The Simpaticostic Life

I'm sorry! I know, I've been married 13 days and no blog! What's wrong with me!? Oh... that's right... I'M MARRIED!!!

YAY!YAY!YAY!YAY!YAY!

So I'm not going to take a lot of time tonight to blog.... but I do want to say that I'm alive, thrilled, in love and safe.

We're currently living in NC. It's a pretty cool little place, and I'm loving being close to my in-laws and getting to know them. I have a really cool new brother too in my brother-in-law Dustin. Not to mention "cousin" Tony! :-)

I'm really enjoying getting into the swing of being married and "tending" (setting up house) I've learned a couple good lessons already (which I will post soon, along with more pictures.)

Well I love you all and goodnight!

The now MRS. EDMONDS!

I've been thinking a lot about what love is. And how people seem okay with a lack of love... I don't get that at all.

I'm very much a lover. Sometimes it doesn't feel like I can give out enough love. Like I'll get tired or testy with someone and often God stops me and goes "Yo, um, why aren't you showing love?" Like "Who do you think you are choosing who to love and when?"

Why are we not ALL showing EXTREME love to one another (and in that, everyone)? Why are we not known for our passionate love? What's been warped to make that feel "acceptable" to harbor hatred and resentment?

Not God's word. If we look there, we see that is dead wrong:

1 Peter 3:8 (ESV if yo wonderin')
"Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind."

Psalms 133:1
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity."

2 Corinthians 13:11
[ Final Greetings ]
Finally, brothers, goodbye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

This is a big one, but seriously, read it.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21
11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.
13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that For the love of Christ one has died for all, therefore all have died;
15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In view of all that, in view of the love of Christ, where the heck do we think we have the right to hold "hatred" in our hearts? We daily, to loosely quote "Remember the Titans" :

(Coach quoting the voices of the soldiers at Gettysburg:)"I killed my brother with malice in my hearts. Hatred destroyes my family." We should listen, and take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe... I don't know, just maybe we'll learn to play this game like men."

This goes deeper than mere respect. One of the best speakers I've heard, Josh McDowell, said "The best definition of love I have found is this: "To provide and protect"

We need to be providing for and protecting each other. NOT loving only when you are around them and then tearing them dowm when you aren't with them. I'm so guilty of that. I show love, but in my heart, I'm bitter and resentful or just plain feel as though I am above the person. Wow, and I claim to be an "ambassador of Christ" to the world. How screwed up. Christ showed love. He poured love. He spoke harshly to the religious leaders of the day, cause they were misleading his people. They weren't acting out of love. And that's exactly how it should be. God calling people out of love for a lack of love.

Here's what 1 Corinthians 13 says:

The Way of Love

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

LOVE is patient and kind.
(love doesn't just bear with someone or tolerate them. in patience, it is kind as well. it is loving.)

LOVE does not envy and does not boast.
(love doesn't envy what others have and it doesn't look to make others act out of a lack of love by causing them feel the need to envy it. or make them feel lower. [sidenote: if you envy, you are not rejoicing in their good fortune but resenting not receiving it yourself. and thus telling God he was wrong. its not against a person, but God.])

LOVE is not arrogant or rude.
(do I really need to expound on that?)

[hardest one for me... irritableness...]

LOVE is not irritable or resentful (also read "keeps no record of wrongs").
(love doesn't use tiredness as an excuse to not put others first. it doesn't allow another to make them upset. only righteous anger given by God is true. love doesn't hold back love for any reason to do with a grudge. {grudge keeping is a bitterness that wears the heart down. let it go. its not worth the price of the bricks to build that wall. freedom is so much sweeter to the soul.}

LOVE doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing BUT rejoices in TRUTH.
(love doesn't cheer on the friend for doing what they both know is wrong. but love does encourage the one who does right as often as possible.)

So that's my deal right now.

Stop being childish, stop feeling wronged, stop thinking we are above Christ and deserve to hate. STOP.

Love.

