as of late... WEDDINGS!:)

So for the past 2 weekends, weddings have been what is on my mind. Tons of wedding and lingerie gifts and lots of catching up with friends. I love the way weddings bring old friends together.

On Aug. 8th, some of our good friends Summer and Michael were married. They are now the Nunn's. I read scripture in the wedding and for some reason was SO nervous. But it all worked out fine. (once it was over) I was so looking forward to this wedding b/c i know it would bring lots of old college friends together. I wish i had a picture of us dancing the night away. Such a fun time!

This is sneak peek that Summer and Michael's photographer put out. Candice and Daniel were so wonderful and i can't wait to see the rest of their shots!

This past weekend, i was able to travel to FL for my friend Amber's wedding. Amber was one of my closest friends from my time overseas and so her wedding ended up being another reunion:) She married her childhood friend Elliot and it was one of the sweetest and meaningful weddings i have ever been to. And it only lasted 15 min. I got to be there for all the fun before-the-wedding stuff. My camera was in full force most of the time, but i decided not to bring it out during the ceremony, so i can't wait until her pictures come out.

This was one of the only pics of us since i was behind the camera most of the time.- don't mind that at all!

And this weekend will prove to be another busy one, but no weddings. Just wedding planning:) I am going to pick up my WONDERFUL friend (and roomie from Lebanon) Leah, in Richmond, VA. We are going to be doing a little shopping at the wonderful H&M (yay yay!!).

I have the goal to find an outfit for mine and Matt's upcoming engagements pics:)

Then, Leah and I plan to head to Wake Forest, NC where my old college roommates live. My sister (Matt and Brian too) is meeting us there so we can get some wedding stuff done. I am SO excited about this b/c i will have 4 bridesmaids together and one time. My sister is the only bridesmaid (well, she is really the maid of honor) that lives nearby, so i am looking forward to this time so much!! I will def take the camera and try post some pics of the fun after the weekend:)

p.s.- i get to marry my love 7 months from today!!:) can't wait.

In Memory of Ed Quein

It has now been a couple of weeks ago that we got the unexpected news that Brian Quein's father passed away of a heart attack. He had been in bad health for a while but always seemed to bounce back from everything, so the news came as quite a shock. It is always so interesting to me how death brings people together. The minute we heard, Matt and I both wanted to be with Brian and Megan at the hospital to help in any way we could. Other friends felt the same. I will never forget the night that Brian's dad passed away for many sad reasons, but one of the most beautiful things I saw that night was the body of Christ coming together for a family member in need. Like I said- a night I will never forget.

Ed Quein was a man who was significant in so many lives, first and foremost his 2 sons. People from all over seemed to show up at his funeral, all who were impacted by his life and service. I have never heard of a man who served his community the way this man did. People literally read his obituary in the paper, remembered how he was apart of their life and showed up to pay him tribute, even if it was years later. There were 2 men who spoke that were from the youth group Ed served in many years ago. These were now grown men, but the never forgot the way Ed impacted them.

 

Brian asked me to shoot some pictures of the funeral so they would have some digital memories to hold on to, which I was happy to do.  Even if I was wiping the tears from my LCD screen on my camera.... Here are a few shots from the funeral.

The funeral was held at 1st United Methodist Church downtown- absolutely beautiful. (kinda wish there was a center aisle)

Love this one of Megan as she is mentally preparing to play the 'It is Well' on the violin. She said she was nervous but you would never know... she did amazing. 

If you look closely you can see Santa Claus in the background. Mr. Quein spent many years playing, from what I hear, the best Santa around for many little girls and boys...

Brian and Eddie both shared some of the most touching things about their dad. This would be the time that the LCD screen was covered with tears. 

I love this shot of the guys carrying the casket. 

I had to include this one of Matt and Trav who where both pallbearers. These 2 and Brian are such good buddies:)

Mr Quein also served in the military, in Vietnam if I am not mistaken, so he received military honors. The flag being presented to Brian's mom was SO special. The girl even got a little choked up when she was thanking her for all her husband had done for his country. She apologized but I think it only added to her sincerity. 

