My friend, Em

I have never participated in the "Show us Your Life" series from Kelly's Korner Blog before, but I have the perfect reason for doing it this time! Today is "Show us your life: Singles Edition.
I want to introduce you to an amazing woman! Her name is Emily Canada and has an incredible personality, so much so that her best friend made a rap for her. {see below}
So instead of reading a bunch of words, listen to this Rap to catch of glimpse of Emily!








Turn your speakers down if you are at work. :) Best Rap Ever!

Like it says, Don't be shy guys!

Fun weekend!

I had an amazing weekend full of family, fun and friends! I'm soaking up every bit of my free time and trying to make the most of it. {i think I'm doing a pretty good job of that}! First of all I'm 36 weeks preggo as of yesterday. That my friends is considered full term! Praise Jesus I can't believe it. Time is flying by and we will have our little one here before we know it. I will post a big update sometime after my Wednesday appt w/ the OB.I saw the specialist on Friday and he made the call to move my due date up an entire week! Soo yes that is in 2 weeks. I repeat, 2 WEEKS!!! More on that later...


Back to the fun weekend. Friday I attended the Pi Phi centennial gate dedication at the U of A. The pi phi's partnered with the University and raised money to have this gate built. It truly is breathtaking and every detail on the gate has a meaning. It makes the entrance to the University have a major WOW factor now!


They had a reception for all the Alumni. And I was super impressed by this cake Ricks bakery did!


My parents came in town for Pi Phi Dads Day. So we had brunch at the house and made my dad take cheesy pics! Ha!

2 of my faves!


One of my bff's, Liz came in town for the Razorback game. She just graduated law school, passed the bar and got sworn in last week so I feel like i haven't seen her in forever. It was so good to hang out and catch up before the baby gets here! We went to the farmers market and enjoyed a beautiful morning of walking around the square.


Then later we all went to the "not-so-exciting" Razorback game. Marc was sort of nervous for me to go, but like I said I'm still feeling great and wanted to go one last time for the season. And seriously, the next time we go to a game we will be parents! Craziness. Although our season has turned out to be horrible, I'm still proud to be a Hog fan.

I even made it to a tailgate beforehand!


One of my faves from the weekend... Pop Pop and Marc putting the swing together! Its all set up and ready for her to swing away in! We are getting super excited and its getting very real.


Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Weekend celebrations

Each year we head to the lake to celebrate the trio of birthdays. Mine is July 23rd, Marc's is the 27th, and Matt's is the 29th. So we always have a joint b-day party! My mom likes to go all out and make it special for each one of us, which we all appreciate! Friday night we got there in time for dinner and went by boat to a nice restaurant, then the boys got to go on a nice ski run with a new ski my dad just bought.

When we got back, we had cakes waiting on us. This cake is hilarious. When we were there on the 4th, Marc and Matt skied together so we thought this cake was perfect. Plus they both love strawberry cake which makes it look even more interesting...

Then mom got me my own, which was super cute and my fave with cream cheese icing and white cake.

All the presents, complete with a banner.

This defines their friendship of 10 years. Clearly.

I turned 28, Marc turned 29, and Matt turned the big 3-0! Glad i'm the youngest of the group!

Hottest day ever, but still very fun.

Met up w/ some fun friends and took a nice, long swim break.

We had a great week and weekend of celebrating our birthdays! Thanks Mom and dad for making it wonderful once again and hosting all of us!

Celebrating the 4th

We had a fantastic time celebrating the 4th with some of our friends that came in from Austin and some of our other good friends from Fayetteville. We went to Greers Ferry and stayed at my parents lakehouse (which is in Central AR) for several days. I was able to have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off which gave me a ton of time there. I absolutely love the lake and appreciate any time I get there!
 I grew up with Jennie and we have remained really good friends throughout our college/adult life amidst all the long distance over the years.It was great getting to catch up with them. She is always the life of the party, so there is never a dull moment when she is around. We love how she makes us all laugh. 



Marc and Matt decided to be hilarious and ski together. It definitely became more of a competition about who could go the furthest.

The 2 favorite men in my life!

This is what happens when we make them take a picture...

It was such a great Holiday and a great time with our friends and family. We are thankful for all those who serve our country. Hope you all had some great time off as well.

The Best Weekend Ever

I headed south to Dallas for the weekend. I had so many fun things to do I ended up leaving early Thursday morning before the whole crew headed down later on Friday. Several months ago we bought Coldplay concert tickets which is something that was on my bucket list! I decided to go early and got to see my bestie Mare and got the privilege of meeting her sweet daughter in the NICU. I was completely honored that she allowed me to go meet her and see her sweet face. If you don't know Olivia's story, she was a quad born at 23 weeks and has been fighting for the past 11 weeks of her life. Please go read Mare's blog if you haven't already or my post I wrote here.

I'm in Love!!! She is so perfect.

I also got to see my other friend Heather, who delivered at 31 weeks and got to hold her precious son, Beckham. Two miracle babies all in one weekend! I so happy they are both doing so well.



