We found it!

We found where we are going to live come August! The Village at Lakeside! It is close to the mall and pretty much in the middle of Auburn & Opelika, but it's technically in Auburn. We will be moving at the end of August to be closer to both of our jobs. This is a huge praise for us and I couldn't be more excited about it. Although now I will have to wait 6 months, but I'm sure it will go by really fast. I have already started trying to thin out our amount of stuff we have accumulated the few years we have lived in this apartment. I think Mark has surpassed us in possessions and he has only been alive 2 years (in March). More to come later!

Happy Wednesday!

Well I haven't gotten chapter 2 of "Captivating" read yet, so I'll have to catch up on that this weekend. I did want to share a song that was mentioned in the first chapter though. I keep thinking about it :) It's by Bethany Dillon who is a Christian singer. I don't have any of her cds, but I want to get them. The song is called "Beautiful", and I think it really is!

"Beautiful"

I was so unique
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me

Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

[Chorus]

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

I'm sure you have all had those days when you feel like you aren't pretty enough or don't measure up to what the world thinks you should look like. I know I have, but God thinks we are beautiful no matter what we look like! Always remember that :)
Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

The Heart of a Woman

I have finished the first chapter of "Captivating" and I am so in love with this book already! The first chapter is about the heart of a woman. There are many things mentioned and discussed, but I'm going to highlight on my favorite parts. Maybe then you will want to know more and get a copy for yourself.
The book starts with how a person's heart is their "wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Our hearts are who we truly are and are the "core to who we are". The fact that we are women is the most important thing about us. Basically finding out what God had in mind for us when he created us as women is where we start to figure out what being a woman is all about.
The remaining part of the chapter is divided into three parts. Every woman longs for three things: "to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty".
The easiest one of these for me to relate to was being romanced. I love being doted over and sought after. I feel like every woman goes through this at an early age and Stasi Eldridge agreed. Every little girl feels this way. Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw Cinderella? I do! It's still my favorite movie to this day. The way the Prince searches for his love and how much they long to be with each other makes it an all time classic for me. Every woman wants the fairy tale love story. Do you want "to be desired, to be pursued by one who loves you, to be someone's priority?"
The next one is about playing a role in an adventure. This topic starts off with examples of strong, powerful women who's stories we love to relate to, nurses in Pearl Harbor, or women of the Bible like Ruth and Esther. They play roles that make an impact on everyone around them.
"There is something fierce in the heart of a woman." I love this sentence! I feel like it's the one sentence that easily sums up this entire chapter. We as women were created to sweet, kind, and at the right arm of a man as his helper, but we have a fire in us that gives us an impact on the world. God gave us that and set it in our hearts to show the world His passion, compassion, His heart.
And lastly unveiling beauty...What more do you have to say? Every woman out there wants to be beautiful. I have to share a story in this section and I think it best explains a woman's desire to be beautiful and to feel beautiful (as we all know are two different things!) This is a story a little girl named Emma told her mother:
"Mommy", she said, "I had a wonderful dream last night." "What was it about?" I asked. "I was a Queen," she answered. And as she did her cheeks blushed pink. "Really!" I replied. "What happened in your dream?" "I was wearing a long, beautiful dress," she said with hands gesturing downward flowing. "Was there anything on your head?" I wondered aloud. "Yes, a crown." "Hmmm, why was that such a wonderful dream?" "I just love feeling that way!" "What way?" And with a sigh she spoke one word..."Beauty."
We don't just desire to be outwardly beautiful. We will continue with the Cinderella example (which was also used in the book). Cinderella is outwardly beautiful, but she is also inwardly beautiful with her sweet, servant heart. Her outward appearance wouldn't mean anything with out her beauty inside. Most people hear beauty and automatically refer to physical atributes, but their inward soul makes up who they are and makes them the beautiful people they want to be.
Lastly I want to leave you with a statement that I think spoke to me the most in this chapter. This book is co-written by a husband/wife team and there is a section of the book where they incorporate a little about a man's heart. The differences in a man and a woman's heart are meant for them to fit beautifully together. This really spoke to me because I am married and I have never thought about this, in this way, before. This statement, well more like a paragraph, drew me even more into this book.
"A woman in the presence of a good man, a real man, loves being a woman. His strength allows her feminine heart to flourish. His pursuit draws out her beauty. And a man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man. Her beauty arouses him to play the man, it draws out his strength. She inspires him to be a hero."

God wants me as a woman to be "glorious, powerful, and captivating"! :)
Sorry if I have bored you all to death, but I am so excited about getting into this book and learning from these amazing people. I hope you decide to read it with me!

The Devil Wears Prada review and more

So I have been reading a lot of books lately, well trying to at least, but I just finished "The Devil Wears Prada". I'm not sure how I feel about it. I saw the movie first and LOVE it, but the book is really different. The basic story is the same, but there are major differences in the events. I couldn't get into the book until the end. The overall ending of the book is definitely different from the movie too, but I almost like it better. You see a much larger change in the person that Andrea had become when you read the book.

I have now started reading "Dear John" by my fav Nicholas Sparks :) It is really great so far and I can't wait to see the movie. I think NS just gets better and better with every book. I would love to meet him one day!