Thank you Mr. Quein for touching so many lives. You will always be remembered!

God puts the man in the condition in order to understand the message

so it has been FOREVER since i have blogged. and when i started this thing i promised myself that i would not drop it when life happens, i would just blog about life. Well... easier said than done. I have realized this thing about myself lately. I have actually known it for a while, it has just been confirmed to me once again in the past three weeks. WHEN.... the life that i speak of does happen, this girl closes up like a locked diary. Not that i don't talk to people or just hide in my room, i just try to get by and get through whatever is going on.  and i don't share (thus, the reason i have not blogged). except with matt, which is one of the million reasons i am happy i get to spend the rest of my life with him. this whole closing up thing could happen in response to stress or life being overwhelming, something bad happening or CHANGE. i hate change. you would think i would have gotten use to it after moving 7 times in the past 3 years or having 5 different jobs, but i have not and i am not sure i ever will. i am just naturally drawn to words like 'stable' and 'constant'- but i realize nothing in this life is either of those 2 things. i apologize that i cannot fully explain all this change and this is not actually what i was planning to blog about anyway, if you notice the title, just a bit of explanation for my absence... 

last week i was meeting with mama hopper. we are still slowly getting through the Beth Moore study that we are doing together, Beloved Disciple. We were watching the video (and i do mean old school VHS) and Beth said something that has not left my mind for a week now.  you guessed it- the title, 'God puts the man in the condition in order to understand the message'. her example came from Rev. ch. 7 where Jesus is speaking to John about the people who come through great tribulation. He said, "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat". I realize many of us have heard this verse and it does not seem like such a huge deal, but it had never dawned on me until Beth pointed it out, John was in those exact circumstances that Jesus told him there would be no more of. He was exiled at time, a prisoner- he was hungry, thirsty, and the sun beat down on him daily. Who better to understand that message than the one who was in that exact condition- John. Wow. 

This was one of those obvious things that when i heard it, i immediately thought, 'well i know that'. but the quote begs the question... what message is God trying to teach me now? through the change and the stress and whatever else i am dealing with. What is God trying to teach you in the condition that He has put you in? This idea can take ANY horrible situation and turn it to good- if we are not looking at the horrible thing going on and instead looking at what God is trying to teach us about Himself, or how to practice his attributes... what kind of better people would we be in the end of it all? not that whatever is going on isn't going be hard- it will, but at least we get something out of it. I was speaking to someone about this the other day regarding forgiveness. When someone is wronged, everything that is natural within that person tells them to respond in a way that is not acting forgiveness. Either seek revenge, treat the other person poorly, or just walk away. And merely saying 'i forgive you' is not enough either. God has put this man in the condition that he might actually have to act forgiveness in order that he might learn how to forgive. Whoa. Maybe this is not eye-opening to some but it made me see circumstances in a new light. It was just one of those things that stuck b/c i needed to hear it at the time. and maybe i needed to share it too:)

YARD SALE

I just wanted to let everyone know that Matt and I are having a YARD SALE this Saturday, July 11th:) Last September, Matt bought his grandparent's house and so we have been in the process of cleaning out the house of the things they no longer want. We are FINALLY ready for this yard sale, which is something i would have never thought possible when we started given how much stuff there was to sort through.... We have found all kinds of treasures, some we are keeping but most we are selling b/c we don't have room for it all! So come out and join us this Sat. starting at 6am. There will be lots of signs once you turn into the neighborhood. The address is 7410 Linda Lake Dr. Charlotte- 28215.

Also, we have cleaned out my house and some of my dad's so there is lots of stuff from our family as well. It is going to be HUGE!

