changes.

"And we know that all things work together for good 

to those who love God, to those who are

called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28 NKJV

so many changes have been happening for us, and we couldn't be more elated. God has truly had his hand in this entire relationship from the get-go (as we gave it to him the day we started dating). From the beginning we have approached this relationship directly from our knees and we have been overjoyed with the amount of  blessings, love, and complete support we've gotten from many people we love and respect.

we have taken a very winding and absurd path to get to where we are now, but honored God in every way with every action we've taken.

we just recently put our deposit down on a beautiful condo in Carlsbad, CA. this is the most exciting thing to ever happen! a new house just for US! its getting very, very real! we were worried about spending money on furniture and Rosa, one of our dear friends suggested we contact a website called San Diego Homestead that offers free furniture to active duty military families. We told them our story and sure enough they are outfitting our ENTIRE house! God has just totally worked this out for us! We're getting a living room set (couch, love seat, coffee tables, lamps and entertainment center), a kitchen table and four chairs, pots and pans, and bedroom furniture. 

we get it all next week so I'll be sure to post pictures!

always faithful,

aimee.

i've been using today to sort of plan, get ideas, brainstorm, and all around just enjoy my "productive" day at work.

i've been exploring google and other wedding websites to help me turn the image in my head into a reality on our wedding day. i am so blessed to have a supportive, organized hubby-to-be to help me make sense of my chaos.

i know i want pearls, i know i want mason jars, i know i want wild flowers, i know i want polkadots, but i can not figure out how to tie everything together without it looking like this hodge-podge sort of day.

i'm in love with this idea:

but since we'll be having fake flowers to cut budget, i dont know how this will work without looking to...cheap? i was also thinking of tying the ribbon i bought from michaels around the mason jars? laid back...but not red-neck?

i suppose i should investigate a little more in how to make centerpieces. maybe a trip to the library this weekend? (i smell adventure coming on...) and i need to figure out how i want to use all that lighting we bought over christmas most effectively. eeps mcgeeps. so much to do.

until next time.

always faithful,

aimee.

paint.

today i did something i have never done before and felt very proud, accomplished, and will allow myself to maintain bragging rights for the next 24 hours or so...i painted a WHOLE room, by myself, including priming!

i currently reside in the dungeon. and my parents have decided i can become a part of the normal family again, so i'm moving back upstairs into my old room. we emptied the room of clutter and mess--my mom saves wayyyyy too much stuff--and i cleaned the walls. i now know why EVERY time i came home from school and would sleep in that room i'd get a cold--the dust was OUTRAGEOUS! i completely filled the vacuum container with dust ball after dust ball. i love these new see-through vacuum things by the way--it makes me feel so good about doing it. whoever thought of it was an instant genius--to thing a persons self esteem can be instantly boosted by a little dust bunny handling?!

anyways,
dust cleaned.
walls cleaned.
mission: to create a relaxing environment to sleep in for the next few months and also to get practice in painting for when Bradley and i get our house!

the walls are a beautiful honey/cream color and i have one accent wall that is the color of milk chocolate. i am sincerely and totally in love. i also went to target and found a fantastic wall acrylic (originally $24.99 that i got for $4.99) that says "Rejoice in the Lord Always" with the scripture reference. I found two other fantastic artwork pieces for about that same price and felt very proud.

i will say i will never buy paint again from walmart--lets just say you get what you pay for. $12/ gallon really isn't the best paint--though it might be the best price. it took me almost 5 hours to cover the three basic walls and i can STILL see the underneath color bleeding through. so very frustrating. the chocolate color is gorgeous, but the first coat picked up the green underneath and made it look this terrible nasty, poop sort of color and i was not a fan.

the room is just about completed. i've decided to do the ceiling, molding, and door frames an ivory color and i need to head back tomorrow to pick that up.

over all, i feel very accomplished about this day and can not wait until
tomorrow to see my handy work in natural lighting!

also, Bradley has just became a fan of x-box.
this should be interesting.

first.

i can't believe i'm getting married!
and to the man of my dreams, could life be any better than that?
i love the adventure that this relationship has been--an adventure totally and completely from God in every way. and the support! the support we've gotten from everyone is incredible.

this weeks excitement was finding my dress for our wedding and receiving our honeymoon as a gift from my favorite uncle ever! everything is coming together slowly but surely and i couldn't be happier. i never have been much of a planner (and Bradley is all about plans, plans, plans...) but it seems i dont exactly need to be planning. God is working everything out piece by little piece just as he's worked out our relationship, just as he's worked out Brad's recovery, just as he works out your life.

our next big goal is to get the engagement pictures back and have all the invitations sent out. i'm so excited about our beach wedding in San Diego. it is the perfect compliment to my already laid back personality. sunshine, sand, and a bit of Marine Corps flair tossed into the mix. we've themed our wedding polkadots and pearls. Perfect, if i do say so myself. brad has a secret obsession with polkadots and i love the classy look of pearls.

i can't wait for a relaxing weekend of lounging and sweatpants. i feel like i need it after this week. i'm emotionally drained--its my first week/weekend without brad in over 5 months.  i need a good nap, a chick flick, and some cozy slippers.

until next time world,

always faithful,
aimee.