saturday!

awkward:

• having to attend a symphony for a class...and sitting in front of a man who continually hacks up his lungs and other things throughout the concert. all i can think is i hope you are covering your mouth. gross.
• at that same symphony...i come to realize that people clap a lot at symphonies. this got tiring after while, so after the 98457th round of applause i decide not to clap. the lady next to me looks at me and starts clapping as loudly as possible while giving me the stink eye. 
• walking around wal-mart looking for clothespins. seriously, where are they? i politely ask a wal-mart staff where they are located...only for him to inform me that he did not actually work at wal-mart, but that he was just a normal customer like me. i can feel my face getting hot. just walk away quickly...

awesome:

• this photographer & her blog: i absolutely adore her style & photos!
• lunch with a beautiful high school student who loves the Lord
• shopping with little sister and driving her home to find mom baking valentine cookies :)
• being done with the first half of a project for school
• saturday morning snuggling with boo...and how hawt he looks in this picture. i almost cant even take it.  

happy saturday to everyone!

dear winter.

dear winter,

i hate your stinking guts. your heart is so cold. your soul is like ice. you make me trip on the sidewalk, you get your nasty salt all over my boots & my car, and you chap my poor lips. mercilessly. and i'll have you know, winter, you're not even that pretty. your dirty, brown snow and grey skies are the opposite of pretty. so tonight, i will defy your gloominess and wear bright colors while i go on a date with my husband. we will have to walk outside, but we will not let you steal our joy. just thought you should know this, winter.

sincerely,

courtney

red velvet cake balls...a valentines day treat!

 want to make yourself some of these for valentines day?

its easy! simply bake yourself a red velvet cake and once its cooled, crumble it up and mix in a package of cream cheese.

then roll the cake into balls like this:

dip in chocolate and enjoy!

i will be making red velvet cake balls as well as strawberry cake balls. i need more ideas for valentine recipes, so if you know of any, please do share! 

pictures from bakerella. go there for more yummy treats!

my saturday: awkward & awesome!

awkward: 

1. me making valentine cards and boo asking if any are for him, in which i reply, "no babe, these are actually for my friends..." 

2. shutting my coat in the car door and trying to walk away

3. the pictures my sister takes of me, like so:

awesome:


1. a reaallyyy clean house


2. staying in my jammies all day and making valentine cards with verses on the love of God


3. a night of girlfriends, lobster ravioli, and greaters ice cream :)

4. putting a winter coat on our dog (otherwise known as the coat of shame...we came home to a destroyed twilight book, which wasn't so awesome since it didn't belong to us...)

i cant stop singing this song.

I am desperate for Your touch

a glimpse of heaven

for the glory of Your Son.

In a moment You can

turn a life around

forever to be found in You.

I am reaching out to find

theres nothing greater than

Your love that holds my life.

Your grace and mercy that

have saved me by Your blood,

and swept away my shame Oh Lord.

Chorus

Your love is like fire

that burns for all to see.

My only desire

to worship at Your feet.

So let this fire

consume my life.

Let Your love take me deeper

pull me closer to where You are,

'cause all I want is more of You.

and I'll surrender to Your love

forever humbled by the

message of the cross.

I stand abandoned in

Your presence and Your grace,

and I'll never be the same Oh God.

Chorus

Your love is like fire,

that burns for all to see.

My only desire,

to worship at Your feet.

So let this fire

consume my life.

Let Your love take me deeper,

pull me closer to where You are,

'cause all I want is more of You.

When You call I will follow.

At the cross I surrender all,

Jesus I belong to You.

I belong to You Lord

Your love is like fire,

that burns for all to see.

My only desire,

to worship at Your feet.

Your love is like fire,

that burns for all to see.

My only desire,

to worship at Your feet.

So let this fire

consume my life.

Let Your love take me deeper,

pull me closer to where You are,

'cause all I want is more of You.

When You call I will follow,

at the cross I surrender all,

Jesus I belong to You.

Let Your love take me deeper,

pull me closer to where You are,

cause all I want is more of You

When You call I will follow,

at the cross I surrender all,

Jesus I belong to You.

it's friiiday!

i can think of a list of things i need to get done today:

dishes

vacuuming

folding laundry

math homework...

but i am soooo comfortable in my bed. and besides, its my turn to plan tonights date night so i am doing some research... that and sending brian pitiful pictures of myself to make him miss me while he's working.

 it always works like a charm. it's important that i make him miss me as much as possible when we are apart.  

recent finds.

i am smitten with anthropologie. everything about it... and when there's a sale...like a really, really good sale...i get giddy. yesterday, i got this firehouse cardigan for $19...yes really. i adored it at full price ($98), but i only saw it mark down to $50. not to mention, this was in stores back in the late summer/early fall. but lo and behold, a little digging through the chaotic sale section...and there she was with the glorious $19 price tag. and then i found these bright yellow bowls for $1.95 each...the perfect size for a girl like me. thanks anthro :)

