Family Lake Trip!

I have been so behind on blogging, so this is WAY past due. My family went to Lake Conroe for a few days back in August so I went to meet them on the weekend. They rented a really nice house, right on the water. We had a lot of fun together. I always love spending time with my nieces and nephews. Here are a few pics from the lake weekend.

Blessings,

Amanda

Celebrating 5 Years!

Our 5th wedding anniversary was Oct. 3rd, 2014. I can't believe it has already been 5 years. To say it has always been easy would be a lie, but most married people would probably agree with me. However, I've never prayed more, trusted God more, and grown more than through my marriage with Jerrod. I'm thankful for Jerrod, and I love him more now, and more deeply than I ever have. I think these next 5 years will be full of adventure, change, and growth. I can't imagine doing life with anyone else.

Here is a little throwback to our wedding day!

He had beautiful flowers delivered to me at work!

We wrote personal vows to each other for our wedding ceremony, and I'm so glad we did. They have been sitting in our box and we have always wanted to do something special with them. So one of my gifts to him was our vows calligraphed on a framed matte. This is one of them, and I think they turned out so well. It'll be something we can keep forever.

Jerrod took me to dinner at Del Frisco's which is an awesome steakhouse in Houston. We ate till we were almost sick, but the food was amazing! They gave us a free dessert at the end!

At Del Frisco's with the love of my life...

So much fun spending time together and eating yummy steak!

My flowers lasted almost two weeks, and each day more flowers would open up, they were so pretty!

Cheers to the next 60 years! For better or worse, we pray that our marriage will always glorify God and that we will be used by Him!

Blessings,

Amanda

Encouragement for Today

Sometimes there are times when I feel like God isn't even listening to my prayers.... we are getting nowhere. I get mad at him and beg him to hear me and speak to me. After I am done being ridiculous, I always realize that it's not God's fault, He hasn't moved, He hasn't gone anywhere. Nothing can shake Him. I am the one who wont take time to sit in His presence and listen. I pray and pray and pray, but hardly do I ever just sit and listen. Sometimes I feel like it's a lost cause. I get nothing out of it, and other times I will feel an overwhelming sense of peace. When I don't hear or feel anything I just try to remind myself of those times when I do sense His presence. I'm in a tough place right now, and I want to be mad at God. But in my heart, I know it's not His fault and He still has my back. He will not be shaken. His mercies are new every morning. His love is unfailing. His grace is perfect.

I was reading Jesus Calling today and wanted to share it with you. "No matter what you may lose in this life, you can never lose your relationship with Me."

These scriptures spoke directly to me.
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed" says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Genesis 28:15

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Blessings,

Amanda

Europe Part V

Welcome to Positano, the cutest beach town and most beautiful scenery of the trip! We loved it!!!!

We took a ferry from Capri to Positano, and the views of the coast were amazing. Parts of it reminded me of the Napali Coast line in Kauai meets Cape Town. :) As we were arriving to the dock you are literally looking at the entire town on the side of this cliff. The day we arrived it was really cloudy as you can see from the pictures. Our days here were filled with lounging on the beach, reading, and eating. Perfect to me! We wanted to go hiking one morning but we didn't have a good map, and I didn't want to get lost so we didn't go. Maybe next time... we hope there is a next time! Enjoy the pics...

How cool is that?!

The beautiful flowers were everywhere.... I was in love.

We grabbed our backpacks and walked (uphill) to our B&B. There are no cars in this area, it's all winding sidewalks up the cliff.

And we arrived to our B&B. This place is a hidden GEM! This is our terrace, it was huge! The views were awesome! Ocean, town and mountains. We could see it all. I found our B&B on tripadvisor and it did NOT disappoint. The Italian family who ran it made us feel like family! All of the business owners in this town were so nice and friendly.

Look at that old church! It's still operating today.

More views from the terrace.

This was an open air clothing boutique that was right next door.

Sunset the first night...

Going to dinner one night. 

The beautiful beaches!

On the terrace after an afternoon at the beach :)

At our last dinner in Italy... we were sad to be leaving!

Street dance performance... views from dinner! It made our night.

Shrimp and ravioli...mmmm....

Some of these are out of order but I took these during our day at the beach!

The water was a beautiful turquoise.

The famous umbrellas :)

I'm so glad we have all of these pictures to reminisce our wonderful adventure! We had a blast, and I hope one day we can go back. Very thankful for this awesome time together!