{this is the day}

Five Years

My husband and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this week.

It seems like just yesterday we were having these photos taken.

It was a beautiful spring day.

The weather was perfect and the wedding was everything I could have ever imagined.

I thought five years ago that I loved him as much as I possibly could. I was wrong.

It is amazing to experience how love grows and deepens.

I have more than I ever could have imagined, for this man chose me.

This week has brought a lot of questions, uncertainty, long hours and fear. I am reminded hourly that my faith and trust in God's plan is all that I can depend on. It is times like these when we find out what we are made of.

We would like to depend on ourselves and our relatives but we quickly learn we are flawed and powerless without Christ's strength. As my Mom spends yet another night in the ER in hopes of further diagnostic testing, I cling to Jesus.

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

I am thankful for my family's faith; there's no where else to turn during uncertainty or trouble. I am thankful for women in my life and a church who commit to prayer.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Are we willing to walk the road of uncertainty, fear and doubt and trust God without conditions? This is what the Bible tells us to do. We are assured in Jeremiah 29:11 that our God has walked this path before us. He is on the other side just as he is in the journey here and now.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

If we are going to trust Him at all we must do so in the good and the bad. He has our best interest in mind. He is our advocate in every sense of the word.

Tonight I am thankful that my future is covered. That every word of the Bible is God-breathed and can be trusted. That God is my lifeline.

"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

Kitchen Love

I'm back. I have a lot of catching up to do here. But for now I'll just share some kitchen pretties.

I love how far we have come with our kitchen. You can see our kitchen befores and afters here. Now it's time to accessorize and still it a bit and I'm always unsure of what I want to do. I like clean design and uncluttered spaces with pops of personality and color here and there. So here is some Pinterest inspiration that I'm loving right now.

via

Daydreaming

Do you ever daydream? I do. Though I love my current home and don't have plans to move anytime soon, my daydreams often involve houses. I'm a nester and enjoy decorating so that's not too weird I guess.

For a while I've been daydreaming about the house below. I love the look of the house (the exterior shots don't do it justice) and would love to just peek inside. I see it a couple times each day as I travel to and from work, etc. For some time it was for sale and then taken off the market and most recently it has been rented. I just think it has so much character and charm!

It even has a detached garage with apartment.

And plenty of space for entertaining!

Lovely hardwoods and style.

Move-in ready!

And I can even picture our furniture there.

I think it has beautiful spaces.

Don't you?

I could totally work with this kitchen.

And I can picture a Christmas tree in this room.

So now it's your turn. What's your guilty pleasure? Love to peruse real estate websites? or look at landscaping ideas on Pinterest?

Chicago

A few weeks ago, my co-worker and I traveled to Chicago to present at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations annual national conference. It's a great city full of amazing views, friendly people and wonderful food! I did not get much free time due to the conference schedule but I met some nice people, learned a ton and enjoyed these views.