Be strong and courageous.

First let me start by saying that I initially wanted to create a blog during the planning of mine and Tyler's wedding to be able to keep tract of all of the memories, needless stresses, and useful advice, in the hopes that one day I could look back on it all and reminisce. Well, as it usually does, life kind of got in the way and before we knew it our wedding was over, we had honeymooned, finished yet another semester of school, and I had still failed to create something I kept telling myself that I would. So, I apologize in advance for what might turn into a lengthy post but feel free to follow along.

In this post, I want to talk about change because we recently went through a lot of it and with the fall semester approaching, people moving off to college for the first time, and with the people who have graduated college moving off to their first jobs, maybe juuuust maybe there is someone, somewhere that can relate.

Our lives have changed a lot in the past month. Tyler and I finally found an apartment in Lake Charles that didn't cost an arm, leg, and first born child. Tyler has been ready to make this move since we met. I always told myself that I was ready and I was, or so I thought, until it was actually happening. Now I know what you're thinking, "Whats the big deal? It's just an hour away. It's not even that serious." When you dislike change as much as I do, something like this is monumental.

I experienced excitement, fear, and heartbreak in such a short time frame. I wasn't entirely ready to leave the place that Tyler and I called home, I wasn't ready to leave the job that I had worked my way up in and the friends I had made there. I wasn't ready to leave behind my family, and Sunday lunches after church at my grandmothers. Half of me wasn't ready to leave, but the other half couldn't wait to get going. I was nervous about the change but I knew we needed it. During the process of us moving things and me feeling slightly apprehensive about the situation, my mom sent me this message and my apprehension subsided for a while.

Who knew a simple Pinterest quote could be so inspiring? "If you do not step forward you will always be in the same place." As motivational as Pinterest can be sometimes, this wouldn't be a good blog post if I didn't discuss how much God had a handle on this transition in our lives.

For a few weeks, during the day, we would move as much as we could, unpack, sort, and then go back to DeRidder to sleep(we saved our bed for last). Each night during the move when Tyler and I would lay down, we would pray for God to ease our minds and reassure us that we were going down the path that he needed us to. I can attest to the fact that he DOES answer prayers because throughout the move I wasn't really able to over-analyze the situation or sit down and think about the "what ifs", I just went with the motions, which isn't really like me. I could feel indecisiveness trying to creep in but for some reason it just wasn't quite getting through. It was then that I realized that this wasn't a coincidence and that God was completely on my side. He knows me better than I know myself. I was nervous about having to work at a new place and meet new people. I was sad that I was going to be away from my sisters, niece, and nephews. I was heartbroken that we had to leave our cat behind with a friend in DeRidder because pets aren't allowed in our new home but for those few days of moving, I could not think about anything other than getting here. That's because God knew that if he didn't slightly numb those emotions I would have eventually convinced myself that this was all a terrible idea. That would have been bad because I would have been doing a U-turn on the path that he so graciously paved for us. He knew that what Tyler and I needed to be able to continue growing, not only as a couple but as individuals, could no longer be found in DeRidder, at least not right now. For that, I am thankful.

Once all of our belongings were moved and there was no turning back, those emotions tried to come back around every once in a while and sometimes they would stick. When they did, I would just reflect on the scripture above. I've found a lot of comfort in it. Perhaps you can too.

We're all settled in now and so far it's been a blast. We've been able to attend mass every Sunday morning in the same church we said, "I Do". It's an amazing experience. We are slowly winding down from this eventful summer, getting ready for the semester to start so we can be closer to graduation and closer to closing yet another chapter of our lives. I plan to keep posting updates that way anyone that is interested can keep up with our story.

Too long, didn't read: If you're not good at accepting change, pray about it. God will help you in every single way that he can.

and now for the fun part. Some pretty pictures of pretty things.

Tyler's parents surprised us when we first moved in by turning this..

into this! They pulled up all of the contact paper and put down marble
print countertop pieces, that I LOVE. They started the backsplash
and Tyler so determinedly finished it.