and a few more...

Hey engagement ring hey!

Clarrissa Explains it All earrings.

The two cutest babies I've ever seen in my life. Also, please notice how sophisticated Rylen is being with that starbucks.

My friends are fruitcakes.

Best vest of 2010.

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phone pictures

Sometimes I have really good pictures saved on my phone. And sometimes I just get sad because no one really sees them except me.

This is my favorite lamp!

Ray is obviously excited about this thrift store find!

home sweet home?

darth boyfriend

jam of choice

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More engagements photos!

Please notice the birds in the next two photos. Kind of magical huh?

I think this one is my favorite. The tree is so beautiful and I love the sweet casualness of the wave. Haha.

I just love them all so much!

music monday: the mynabirds

The mynabirds are one of my new favorites. They are fun and playful with good soulful sound. LISTEN TO THEM!

Christmas and Engagement photos

It's been a while, but I'm not lost or gone forever. I promise. I had a wonderful, although slightly busy Christmas. Ray and I went to my parents house in the morning for breakfast and gifts, drove to Live Oak for lunch and more gifts with Ray's parents and then made our way to Ray's grandparent's for more food, family and gifts. We got back to my house around midnight and were completely exhausted. Sadly, I have absolutely no Christmas pictures to share with you. I do however have some very lovely engagements pictures to share! Aren't they cute?! I'll post more later this week!

reality

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:
The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.
He sees a brother where there was only a slave,
Love unites those that iron had chained.
Who will tell Him of our gratitude,
For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.


Wow, so beautiful and humbling. 

Jenna

This is Jenna and she is one of the loves of my life. We met in Mississippi 2 years ago while working camp. On the first day her roommate wasn't around, so she came to hang out in my room and just never left. That summer we laughed at our ridiculous staff, cried over our site babies, prayed over our students, died over paper party, died over mega relay, ate a lot of greek food and found way too many bobby pins on the floor. It was wonderful. She is one of the most encouraging godly people I've ever met. I don't know if I would have made it that summer without her.

In just a few short days she will be moving to Vitoria, Brazil to love people and tell them about Jesus. You have no idea how excited I am for her. Pray that she will be bold and fearless. Pray that love will conquer the language barrier. Pray for health and endurance and passion. Jenna is about to start such an amazing adventure and I'm so so proud of her!

sickville

I didn't go to work today because I'm currently living in sickville. I was feeling relatively good on Sunday but yesterday and last night were rough.

A few things on my mind:
- Christmas shopping... i haven't done any at all
- nose spray, cough drops, emergen-c, orange juice, blankets, heating pad, sleep
- diy wedding flowers
- finding a new job
- buying a house (what?!)
- small group Christmas party
- finding the perfect ridiculous white elephant gifts for 2 different Christmas parties

baby, wont you wake up

I know I've been a bag blogger. Like really bad. Don't give up on me yet though. I had planned on blogging some this weekend but then I thought I lost my power cord... which ended up just being in my bookbag... where it was supposed to be. Anyway, I had a pretty exciting weekend.

Friday night a bunch of my friends and I drove down to Orlando to see Gasoline Heart and The Silver Fleece. Both bands were incredible. I've probably seen Gasoline Heart 12 or 15 times, but this may have been one of the best.

After the show we had a 2 1/2 hour drive home that ended up taking about 4 hours due to some bad luck. Like running out of gas on the turn pike. Oops. Once we made it home I was feeling kind of terrible. I couldn't breath, my entire body hurt, my throat was scratchy and I had a fever. Awesome, huh? Ray went to Walgreens at 4:30am to get me medicine. Now that's love.

Wes Anderson

I love Wes Anderson movies. And sometimes I might be slightly obsessive about them. There is just such an overwhelming amount of creativity put into every shot of every film. And I'm always a big fan of films that are extremely detail oriented... so it makes sense for me to love them. These are my favorite movies.

Allison + Ray

Dear Blog readers that don't see me on a regular basis and aren't my facebook friends,
I'm getting married! To this precious boy.

This relationship wasn't really discussed on the blog (or many other places) because we knew we wanted to take  it seriously. We didn't want to date for the sake of dating. We didn't want to tell the world until we were sure this was what God had for us right now. But guess what... now we can discuss!! So, we're getting married April 16th, 2011. More on wedding plans, dress shopping, bridesmaids, etc to come! Get excited!
Love- Allison (and Ray)

PS- Send me links to some good wedding blogs! Also, if you're a blog reader you should probably also be my facebook friend. Make that happen.

bad day... or bad hour and a half

Today is not my day... and its only 8:45am. I only got 2 hours of sleep. I woke up late... and by late I mean I woke up around the time I should have been arriving at work. I have heartburn. I forgot my power cord at home and my laptop battery only lasts about 3 minutes. Im freezing and dont have any socks. I brought nothing for lunch.

