Dear Meredith...

Through the years my mom has kept a journal of letters that she has randomly written to me. She gave me this journal two days before my wedding and I finally read it today. Interestingly enough I found a letter she wrote to me on May 27, 1994-exactly 15 years ago today! I want to aspire to do the same things for my kids one day. My parents are absolutely amazing and I could not be more blessed. Here is the letter that she wrote on this exact day 15 years ago...you may want a few tissues. 

Dear Meredith, 

I am watching you sleep on the couch as I write. You fell asleep earlier tonight. Tomorrow is Sat. and you will probably sleep late. You have one more week of school and I'm excited about you being at home with me. We are anxiously awaiting for your Baby Sister to be born. I am about 8 months pregnant now and ready to have this baby. God is helping me to be patient. You seem to be happy about us having a baby but you are also very quiet about it. I think you are old enough to understand this will be a change for us. I hope you will see how much I love you even after she arrives. I love you more and more each day. You are a sweet and loving little girl and I am so proud of you! I am getting sleepy now. I hope we will all sleep good tonight.

I love you,

Mom :)

I can't believe how quickly these past 15 years have flown by. Let this be a reminder to breath in every moment you have with your family and friends. Make the most of every opportunity and don't wish the small, seemingly insignificant moments away, they may end up being some of the most important.

Mrs. Meredith Evans

I've been trying to find the right place and time write my first blog as a married woman. Since the day we said "I Do" nearly a week and a half ago, I have hardly had a moment to catch my breath. Let me first start by saying thank you to all of our friends and family members who made our wedding day so special. Justin and I are richly blessed to have the love and prayers of so many dear people. 

Everyone keeps asking the question, "How have you adjusted to married life?" My response is usually, "I haven't fully adjusted yet; it still doesn't seem real." I feel like I am just on a vacation with this man that I love and not only that, but we get to have sleepovers every night! I have however, began doing some of my wifely duties such as laundry, dishes, making the bed, going to the store, and cooking dinner. YES, I actually made us dinner tonight! (My mom would be proud!) I honestly don't know that a person can make just one adjustment to being married. I believe that there are going to be several adjustments that will be made along the way. Some big, some small. I will say one thing, no matter how big or how small the adjustment-God is faithful. "What God has joined together, let no man separate." I am a firm believer in this.  

Needless to say, married life is fun, exciting, challenging and SO many other things. I will definitely be updating more frequently as noteworthy things come up. But for now, I am going to watch a movie with husband and then head to bed. 

A look inside

Currently I have several thoughts swimming around in this crazy head of mine. In no particular order they are:

-me=married in 3 days

-the book of Job is very encouraging

-Mike should have won the title of Biggest loser. NOT Helen

-my good friend Kayla is in China for the next 3 weeks; I'll miss her at our wedding

-this time next week I'll be in Charleston

-I am so grateful for my family and friends; God has truly blessed me

-I am addicited to reading people's blogs

-Kinetic church is one of my favorite places to be

-Jesus died for me-nothing can compare

-I wish the sun would come out a little more so that it would feel warm enough to go to the pool

-maybe I'll just go tanning instead

-our new apt. is looking super cute

-I most definitely have the pre-wedding jitters, nerves, mixed emotions, butterflies, etc.

-today is Tallyn's birthday!

-I desire to follow God whole-heartedly until the day that I die

-I don't like talking/thinking about death

-I need to take a shower and begin my day

-Thanks for listening.

Mom

I am going to attempt to write this without crying, but these days there is just no telling. This post is dedicated to my mom in honor of mother's day-along with every other day of the year that she is still my mom. I hardly even know where to begin. I want to be just like her when I have children. She is the most kind hearted person you will ever meet. Through all of life's ups and downs she has stuck by me, no matter what. The sacrifices she has made throughout the years up unitl now have done with a completely selfless and humble heart. My mom has done so much of the hard work throughout this wedding planning process and has helped me to have the least amount of stress possible. Words nor gifts could ever repay my mom for all of the things she has done for me. She is an angel and I believe that God gave her to me for a very specific purpose. The most amazing thing about my sweet mom is that she loves her Jesus more than anything! She puts Him first and strives to be like Him. She has taught me that even when the world around me is dark, and things may seem to crashing all around me, Jesus will always be there. He will NEVER leave my side. So, with tears welling in my eyes...I want to say thank you to a woman who has made all the difference in her little girl's life. I love you mom!

Simple Living

Take a moment to read this. It will help put things into perspective; which is something we all could use once in a while. The website, gratefulness.org was shown to me by Justin's grandmother last summer. I don't visit it as often as I should or would like, however, there are so many encouraging and reassuring things found throughout this site. I read this particular post this morning and thought it would be a great way to start the day. Enjoy!

http://www.gratefulness.org/t/simple.htm

The Ultimate Showdown

If you are a Biggest Loser fan (which you should be) you have the opportunity to vote for who will compete with Tara and Helen in the finale next Tuesday!! All you have to do is visit http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/vote/register.shtml to vote!!!! You only have until tomorrow night!

The endless search...

So as of today I think I have applied for somewhere between 5-10 jobs. Seriously, is anyone out there hiring?! I am beginning to get a little discouraged/frustrated. (If you haven't noticed, Satan knows our weaknesses and it is in those moments that he will try and bring us down even further). This is how I've felt today. I really wanted to have a job by the time we get back from our honeymoon. As of right now, things aren't looking so hot. But I do know that God has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and He is probably teaching me some patience right now. It has been such a blessing to not have to work this past semester so that I could focus on school and wedding planning. But now, it's back to reality. My wifely duties are about to begin. I am not going to let this endless search feel like a tunnel with no light at the end of it. I will not, I repeat, WILL not give up. God can use me anywhere-and the same goes for you-as long as we choose to be obedient. Satan, you can try all you want to bring me down today, but it's just not going to happen!! I will choose Jesus. He wins, you lose. Thanks anyway.

He Has My Heart

I've been dealing with several emotions over the past several weeks. You see, I am getting married in 12 days...wow, I can't believe it's that close! These emotions stem from excited, happy, giddy, cheerful allllll the way down to nervous, scared, sad, and anxious. It's every little girl's dream to one day fall in love and marry her prince charming. Right? Well, have no doubt about it, I definitely found my prince. I should be exstatic right!? I mean, who really finds their prince at age 19 and actually falls in love and ends up becoming his bride? To be honest, as much as I do love my prince with all of my heart; I believe I would much rather be the bride of a king. Not because of the fancy "title" or the recognition that comes along with being the bride of a rich and powerful king. But because that king, my king-Jesus-has my heart. I mean He has my whole-entire heart! He had it long before I was even a thought in my sweet parent's minds, and He will have it long after I leave this earth. Sure, I fell in love with the man of my dreams at age 19; and yes, I cannot wait to become his bride very soon. But my king, He fell in love with me long before. In fact, I do believe that my king gave me my prince. Not only I am the bride of a prince named Justin, but I am a bride of a king named Jesus.