"ive never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful."

the topic on the radio today was beauty. all day long the station played songs and talked about our beauty and value in the Lords eyes. i do not know a single woman who does not struggle with the issue of beauty every now and then. i tend to struggle with this more in the winter, with the weather's curses of pale & dry skin, dull hair, and blah blah blah. but winter or summer, i am most beautiful when i believe that i am truly beautiful. 

i have been studying ezekiel chapter 16, an allegory of unfaithful jerusalem. it talks about how God sees a woman (jersualem) lying in a heap of blood (her sin). he then tells her to live and enters into a covenant of marriage with her and lavishes all kinds of love on her. he feeds her the finest food, clothes her in beautiful dresses, and puts jewelry on her neck, wrists, ears, and nose. he puts a crown on her head makes her the most beautiful queen. she is certainly beautiful, but i think considering where she came from, poor and dirty, practically dead, she is all the more beautiful. the woman's beauty "was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Sovereign Lord" (ezekiel 16:4). the passage goes on to explain how the woman uses her beauty to allure other lovers and commits adultery and idolatry against the One who loves her so perfectly and sweetly. it is sad...but i cannot get past verses 1-14. read them for yourself. it explains the kind of lover the Lord is...how he took us out of our ugliest sin and made us beautiful simply because he made us his. he is so lavishing with his love...he certainly does not hold back. 


ladies, we help make the world beautiful, simply by being women. women are beautiful. we just are. if God is beautiful and we are created in His image and belong to Him, then we are undoubtedly stunning. 

now there are many other things to consider about our beauty: 

1. think about the kind of ugliness, darkness, sin, and brokenness that God has redeemed you from. how has God changed you? how is he currently shaping you? compare who you were before you knew the Lord to who you are now. if you are any different than who you once were on account of Him, then how could you not be beautiful? 

2. psalm 139 says that the Lord knit us together in our mother's womb, that we are each fearfully and wonderfully made, that we are a marvelous work. God created every little thing about us...our unique laughs, the shape & color of our eyes, our ability to be mothering & nurturing to others, our smiles...everything inside and out that makes you who you are. celebrate these things and praise God for them just as david did in his psalms. 

3. having talked about psalm 139, i want to mention that we are beautiful inside and out. yes i know God looks at the heart and not outward appearance (1 samuel 16:7); yes, i know that outward beauty is fleeting (proverbs 31:30); yes, i know that God does not delight in the legs of man (psalm 147:10)... but we are women and we need to know that we are not only beautiful inwardly, but that we are outwardly as well, because just as God created men to pursue beauty, he created women to be beautiful. He made us beautiful on the outside and it is to His glory. read how solomon praises the shulamite woman's outward beauty in song of songs...and she seems to be described with very dark skin (which was not culturally considered beautiful at the time), a round midsection, and a large nose... hmmm. i dont think the women i know in my life would exactly want these physical attributes.  but this woman is beautiful because God created her, because she calls herself lovely, and because her lover praises her outward beauty. 

4. now let's talk about inner beauty for a second. think about a woman who is refreshing to be around. she is gentle, kind, and at peace with God, herself, and her life. 1 peter says a gentle and quiet spirit is precious to the Lord and the type of unfading beauty every woman should strive for. a woman at 90 years old can be beautiful if her spirit is beautiful and refreshing to others. this really separates us from men. there is something about a godly woman's spirit and inner-self that makes her beautiful and inviting...men can also have peace & contentment in their hearts, and have a comforting spirit to be around... and while these qualities make them attractive, i would not exactly use the word beautiful. i think that word is reserved especially for us women. even the dictionary defines the noun form of beauty as "a beautiful person, especially a woman" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beauty). 

5. a woman's joy and smile makes her the most beautiful. there are two quotes that i love: "ive never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful" and "joy is the best make-up." 


amen. 

beauty picks for 2011

 things that make me feel beautiful: any dress. minute maid blueberry & pomegranate juice (good for the bod). my engagement & wedding rings. peace & joy. neutrogena citrus sugar scrub. smelling like bath & body works 24/7 breathe romance lotion. 

2011.

happy 2011 y'all. the holidays have been amazing--i have caught up with precious friends, went to the movies about a million times, spent quality time with family, and have slept very, very soundly.

our first christmas as mr. and mrs. munafo was very sweet. we woke up christmas eve morning and dashed downstairs like kids to get into our stockings and exchange gifts. to my shock and surprise i opened up a new macbook pro and a pink case to protect it. my wonderful husband made some sacrifices to provide this for me and i still cannot believe it!

i go back to school on monday (break has gone by much too quickly) and will probably not post anything until after. hope everyone is having a beautiful 2011 so far.

christmas eve morning coffee!