the one with all the marry-ment

This weekend two of my best friends got married in the most bedazzled of occasions  Cortney Shanks married Tom McGuirk!! After several rounds of dating - they finally tied the knot yesterday.  And it was perfect:) I wore a gold sequined party dress (every girl needs one, after all) and Jesse got to wear the cutest little bow tie. We stood up on stage and watched two of our favorites commit their lives to one another. It was a tearful, happy, and long-awaited event and I'm so glad we got to witness it. 

The beautiful bride!

Over the last year, Cortney was in five weddings (including mine) and I was curious to see how she would style her own wedding - and let me tell you, it was the most unique weddings ever. She did an amazing job combining all of the best parts of this time of year - candlelight, glitter, and class - while remaining perfectly herself. Her dress was simple and beautiful and she matched it with a coverlet from Beholdn (Anthro's wedding line) - seriously the coolest accessory I've ever seen. Like I mentioned before, the bridesmaids wore gold sequined dresses, carried black clutches (hand-picked by the bride for each maid - precious), and rocked sock buns. The reception was held at this stunning New England house that had a roaring fireplace, twinkle lights, and cozy couches. Magical. 

Tom and Cort - you may never see this thanks to your amaaaazing honeymoon in Aruba (woo!) but thank you for letting me be apart of your Big Day. I can't believe we almost had to miss it, but I'm so grateful that God worked it out. The best December 22nd I can ever remember:)  If you want to look at more pictures from their day (and if you have an instagram) - type in the hashtag #merrycortmas and enjoy!

Today, I'm sitting at my computer with a sore throat and head ache - the aftermath of the perfect weekend - and I'm trying to rest up before we head out to Florida for Christmas vacation. I feel so tired and yet so blessed all at once. It's definitely been a wonderful Christmas season already. 

And before my other lovely brides from 2012 feel slighted - I would also love to give a special shout-out to Candice and Erin - two of my other newly married friends who are literally some of the most stunning people I will ever know. Your weddings were perfect and deserve a post of their own. I love you both dearly:) If you want to have some serious wedding envy take a look at their weddings here and here. Just kidding...envy is wrong - let's call it "appreciating." ;)

the one about connecticut

There are no words that can make sense of something so violent, so heartbreaking, so sad. Many writers and blogs have expressed the perspective of a parent and I'm not here to do that. I'm not a parent, and although I've been so sad and emotional about this whole thing - I can't imagine what I would feel as a mother too. I don't have any kids of my own to squeeze extra tight tonight, but the last few days have reminded me that I have so much to cherish in this fleeting life - my family back home and here in Boston, my wonderful husband, my best friends, my church family, and so much more.

But tonight, I meditated on something far more somber. I found a list of biographies of the victims on CNN's website. Typically, I avoid looking at things like that - it's just too hard to face. But tonight, I decided that I wanted to....rather, that I needed to. As I looked through the names, I prayed for each of the families and loved ones of these adorable children and brave educators. At one point in my prayer, I had to stop and just weep. How could this happen? Why do people do these things? 

As I finished my prayer, I still didn't have any answers. 

But I'm reminded of the Scripture that President Obama quoted yesterday from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I'm so glad that the President comforted the nation with these words. They were exactly what I needed to hear (and I doubt that I'm the only one). I'm so grateful that this life isn't it. It's only the beginning. I can't wait to be in the place with no more goodbyes and no more tears. 

I also watched this video from one of the parents, Robbie Parker, about his daughter Emilie. His heart of forgiveness and love challenged me deeply. I hope it heals your heart a little bit too. 

Love, 

Alexandra

the one with the weekend visit

Ever have one of those days where you wake up feeling like you've already lived the whole day already? That's me today - totally and completely exhausted in every capacity. But here's the good news - exhaustion can come from the most positive things. Like this weekend, for instance, my dad came into town! It was one of those weekends where you go non-stop but it was completely wonderful. My dad came to Boston not only to visit his favorite daughter...sorry Elizabeth;)....but to speak to our church about the books of 1 & 2 Samuel. I hadn't heard my dad preach in forever and I've got to tell you - it was even better than I remembered. He has the gift of bringing the Bible to life in the most fun, expressive, and deep way. And he makes the best movie references (I mean really, what other preacher quotes "Die Hard" regularly in sermons). 