Some of the items of the top of my head: lots of furniture (desk, wardrobe, chest of drawers, coffee table and matching end table, curio cabinet and more!), lots of clothes, decor- antique and current, old record albums, some kids stuff, bed spreads and large blankets, TONS of shoes, curtains, decorative pictures for the walls, and just random treasures- you can imagine what kinds of things we found in a 50-year lived in house:) 

Hope to see you Saturday!!!

time for an update- a little photography:)

So with getting engaged and all the wedding planning started, i have neglected my blog a little. We have a few things nailed down for the wedding, but right now we are mainly getting ideas and tips about everything... One thing we do have nailed down though is our photographer. If you have not figured it out yet, i am a photography lover and have been looking at all kinds of photography sites for as long as i can remember. At some point i ran across Cheyenne Schutz and was instantly hooked:) She is an amazing photographer, a strong believer and we we connected so quickly. 

After telling Cheyenne about my love for photography and how i have dabbled with my camera for a long time, she suggested i take the photography class that i have been so into lately. I just recently finshed the class and had to submit 10 shots for critique. I learned so much and will continue to learn since i will be taking another class starting soon. 

So here are my 10 submissions... tell me what you think!

The last 2 shots were voted my best by my classmates. If you are interested in being a model so i can get some practice in, let me know:) 

Engagement Day:)!

The Story.

As most of you know, last Thursday June 11th is a day that changed my life. In a very good way:) I have been wanting to post this story for a while but as you can imagine, it has been a crazy, surreal, exciting, yet very tiring time. For the 3 days after Matt and i got engaged i could not get any sleep. Thursday just kept going over and over in my mind! So let me share just a bit of what i can't stop thinking about...

I normally have Thursdays off. It is a great day for me to catch up on things, eat lunch with friends and just get some time to myself. I woke up last Thursday morning feeling a little down actually. Wed afternoon i had a pretty intense encounter with road rage and it shook me up so much that i woke up thinking about it Thurs. morn. I will save that story for another day b/c it is a good one. So after spending some time with my sis before she went to work, i of course checked facebook. Blair (my good friend who lives in the Middle East) was online so we started chatting. we chat almost everyday but this day i decided to ask her, "do you know when i am getting engaged?" I told her that she did not have to tell me when but i just wondered if she knew if matt had a plan. ha! i'm seriously so impatient. So after getting NOTHING out of Blair, i sat down to do my Bible study. I am studying "beloved disciple" (by Beth Moore) with Mama Hopper and we are loving it! We were planning to meet at 2 in the afternoon at her house so we could watch the video. So i took my time getting ready thinking about all kinds of things, none of which would be the possibility that i would get engaged in just a few short hours!! 

Just a few minutes before it was time for me to leave to head to the Hopper home, i received a text from Mama Hopper. She asked me if i could meet her at a baby consignment store in mint hill to give my opinion on some things she had picked out for James and Blair, well baby Weddington actually. I told her that i could be there at 2 and asked her where it was. She said that it was across from the bank near Carolina Creamery. Carolina Creamery is an ice cream shop in Mint Hill and a special place to Matt and I. It was where we had our "DTR" (define the relationship) last summer after hanging out for a couple of weeks. We sat at a picnic table and talked for around 3 hours about everything... expectations, past experiences and just told stories from both of our times overseas. It was such a special night for us:) 

So i left and headed to this so called 'baby consignment store'. I was still not sure of it's exact location so i began to get in the left turn lane planning to turn the opposite direction of Carolina Creamery. As i was looking around though, my head turned to Carolina Creamy and i saw this sign on the picnic table....

I think my very first thought was, "that's my name" not thinking it was actually for me... but i soon realized that the sign was infact for ME! That was the moment i was pretty convinced that i would be getting engaged within the next few minutes and then i thought, "how did he surprise me?"!!! If you know me, you know that i am almost impossible to surprise. I can pick up on even the slightest change in behavior and i know it if anything is out of the norm. and i am always snooping.... i know, it's bad! But this time, Matt (and everyone else) got me good! I WAS SHOCKED!!:)

At this point i am still in the left turn lane and Carolina Creamery was to the right. So what did i do?? That's right, crossed over all the lanes to turn into Carolina Creamery. I mean, the sign was for ME!!!!??! I pulled in pretty quick and began to walk towards the table. At this point i see no Matt, just some sort of book laying on the table. So i sat down and began to read.

