Nicaragua

Happy Monday pretty ladies! My weekend was spent study for finals... I know, exciting right? So instead of boring you with those details, I thought it would be much more rewarding to tell you about what my dad was doing this weekend [and last week].

My dad goes on at least 1 mission trip every year. This summer he took 2 weeks off from his orthodontic practice to go to Nicaragua for a mission trip that was both medical and to share the Gospel. He emailed us pictures every day and they don't need a caption. They melted my heart. These kids are so thankful for the medical treatment they receive... something we take for granted here in the US. People traveled hundred of miles and stood in long lines to come receive medical care by my dad and his team. They also did "vacation bible school" every morning and would have hundreds of kids walking from all over to come hear about Jesus. At the end of each day kids were asking for Bibles in spanish. Talk about amazing. At the end of the week they gave out 250 brand new soccer balls and dad said you would have thought they had just given out brand new cars... the kids were over the moon!

They spent the first night in an orphanage and got to play games with all the children. There was a newborn baby that had been left on the front steps a week ago. The picture of dad holding him and loving on him is the sweetest. It is so easy for us to not acknowledge the world outside of our little bubble in the United States. However, these are God's children and he loves them just as much as he loves us. It it so humbling to see these pictures and hear stories of how happy these children are yet they don't even have two pennies to rub together. It sure makes me thankful for all that I have.

"Go and make disciples of all nations" -Matthew 28:19

Wedding Weekend Part IV: my favorite details!

It's been a while since I've done a wedding post! I've decided to write about a few of my favorite "details" from our wedding day. I'm not a detail-oriented person at all, but these few things from our wedding were things I knew I wanted to do from the day we got engaged!

[1]

We decided to nix the idea of a traditional wedding cake because to be quite honest, I don't think I've ever had a wedding cake that knocked me off my socks. Instead, we had our favorite desserts made by people we love. Garrett's Nana is his favorite person in the world, and her homemade lemon pie is to. die. for. So, she made mini lemon pies for our reception! And lemon pie may or may not have been the only thing I ate the entire night... woops! My aunt is an amazing cook and she made Hershey chocolate cakes, carrot cakes, and red velvet cakes. I can't tell you how big of a hit our dessert bar was! I had SO MANY people say they were the best desserts they have ever had. And the fact that it incorporated our family into the wedding made it even better!

[2]

I knew I didn't want to do the traditional guest book either. I've never seen one that was "cute" and what's the point in having a book with people's names in it stashed away in the attic!? So, we decided to incorporate a little bit of baseball since it played such a huge part in our relationship and our lives. And I am SO glad we did this! It turned out so cute and we have the baseballs displayed in a fancy bowl in our dining room now. Such a fun and unique way to remember who came to our wedding.

[3]

Koozies are a must-have for weddings these days! We wanted to add some sort of UNC touch to our wedding and this is how we did it. I love how they turned out and we have gotten so much use out of them since the wedding!

[4]

My bouquet was wrapped in my grandmother's old linen handkerchief. She died when I was 10 and I miss her every single day. What made it even more special is that the handkerchief had her monogram on it! 

[5]

Garrett and I are HUGE s'mores lovers. Being that we had a winter wedding, we thought it would be awesome to have a s'mores bar at our reception. We served it as a "late night snack" and it was a huge hit! 

Linking up with Amanda today! What are your Friday favorites?!

Sad goodbye

This weekend my husband lost his family dog, Ace. My in-laws found him seizing Friday afternoon and rushed him to the vet. After about 24 hours of trying everything with no success, he passed away peacefully. We are all so sad, especially my husband. He grew up playing in the backyard with this dog... his furry best friend. Pets really are like family, and we will forever miss our big cuddly lab.

Business casual

I have recently noticed that my style is slowly changing. I have to dress "nice" for class [if we aren't wearing scrubs] and I will also have to dress business casual for most of my clinicals that start in 5 months [holy cow I might have a heart attack]. When I am shopping I find myself migrating towards clothes that are business casual yet still fun and age appropriate. I am loving pieces that can be made conservative during the day but dressed up at night if I go straight from school to dinner with my friends. It is important that I still embrace my style and love of clothes even though they have to be conservative for my profession. Also, sad but true, being a young-ish female in a mostly male profession, we have to be very careful about what we wear. People already look at me and tell me I am "too young to be a PA" or assume that because I am blonde that I'm not competent [yes, I've had this remark]. So, I want my wardrobe to reflect my style while also portraying a professional, competent clinician.

The first look I am LOVING right now is high-waisted pants. These are so flattering and I always feel more comfortable when my legs are covered in clinic. The look can be put together with a simple top tucked in.

 Dresses with sleeves, both long and short-sleeved, are elegant and classic. Throw on flats in the spring/fall and boots with tights in the winter and you are set! Dresses never go out of style and make you feel feminine in any setting. I am loving the blazer over dress look [I will have to try that this fall!].

 Skirts are the classic "business casual" look for females. I love stepping out of the plain black skirt box and adding some color, whether solid or a fun pattern. Skirts look super cute with flats, which I will be wearing 100% of the time. Here are a few of my favorite looks:

Where are your favorite places to shop for business casual clothes? J Crew is my go-to [I could buy the whole store if I could!].

Weekending!

Linking up with Meghan and Biana for my weekending post! I am so sad to see this weekend go :( It was a great one... full of beach, family, sunshine, drinks, hamburgers, and fireworks. We were super lucky to have no damage from hurricane Arthur. Hubs and I decided it would be a great idea to drive to the beach in the middle of it. We made it safely and our beach house only experienced a few flickers of the electricity. Half the island lost electricity for the night so we were super lucky! I will let my iPhone pics tell the story of my weekend. [Warning: a few too many pics of my niece, I may or may not be obsessed.]

Guest post!

I am guest posting over at Meghan's blog "Champagne and Suburbs" today while she is honeymooning and soaking up the Mexico sun with her new hubs... head over and check it out!! I hope everyone has a great 4th! I am headed to the beach in the middle of hurricane Arthur. I guess we will be having a 4th of July slash hurricane party!

Contentment

I read an amazing article the other day about contentment.  Merriam-Webster describes contentment as "the state of being happy and satisfied". We have all been in a phase at some point in our lives when we said, "I will be happy when..." whether it be when I get married, when I have kids, when I graduate, when I lose 5 lbs, when I make more money. Well people, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

This article slapped me right in the face. Our society is constantly jumping from one thing to the next, without taking the time to be still and be content. However, the Bible says, "Where you treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). I want my heart to be in the present moment, because that's all we really have. I am so guilty of blaming my bad moods on stress, taking it out on my sweet husband, then using the excuse, "I will be happier and less stressed when I graduate". This is ridiculous! I want to be happy now. I don't want to keep striving to accumulate material possessions. Or wish the next 17 months of my life away until I graduate. I want to soak up these amazingly ordinary moments of newlywed life and be truly present.

This contentment issue is all about our perspective. When we truly become content in the present, we become free of the stress of this world. Let's stop striving for bigger and better, let's embrace where we are NOW!