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." ~Matthew 22:37-40

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

9: Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness."

1 John 2:3-6;9

Man, as of 28 minutes ago, its 10 days til Josh and I tie the knot. I seriously can't wait.

We had a little bit of a tough couple days last week... learned a lot. A whole lot. And the days after have been bliss. For real. I think the tough spots made us appreciate each other just so much more. I'm going to cherish falling in love with him more and more over the years. It's gonna be awesome, thinking about how much I love him right now, to be able to look back and go "When we first got married, I had no idea what love was..." (=

So I'm sorry I haven't blogged lately. Days are definitely blending together right now.


So the update on the to-do list:

• The cake design
• Getting the invites out
• Getting the last of the decorations
• Figuring out the groom and groomsmen clothing
• Getting the bridesmaid dresses altered.
• Finding my hairstyle
• Finalizing the menu
• Picking a overall theme

New To-Do List:

• Get rings ordered
• Apply for marriage license tomorrow
• Get Josh's flip flops
• Get my shoes
• Get Josh's shirt
• Finish packing
• Write thank you cards
• Find jewelry
• Pick out garter
  

Well, yes, I know I so should have had this done before... but I think I finally know the rings.

Josh's:

Mine (I hope!):



Unfortunately, while Josh's will be here on time, it doesn't look like mine will. So I will have to use a "filler" ring. But I'm okay with that, because to me, the ring isn't a huge deal. I want one that looks like a wedding ring, cause I want people to know I'm taken, but other than that... not too fussed. I just love this ring though!

The "company" is this really cool seeming couple in Tennessee who run the business out of their home. They have 7 kids from 4-13 and they homeschool. Which makes them winner in my book. And they also had a blue heeler until just this past week or so (poor thing got hit by a car) And by their blog, they just seem super sweet.

So honestly, I want to support them and its a beautiful ring. All of their work is very well priced. Another great thing, since it's got sapphire, it will perfectly complement my engagement ring, which as I've said, I'll wear on my right hand. So pray I get it folks. And please pray that by some miracle, it would get here by the Big day. I would have ordered it sooner, but I just found it tonight.


Hmmm... my "almost no sugar" diet is starting to work. Chugging the water and loving fruit and eating less... hard at first, but now, after not having a lot of sugar.... sweet things taste so very sweet. Ugh, I tried to eat a bowl of ice cream, just as a splurge, last night. My brother had been really cool and gotten ice cream and fixings. I couldn't finish it. It was just too stinkin' sweet.

On another note: we're done with counseling!!! Woohoo! Far less painful than one would think. Cool thing that Georgia does, if you've had counseling, you get the application fee waved. Really good incentive if you ask me. Not that we did it for that reason, but it was nice.

OH! And my mom found my flowers! We were debating over all different kinds, then I came home last night and she goes "look what I found!" And they are absolutely perfect! Soooo beautiful. Man I love my momma.

Thank God, everything is running smoothly. And I'd like to thank everyone who has offered their help. The support has been such a blessing!

And to anyone who came to showers... lol, I promise, I'm working on those thank you cards tomorrow. :-p

Well I better hit the hay... and after that exciting exercise, I'm going to sleep.

nite.

• Videographer

My wonderful, long-time friend Jeremey has agreed to run around and film the events leading up to the wedding and film the ceremony too! I'm so so happy!

• The Ring

And I think I've found Josh's ring! Yay! He likes it and so do I!

Okay so I think that's all. Maybe.

(AHHHH! In three weeks my wedding will be tomorrow! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!)

So I was trying to blog everyday, but that didn't work out. This weekend has been crazy.

And to top it all off, I woke up absolutely exhausted. I bawled talking and praying with Josh last night. I'm a mess. lol. But God can make an awesome thing out of a mess, so I'm not too bummed today. Just tired. So definitely praying for strength.

So here are the updates:

• We have the chair situation figured out.

We're covering the "less pretty" chairs with chair covers. It's going to be so pretty!
Man, we are busting at the seams. I'm totally flattered at how many people love me and want to be involved in our special day. I just wish I could fit everyone in!