The book was an album/scrapbook that Matt had made for me. It was the story of our relationship starting with his first memories of me. Then it led to our service in the college ministry together, the trip we led to Ecuador together, my time overseas and then of course our relationship in the past year. For each part he included pieces of those memories like pictures, pieces of a t-shirt, emails, ticket stubs and lots of other creative things:) When i got towards the end of the book Matt came up behind me...

 

This was the point where i kinda started freaking out. He told me to keep reading and i said, "i can't!". but i settled and kept going:) When i got to the end, Matt told me not to turn the last page. He turned towards me and told me that he believed in us and the future of our relationship. Then he shared James 4:3 with me, which is sorta his life verse. It says, "you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions". 

Then Matt shared with me that he wanted us to get joy from our relationship, but ultimately he wanted for us to ask of the things that would please the Lord and ultimately glorify Him. I love this boy i have:)! During our little moment a man in a truck drove up and said, "can i be the first to congratulate you??", to which we both replied.... "not yet!", haha.

He then told me to turn the last page of my album. When i turned the page, i saw a solitary polaroid picture of matt down on one knee holding out the ring and in the white part he had written, "will you marry me?". Four words that will change a girls life:) then, Matt asked me to stand up, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him right there. To which i screamed... YES!!!

Before he even got the chance to put the ring on my hand i was telling him how much i loved it and was taking it from him! haha. he had to tell me to let him put it on my hand.... geez, i'm such a girl! 

As you can tell, this whole encounter was documented. Not only on camera but also on film. Thank you so much Brian Quein!!! We will be showing this dvd to our children and grandchildren years from now:) 

 

After the engagement and all the freaking out, we decided to get some ice cream and of course i had to call everyone!!... 

Then we sat in the grass and let brian take some more pics of us. we got a little silly;)

 

And of course the pic that everyone has been waiting for (the girls at least)... the ring!! i love everything about it! matt did such a great job:)

The 2nd most popular question after, what is the ring like? is, when is the big day??... Matt and i will be getting married march 19th, 2010! yay!:) So i have 9 months to plan which is by far enough time but also kinda overwhelming. All of you seasoned brides out there, i would love your help and advice. :)

So that's the story... i am sure we will be telling it for years to come. I am so thankful for so many things throughout this process, but most of all for Matt and the fact that i get to marry him:) or should i say my fiance. wow. i am still not use to that!!! 

Love you all, thanks for being apart of this very special time!

POPS!

there are so many reasons i am excited about summer and one of them started sunday night. POPS in the Park!!:) POPS was something my friends and i did every summer, a few years back. there is an outside covering located right outside the embassy suites by southpark mall, and the charlotte symphony performs for about 2 hours starting at 8pm. hundreds of people from the charlotte area gather around in the grassy areas and bring blankets, chairs, coolers and anything else that may add to the fun. the memories of going every sunday night in june are so sweet. there were times that we had over 25 people and other times when there were just 4 of us, but it was always relaxing and fun! nothing can beat being outside on a blanket, in the summer, with the symphony in the background. if you have not been to POPS you should definitely try it. there are still 3 sunday nights left in june!

this past sunday matt and i went with the hoppers. they have been doing POPS forever! we went to eat at Pei Wei (the boys pronounced it Pee Wee and reminisced about old school Pee Wee movies) for a belated birthday celebration for Matt and then headed over to POPS. This was my first POPS expereince since arriving back in the states and it was pretty meaningful to share with with the hopper's. the people that first come to mind when i think of POPS is our close friends James and Blair (and they belong to mama and daddy Hopper). They are currently living in the ME right now and we missed them so much! Here is Blair's blog if you would like to check out their journey. 