I am also reading "Captivating" by John and Staci Eldridge. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be starting two books at one time since I have a hard enough time getting through one book in a good amount of time, but I'm going to try it :) I have been wanting to finish this book for years now. I started reading it for a small group when I was in college, and never finished it. It's been so long now that I'm just starting over. I'm trying to get into reading "spiritual" books again. They give me a guide with studying the Bible and keep me more organized. It's good to have as an addition to the Word. Some opinions I take to heart and others are either here nor there for me. I think it's a great book for women to read. It reveals a lot of things about us and gives reminders for what God created us to do in his kingdom and in our families, etc. I hope to share things with you as I read. Hopefully I will give good insight and provoke someone else's curiosity..
I will leave you with those thoughts for now! Hope everyone has a great Wednesday! It's almost the weekend!!

The boppi is gone!

I'm happy to say that as of Monday night, Mark has been sleeping through the night without his pacifier (or as he says, his boppi)! I have been putting it off for a while, but I knew the time was coming quickly. I wanted him to be rid of it by his 2nd birthday for sure, and honestly I am tired of keeping up with it! Is that ridiculous of me? I don't think that it is but he can't hold on to it forever. I have really been dreading the whole process of putting him to bed at night and hearing him scream for it, but he has done extremely well without it. I just explained to him that I gave it away to a little baby who needed a paci and he was perfectly fine with it :) Then he went to bed and threw them all away!
For the longest time I thought that I wouldn't even deal with using one with our next child, but he made a smooth transition so I think for my sanity out next child will be getting a pacifier. Maybe when that day comes that child won't take to it and I won't have a choice, but either way I'll be fine and so will the little one.

How many people actually read this?

I saw the movie "Julie & Julia" last night with one of my girlfriends and it got me thinking. How many people actually read, look at, or even know about my blog? So just for fun and my curiousity, if you are reading this leave me a comment. :) Thanks! Hope you have a great week!

I'm finally caught up!

Well I'm officially up to date on my blogging! In my world it's still been December...where did you come from January? It has snuck up on me, but I'm back. 2009 was good and bad for us. It was wonderful because I have never felt so blessed in my life. It was a tough one though b/c Christopher lost his job, so financially speaking we have been struggling. We are thankful to have friends and family who have taken care of us emotinally and monetarily :) Christopher has had a job for a couple of months now, so it could have been worse. He also had an interview at the Kia plant on Thursday. Hopefully he will be getting a call soon and we can get back on our feet. I know 2010 is going to be a better year. I'm looking at it with a world of possibilities and being positive. We should hopefully be moving to Opelika so we will both be closer to our jobs, so that will save money and give us more family time. We be farther away from our friends and family but that's what our weekends can be used for! I'm excited about all the changes we will be making and I'm thankful that God has been with us and will continue! No pictures today but I think I have posted quite enough for you to look at from Christmas :) Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Randoms from the week of Christmas

Here are some pics that didn't really fit into any of my Christmas posts, but that I love :)



Mark looks so sweet in this one!



He loves to be outside.



bowling with my besties...minus Janine!



handsome boy!

at church

Christmas night in our jammies :)

Cutie pie :)

Barnes family Christmas 2009

We had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family the weekend before Christmas. These are the shots I got.



playing Dirty Santa

Mark opening his gift from GG

our family

me and my cousin, Kristy

Christmas Day Lunch

We had Christmas lunch at my aunt and uncle's house with my Mom's side of the family.



Mark opening his gift from Great Granny and Grandaddy Lucas



Checking it out



He loved it!




my cousin's little girl, Aubrey

Mark loves her! He will be a great big brother one day!

Christmas Day, Part 2

Christmas day night we went to my parents' house to open our gifts.



my Mom's beautiful tree



my sweet, sweet nephew Aiden



cousins and best friends



opening his big stocking from Nana and Paw-Paw

Paw-Paw helping Mark open his gifts

He got a new puppy that barks and moves.

cute clothes

He got crayons for the tub from Uncle Patrick and Aunt Allison!

Getting in his car for the first time

This was by far his favorite gift from my parents this year!

Our family :)

watching the train

watching Paw-Paw getting the train back on the track

the loot from Nana and Paw-Paw's

My child is spoiled rotten!

Christmas Day, Part 1

On Christmas morning Mark was so much more excited about his toys than last year which made it more fun for us too. These are a few of him exploring his new toys.

the aftermath...

opening his stocking

the loot from Mommy and Daddy and Santa

Christmas Eve, Part 2

On Christmas Eve we had Christmas with Christopher's family. Last year we were all over the place and didn't really get to enjoy the holiday so this year we split everything up.



The loot from Mimzy and Big Daddy, minus the Cars 4 wheeler. I wish I had gotten a picture of him with it.



opening his computer



opening his Elmo guitar from Aunt Brandi and Ariel



He liked my chocolate covered strawberries :)

the kiddos by the tree, the best I could get :)

Christmas Eve, Part 1

Our kids were really good this year because Santa dropped by for a personal visit with them on Christmas Eve before he started his busy schedule!



Grace and Santa



Blake with his gift.



my niece, Ariel



He wasn't as scared as when he saw Santa at the mall, but I had to sit with him and hug Santa for reassurance :)

Santa brought Mark a Spiderman blanket.