a grown up is a child with layers on.

so my brian turned 26 on tuesday... and i will be 22 in a few days. it's weird. i do not feel that we should be this old. maybe it's because i still play dress up and brian still plays video games in his p.j's all day on saturdays. or maybe it's because we would be content watching disney movies all day long...or maybe it's because we dialogue in only song for entire conversations. a plethora of reasons (but then i catch myself using words like "plethora" and think, hmm maybe i can be mature sometimes). the point is, i do not want to grow up. i want to be young, innocent, and free forever. but i also want to be wise...very wise, which i know comes with age & experience while walking with the Lord. 

the good news is, living in the Kingdom of God gives us the best of both worlds. God delights in a child-like faith, declaring that His Kingdom belongs to those who possess it. we are precious and innocent in the eyes of our Father, and set free from everything that could ever hold us back from Him. we are commanded to be like little children and are called children of God. but we are also to chase after wisdom and to move past spiritual infancy and onto more mature matters. we are to instruct and teach those younger than us. 

brian tells me i have so much little girl inside me...but he also calls me a woman (which is really hot by the way). i am a woman with the spirit of a little girl...and i love it! i love growing in my walk with the Lord, knowing Him more, gaining wisdom, and teaching/encouraging those younger than me...but i also love having the wonder of a child, feeling so small in my Heavenly Father's presence, and the joy and freedom He gives me. it is the same with brian...he is an incredible man of God, who is still a big kid at heart. i love how strong and wise he is, but i also love how he finds joy in the simple, much like a child. and i love how somehow being married has caused us to grow up in some ways and to become more like kids in other ways...because really, when you get married, you just have another person to be silly and immature with :)

celebrating with my family at cheesecake factory...yuurrrmmm

the carrot cake i made for him...also notice the star wars legos i bought for him on the table :)

please also be aware that we did not eat this cake on the same night we went to the cheesecake factory.

happy 26th birthday boo :)

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.