Anyway, lets hope the day gets better. Ill try to stop being a baby.

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december listy-list

It's December? How did that even happen?

December goals list:

- look at Christmas lights at Stephen Foster

- find the best white elephant gifts for 2 Christmas parties

- find/make meaningful gifts for a few of my loved ones

- make some baked goods

- finish unpacking

- watch muppet family Christmas and Christmas vacation

- decorate my new house with Joy

- find a vintage silver Christmas tree

- find a new job

- kiss Ray on New Years Eve

- not forget why we actually celebrated Christmas

- not get wrapped up in any consumerism

- not eat fruit cake

whew...

The last week has been a crazy whirwind and I don't even know where to begin.

Engagements, thanksgiving, families, harry potter, dinosaurs, cupcakes, love, black friday sheet shopping, packing, moving, new house...

Where does one even start? I have no idea. I think I will have to write several blogs to fully encompass this last week. I think I will first start with my thankful list.

Thankful List:

- grace and sovereignty

- church on the way

- strong friends that are willing to help me move

- netflix instant watch

- new job opportunities

- a new roommate that understands I dont like to talk in the mornings

it's thanksgiving time...

I'm thankful for this boy. And I love him.

update

This weekend included:

Love, sleep (also, non-sleep), not seeing Harry Potter yet (sad day), John Piper, iced white chocolate mocha with hazelnut, packing all the things I own (or at least starting to), new jewelry, arrested development, churchy-church, Throw Down with Bobby Flay featuring Pioneer Woman, glorious naps.

moving on up

Guess what... I'm moving!! Ok, I'm seriously only moving about half a mile away and will actually still be living in my current neighborhood... but I'm still really excited. The house has a ton of space which is perfect for small group meetings, friend group dinners, parties, etc. Woo-hoo!

Also, I will be living with my wonderful friend Joy!

Also, one of my current roommates, Leanne, will also be moving in around the begining of January! They are two of my favorites.

Anyway, as some of you may know I'm really REALLY bad at packing. Like maybe the worst. I even had to call in reinforcements last night. Or rather the reinforcements were nice enough to show up on their own. I'll try to keep you updated on the packing process.

Some things I need from you:

decorating blog links

packing advice

love and support in my time of stress... because I hate to pack. haha.

I feel your judgement...

...but this just made me laugh out loud out loud. or lolol, if you will.

what's a goal?

Well, yet again I have neglected this sweet little blog. This time it wasn't on purpose... I've just had a lot of things going on recently (that I can't talk about at the moment, but will fill you in soon). Anyway, here's a small goal list:

- find a new job. while I love the job I have now, I really need something that makes more money... especially if I ever want to have savings. or an emergency fund. or buy a new car.

- go back to being organized. since I moved last winter, I've kind of just thrown all organization out the window. I haven't become a slob or anything... but there are definitely socks in my tshirt drawer. and I'm not sure where all my sheets are. and my craft supplies are a hot mess.

- get better about cooking. It's not that I'm completely incapable, I just never do it. one day I will get married... and even if I'm lucky enough to have a husband that likes to cook, I will still feel like a domestic fail if I can't cook at least a few good dishes.

- buy a really good pair of cowboy(girl) boots. I've been looking for a long time and no luck. I've seen a couple of cool pairs... they're just never my size (which is a 7 1/2... in case you find some).

- go on lots of evening walks to take advantage of this cool weather... because I live in Florida and the weather is only cool and nice like this for about 2 months.

I will never marry a millionaire

I really love the movie How to Marry a Millionaire. It's just so sweet and silly and wonderful. I love Marilyn Monroe and I love that she wears glasses in the film. You should watch it.

be thou my vision

I think most of the time my default is just to be a jerk. And I hate it.

Sometimes this is my life:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Romans 7:15

So, I'm just trying to be real and honest on this blog. This is something I struggle with on a daily basis. This is something I have to pray about constantly. Sometimes it seems like the more I try to be like Christ the farther away I seem to be. I'm not sitting around being a sad girl... I'm just frustrated with myself. You know what I mean?

That being said, I know that this is normal. I know this is how we become refined in Christ. It's just not always a super awesome process. I'm looking forward to what God wants me to do and who He wants me to become.

Listen to this.

25. staying alive.

I turned 25 on Friday. So far, 25 has been a great year. Great friends, family, festivals (even though it kind of sucked), fun, costumes, good talks, good naps, vintage earrings, olive cheese bread. I have a feeling that this year is going to be a good one.

Also, elections are over so I don't have to hear about politics for another year. PTL.

swan princess

Here is a kind of terrible cell phone picture of my Bjork costume from this weekend. I think it turned out pretty well, considering I finished sewing the swan head about 12 minutes before the party started.

Mid-party I decided to be batman.