Friday night the rest of the crew got there. My friend Jennie and her husband came all the way from Austin to hang out. Again, so thankful. Then our other friends the Hartnesses and Cashions also came from Fayetteville. We stayed at the Westin and had a fabulous time. We spent most of the day at the pool on Saturday and had some good chill time (although I completely forgot to take pics).

Who invited these two?

Before dinner and the concert!

My baby daddy and our babymoon!

I have to say this concert crept up on me and it had not crossed my mind in awhile, but let me assure you, it was the BEST concert I have ever been to and probably will ever get to go to again. Even Marc who does not enjoy concerts loved it! It was incredible. That Chris Martin is quite impressive singing live.

Everyone got light up bracelets, which went along with the beat. Unbelievable.

It was such a nice, fun, refreshing weekend away to spend with Marc, fun friends and to also get quality time with friends I don't normally get to see. My heart is so FULL right now. I miss them all already.
I feel like I had an awesome mini-vacay.

Washed by the Water

This past Wednesday we got together with our amazing community group plus a few extra and had us a good ole southern baptism. A few of the guys in our group had never been dunked before and decided it was time. We went out to a lodge that was close to a river. The guys shared why they decided to get baptized and then we all went down to the river and watched. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed. Marc had the privilege of baptizing 3 of the guys and was humbled by them asking.


























Afterwards we had a delicious southern meal including fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, rolls, salad and strawberry shortcake.
That night will be one that we won't ever forget. We have had the privilege of leading/co-leading a community group for the past 5 years with some new people and some others that have been with us since the beginning. They all mean so much to us and we are so grateful for each couple. Praise Jesus for a great community that surrounds us with love, accountability and prayers.



Romans 6
⁴ We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Thoughts...

As I reflect back on this weekend I have so many thoughts running through my head. It was one of the most emotional weekends I have yet to experience in my life.
I went to Dallas to attend the service for my friend, Mare's 3 babies. As I got there, I received a text from another very close friend letting me know she had to have an emergency C-section and that her baby was in the NICU. She just so happens to live very close to the Dallas area as well.
What a whirlwind it has been. I honestly feel like I can't sort out my thoughts on what all has happened. These were my only 2 (real life) friends that walked the infertility journey with me at the same time. These were the 2 that understood everything. These were the ones I confided in the whole time. These were the ones I truly could rejoice in their happiness of finding out they were pregnant.
These are the 2 that have babies in the NICU... I can't wrap my mind around it all, it just all seems like a bad dream.

If you had told me 10 years ago as I was graduating with all my friends and moving into my college dorm room w/ Mare that I would be attending her babies funeral and her mothers funeral all in one week, I would have laughed in your face. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen...or so I thought. No one should have to go through the things she has had to experience. It seems so unfair. But as her preacher said during the service, this world is a fallen world and we are unfortunately are on this side of it. One day we will be redeemed, reunited and reconnected in which there is no sin, no death, and no crying. I can't wait for that day!
The service for the babies was just perfect. The place was beautiful and the service was amazing. We know that God is holding those babies in His lap and that they are absolutely perfect. Even in the midst of tragedy, God was given glory. I don't know how Mare and Reid kept it together, but they did and I stood in awe.
It felt so wonderful to hug her neck. I just wish I could take some of her pain away. I think about sweet Olivia and thankful she is a feisty fighter. I'm praying so hard for her to keep thriving.

After I left her house I went to see my other friend in the hospital. She felt like she had just woken up from a bad dream but was doing incredibly well for what all had just went down. She said her doctor came right before they wheeled her back and prepared her for the worst for when he came out... Praise Jesus he came out breathing. She was 31 weeks and he weighs 3.4lbs. It is truly a miracle how Gods hand was over everything. He is doing great and we are still praying that he would grow and thrive.

As I sat last night just reflecting back on the day, I was flooded with all kinds of emotions. I was sad, thankful, overwhelmed, scared, fearful, and very weepy. I ache for my friends to hold those babies and bring them home. They have waited so long but perhaps still have very long roads to travel.
It makes me wonder what lies ahead for me. I keep reminding myself that He already knows the outcome and He is still in control and not me.

I love the verse Mare posted on her blog...

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

        (Psalm 34:18 ESV)

Chic bridal shower

Sorry for my lack of posting... Not a ton going on in my world other than being pretty sad for my friend and I just don't feel right about posting about all hunky dory stuff.

But I do have another very close friend that is about to get married in a couple of weeks. I'm very excited for her, she has waited a long time to be a bride! I was honored to help celebrate her upcoming nuptials by helping host a shower. Pinterest sure does help make a party look pretty these days. We got most of our inspiration from there and here is how it turned out!

I did the cupcakes and the toppers! That was my contribution.

I'm so thankful for her! We've known each other since pre-school, but became good friends in college. She also has been living with us for the past couple of months until she gets married since her lease was up. I will miss our before bedtime talks! Although, the good news is, she just bought a house in my neighborhood and I couldn't be more excited to have her so close!
I told her she gets 3 more weeks of being the "princess" and then its all about me again! ;) kidding...kind of.