I had my camera out the entire time b/c i was working on homework for my photography class. Thanks to Neal and Sherri for being such great subjects!

my sister has graduated? i must be old.

this weekend we got to celebrate my sister's graduation from cosmetology school.  b/c amy went to a cosmetology school within a community college, she had the opportunity to 'walk'. it was something we all kinda joked about, but we were SO proud to see her walk across that stage. we sat in some of the closest possible seats and i sat in the aisle in order to get some shots of her. when everyone walked out and i saw her in her cap and gown my eyes got all teared up and i almost lost it! i am insane. 

this reminds me of the time that amy got jaw surgery. the nurses were about to bring her out of recovery and warned us that she would look a lot worse than she most likely felt. my mom had been an emotional wreck the whole day and i (if i am honest) was making fun of her for constant crying at the drop of a hat. well... when they did bring her out my mom ran to her, was talking, etc... and looked up wondering where i was. turns out i was in the corner SOBBING... i mean SOBBING. my mom never let me live that one down. 

nonetheless, i am so happy for my little sister and i think the fact that she can bring me to tears really means something. she is my best friend in the world and i love her so much:) 

here are a few shots from the day.

  

  

amy just took a job at Carmen Carmen in Ballantyne. if you ever have any hair needs feel free to call her:)!

kindred spirits.

When i left for Egypt in march 2006, one of the many things i was praying for those next 2 years were girlfriends. specifically 1 girlfriend per every place i lived. i would be spending some significant time in richmond, VA and then on to egypt for almost a year. then i would head to a place that i didn't know at the time but proved to be lebanon (the land that owns my heart). God answered that prayer abundantly. i had one of the best experiences in my life at training in richmond and spent most every day with 1 girlfriend  who is still one of my closest friends today. when i arrived in egypt i knew NO ONE but soon met that 1 girlfriend. her name is sarah and she is pictured with me above. we had some amazing times and experiences together and even saw each other through one of the hardest times in our life.  it was so easy and natural with us. we defined it by saying that we would be friends in america, not just b/c we are on the same team. after sarah and i were both fluent in the arabic language (ha!) we headed to our new homes and would see each other one just more time before we headed back to america. but we stayed close, i would even say got closer. once i arrived in lebanon, God went above my request a gave me many girlfriends, one amazing roommate and then another. He really is good.

Since returning to america i have realized that girlfriends- true girlfriends- are pretty hard to come by. i have always had the pleasure of having a huge social group surrounding me in charlotte, tons of girlfriends and there was always something to do. when anticipating coming back, this was one of the things i was MOST excited about and never thought to pray for. it was my expectation b/c it was the way things had always been. but when i actually settled in i realized things had changed. somehow all of those close girlfriends were spread around america and the world.  if i wanted that true heart connection i would i have to travel to arkansas, the Y, wake-forest, florida or lebanon. my closest friends in my hometown these days are my family and matt of course:) and i am so thankful for them.

Sarah lives in arkansas now and was able to visit this weekend. we had the best time. well, before i starting throwing-up that is. but even in that, i knew it would be ok. she is an amazing friend and even if we are just talking while i am laying in bed moaning from pain. Sarah is a true kindred spirit and i am so thankful for her and the rest of you spread out around the world. 

the plunge.

i guess it was about 4 years ago that i started in the world of blogging... i started on a xanga site and kept that up for about half of my time overseas. it was when i became totally frustrated with the slow internet in lebanon that i decided to give up on the blog world for a while. i have not really picked it up since, although i have had this blog site for over a year and have started quite a few posts with out finishing...

the other reason for my continued failure in the blog world is the overwhelming amount of information i feel i must share in order to catch everyone up on life in the past year. SO... i have decided just to take the plunge with the first post and let things come as they do. i guess the most penitent information to share is that fact that i AM in america and have been here since june 08', matt tucker is the most wonderful boyfriend in the whole world:), and my work consists of nannying for a family in the Birkdale area whom i love. 

one of the things i am most excited about right now is a photography class i am taking at The Light Factory with the amazing photographer Jeremy Igo. i have had a digital SLR camera for a long time and thought i knew how to use it pretty well. boy, was i wrong! i am loving every minute of this class and i have been practicing every chance i get. here are a few things i have shot recently. 

this was at matt's niece's dance recital although neither of these girls are matt's niece. unfortunately, she was blocked by a speaker most of the time so i didn't get any good shots of her.

    

and check out this little cutie. this is one of the little boys i nanny for:)