It's the Most Wonderful Time fo the Year!

This is my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. I love decorating the tree, singing Christmas carols, wrapping presents, drinking hot chocolate, and watching all of the old Christmas shows on t.v. I think I look forward to Christmas just as much...if not more...than I did when I was a kid. It's such a magical time. Of course, when I was a kid I had to go see Santa as soon as possible so I could tell him all of the goodies on my list. I remember writing to Santa one year....and he wrote back. I felt pretty important. And of course, growing up in church, I was an angel in numerous Christmas plays and nativity scenes. When I grew up, I directed several of those Christmas plays with kids at church. There's nothing cuter than seeing a little shepherd or wise man with his "beard" falling off or an little angel who's halo falls on the floor in the middle of "Silent Night". There are so many wonderful things about this season, but I think the most important part is celebrating the birth a King. The King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus. The song "I Believe" by Natalie Grant pretty much sums it up. "Heaven's Child. The great I Am. Born to take away my sins through nail pierced hands. Emmanuel has come. I believe." Let's all believe this Christmas and throughout the year. Merry Christmas!!

Bounce Dryer Bar

I was excited to try the new Bounce Dryer Bar. It looked like it would be a good product and save a little of time while doing the laundry. I was disappointed after a few loads of laundry. The towels and blankets were not soft and they were actually a little scratchy. The clothes were full of static. It didn't take long before I went back to the regular dryer sheets. I've heard a few other people say the same things when they tried the bar too. Also, when we took the dryer bar out of the dryer it left behind a sticky residue. So I would say......stick with the dryer sheets. The bar is a bust.

Completing Him Challenge-Week 2

I'm still participating in the "Completing Him Challenge" on the Women Living Well blog. This weeks challenge is "Remember the day that you entered you sacred vows. Post pictures from that day and tell your story".

We were married on a beautiful summer day in June at the Von Bryan estate in Sevierville, TN. The estate used to be a bed and breakfast but is now rented out like other large cabins. We were very excited to bring our family and friends together at the cabin and spend time with them before our special day. The day was absolutely perfect. There was a bright blue sky and a gorgeous view of the Smoky Mountains. Everything went off without a hitch.

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was pouring our unity sand. While looking up different "unity ceremony" ideas before the wedding, I stumbled across something called the Unity Cross. I loved that idea because it really focused on God being the center of your marriage and uniting the couple. The only problem was that there was only one company that made it and it was very expensive. Long story short.....we came up with our own unity cross by combing a lot of different ideas that we found online. We found a shadow box type picture frame, glued a cross on it, and then filled it during the wedding with unity sand. It was perfect.

The most important part of that day was marrying Jamie. Everything in the ceremony could have gone wrong, but it would have been ok with me. I knew that us making our commitment to each other and to God was what the day was all about.

June 20, 2010

Giving our rings

Unity Sand/Cross

Our first kiss as Mr. & Mrs. Gilliam

Completing Him Challenge

I heard about this challenge on a friend's blog (thanks Stephanie :) I checked out the website, Women Living Well, because I was really interested in it. The "official" online challenge took place in June, but I thought this was something that I could still do. I know I'm still a newlywed, but I think this challenge can be good whether you've been married 3 months or 30 years. The first week's challenge is.....

"Post Pictures from your dating days (or tell us all about it!). Think about one thing you used to do or have as a couple that you have lost in the shuffle of life. How can you regain it?"

Here are some pictures from our dating days....that wasn't very long ago :) We clicked as soon as we met. I remember talking for hours the night of our first date. I knew pretty early that he was the one for me. I didn't think it could get better than that, but married life is even better. I am so thankful and blessed to have Jamie in my life.

Dating Pics

Bama Game 2009
Beach Trip
Nora Jones at the Ryman
Red Sox Game

Roll Tide

We were very fortunate to get some free tickets to the first Bama game of the 2010 season. It was only my second game in T-town. This was my first time getting there early enough to walk around the Quad and see everything going on there. I could not believe all of the people tailgating. These people were serious tail-gators. Some tents had 3 0r 4 tv's set up watching all of the other games for the day while they waited for Bama to start. I loved watching the band warm up before heading over to the stadium. We had great seats to watch the first win of the season.......along with over 100,000 other fans. Can't wait for the rest of the season. Roll Tide!!!

Count Your Blessings

Sometimes it's easy for us to forget how blessed we truly are. We get caught up in our busy lives and often times don't stop to be thankful for the blessings God has given us. We don't take time to "stop and smell the roses". Sometimes it's takes a tragedy, whether in our own lives or in the lives of others, to make us stop and count those blessings. Some of the happiest people I've know throughout my life have not been happy because of their material things, but because they have a grateful heart. That's the kind of person I want to strive to be. So many horrible things happen in the world today. There is no way we can make it through the day if we focus on that. We need to take time each day to see how blessed we really are. So I'm declaring today "Count Your Blessings" day. No, it's not on a calendar....but it's fun and good for us. Start by counting just 10 of your blessings. We're blessed well beyond that, but it's a great way to get us thinking. Below are 10 of my blessings. I hope you'll comment and tell some of your blessings. Maybe we'll see some things we might not have thought of before.

I am blessed with........
1. Salvation - I'm so grateful for my relationship with God. Without
Him, I'm nothing.

2. Godly husband - Jamie is my most recent blessing. I cannot put
into words how much of a blessing he is. He's more amazing than
I could have ever imagined. I'm so grateful that I get to walk
through the rest of my life with him.

3. Christian parents - I think I have the best parents in the world.
They raised me up in a Christian home and have always been
there for me.

4. Close knit family - Family has always been a big part of my life.
They've been my closest friends. I'm thankful we're still very close.

5. Great "in-laws" - Another recent blessing. Jamie has brought
more great family into my life.

6. Great friends - I've met them through church, through work,
and some are family....but they're all so special to me. It's great
to know you have true friends you can call on for anything.

7. Home - I have a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep
in at night. There are kids in our schools who do not even know
where they're sleeping tonight.

8. Job - I get the chance to work with 5 year olds. I get sticky
hugs and hear "I love you" more than once :)

9. Church Family - We have a great church family at The Light.
They are always there to help and encourage.

10. Country - I'm thankful for my country and my freedom. I'm
thankful for my Dad, and other veterans, who fought to protect
those freedoms throughout the years. So many in other countries
do not have that blessing of freedom.

So.....what are your blessings??

A Bloggin' We Will Go

Well now that I'm on Facebook and Twitter, I thought that I might need one more outlet to post pictures and make comments...ha ha  :)  Creating a blog is another new things for me.......so this blog will be a work in progress.  Hopefully I can actually keep this up to date.  Check back soon for some "real" blogs.