• We've picked out the cake

It's funky and yet not. Super pretty. And we've gotten an EXCELLENT price on it. It was a wonderful gift from a friend of the family.

Do you want to see or be surprised? Leave a comment and let me know your vote.

• The menu is mostly picked out now. Thank goodness.

It's pretty much as colorful and unique as we are. I am not the type to just have meatballs or something. Now to keep it in budget.... :-p

• Most of the decor has been selected. *Whew*

Everything from plums to lanterns to candles to sand has been talked about. Man, seriously, without Mom, Mrs. Rachel (my reception coordinator) and Mrs. Suzanne (my ceremony coordinator) and my fantastic fiance, I'd die. My head really starts spinning during the meetings, there's so many logistics!

It feels so good to have a lot of things off the list. God's been really great, and things are coming together.

I do want to ask for prayer. Josh and I got engaged and pretty much had our plans after the wedding down. Well the Lord has really been keeping us on our toes and our knees. We've felt we were being lead in a different direction after our wedding. We really don't know where. But we're totally trusting and trying so so so hard to keep our ears tuned to His voice. So please be in prayer that we would have wisdom. We may end up continuing with our initial plans. BUT we do not want to do that without God's blessing and guiding. So please pray that the hearts of two young people, earnestly wanting to serve God in their lives together, would be open and lead of the Lord. We want peace and love to abound.

With trust in Christ,
The Occasionally "Zilla-ish" Bride

P.S.
Tonight I'm getting my hair colored for the final time. And I think I might have just found a really sweet hairstyle:


Whatcha think?

Okay, so sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was a very long day.

I got off work so I could do some of my more "week day day time" only stuff done. Including the attack on my "black" hair. But before that, my mom and I meet with my "day-of" coordinator, the beautiful Mrs. Klopp. It was such a huge help! We now have a much clearer vision.

Susan Keen did my hair and she did such an amazing job.

The process of stripping went great. All the black came out and I was left with like "carrot orange" blonde hair. Which was very weird looking. (And no, we weren't at all thinking of leaving it. It was just the first stage.) I hate that I didn't have any form of camera so I could take a picture.
Then she foiled me up and put in some fabulous highlights and brown undertones. They were lighter than we wanted, due to you just never know how well dark-hair will take that sort of thing. But it took it great.
So then she "glazed" three times. In between the 2nd and 3rd, she trimmed my hair up.
The whole process lasted from 3 to 7:15 pm. Whew. I was so worried that her feet had to be killing her. But she was fine she said.

So I'm gonna make an appointment to get it darker, but she did a terrific job.

I'd totally keep it if it wasn't for the wedding. I want to look like "Christa" for the wedding.

But here's a few pictures of the now "blonde" Christa! Enjoy!




OH! Now, most people have received their invitations! We've got a few more going out... but that's such a relief to have them out. It was so weird telling mom the colors we've picked out for the house this morning, because the reason she was asking was because people were calling wanting to know, due to getting the invites. How crazy cool is that?? I'm getting married!!!

Sorry, I still have the "oh gosh, how awesome!!" moments.

Well love to you all! Mwah mwah!

So I'm sitting here watching the kiddos. I'm a little bored and way tired. A stupid bug kept me awake with bites until 3 AM. Not fun. I stripped my bed and everything at 2:45 AM just to make sure it wasn't in my bed. Bugger bit me on the toe as a thank you.

On the hairfront, The Hairdresser brigade will be staging a "restoration" attack on the occupying BLACK "chocolate velvet" dye. Hopefully it will be a successful mission with limited dandruff.

In other news, I've started wearing my engagement ring on my right-hand ring finger. I'm going to wear it there after the wedding, as my 'gagement ring refuses play nice with other rings.

Well I'm out of here until later. lol.

Tonight Mom, Josh and I are going to meet to figure out what Mom and I need to talk to my "coordinator" about tomorrow.