But hearing him preach was only one of the highlights - we got to talk and catch up, re-tell funny memories, and just be together. One of the best parts of his visit was going to see the Boston Pops holiday concert. The Boston Pops combine symphony orchestra, choral performance, and modern music in this wonderful melodic blend and it was such a great experience. Special bonus? It was totally free! After a night full of merriment I am officially in the Christmas spirit. 

Having my two favorite men together in one place was the perfect December treat - my first married Christmas season and my dad visiting all at once. I truly feel like the "boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places" (Psalm 16:6).

This morning I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful earthly father who points me to my heavenly father. However, I realize that my situation is unique. So many of my friends don't have the relationship with their dad that I get to enjoy - but the amazing thing is that we can all have a father that thinks we're the bees' knees. Don't believe me? The Bible has some wonderful things to say about that. Try reading Isaiah 49:15-16, Psalm 103:11-13, and Zephaniah 3:17 for starters. Here's to a holiday season full of security, peace, and connection:)

Miss you already!

the one where we got [christmas] crafty

Christmas decorating on a newlywed budget? Challenge accepted. After years of bemoaning my lack of creativity in DIY projects - I finally made some progress this month! I took on three projects (you've got to start somewhere, people) and I thought I would share them with you here. 

1. Yarn Wreath 

For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, you know that I went a little pin happy recently in the wreath department. They are a great combination of home spun (see what I did there?) and put-together. To make my wreath I followed a tutorial from the Decor Chick blog which you can check out here. 

What you'll need: 

- A wreath form (made of a straw-like thing)

- Two rolls of yarn (if you are doing a two tone like me)

- Hot glue gun

- Decorative feature (I chose greenery with some berries)

What you do: 

It's simple - just wrap the yarn around the wreath form tightly and make sure there aren't any gaps. As you finish with a section (if you opt to do multiple colors), just secure with a dab of hot glue. It took me about 2 hours to wrap while catching up with a friend. Finally, just hot glue the decoration to the front and fix to your liking! 

After I finished wrapping the wreath, I started to attach the greenery with hot glue. 

The Final product! Wrapped the greenery in additional yarn to hide the ends. 

2. Holiday Centerpiece

I wanted something cute and festive for our coffee table - so here's what I came up with! 

What you'll need: 

- A clear vase

- Two bags of fresh (or fake) cranberries 

- Greenery (fake or real)

- a candle (I opted for a mason jar one but tea lights would be cute too)

- twine

What you do: 

Simply fill the bottom with cranberries, decorate the top with greenery (I had leftovers from the wreath) and place the candle in the middle. Finally, wrap the vase with some twine and that's it! Done and done. I really like the way it turned out. And the best part? It was practically free.

I like how this is seasonal without pounding you over the head with Christmas cheer. 

3. Cinnamon Candles

I saw this idea online at Martha Stewart and I wanted to make one for me and one for a dear friend who happens to loveee candles! So, I went for it. 

What you'll need: 

- Vanilla pillar candles

- 2 bags of cinnamon sticks (I suggest a craft store for this)

- Rubber bands

- Twine

What you do: 

In order to get the most out of my cinnamon sticks, I decided to break the sticks in half. I was able to break most of them by myself but J helped me with the thicker ones:) After that, I wrapped the rubber band around the candle and started putting cinnamon sticks side by side. You do have finagle it a bit since some sticks will be large and make the skinny ones slide out. But the rubber band is still much better than glue (I tried both). After you arrange the sticks, wrap the twine around the candle so that the rubber band is fully covered. The candle will look and smell great!

The final result: a sweet-smelling and cozy decoration. I surrounded mine with metallic  accents.

It's amazing how just a few simple decorations can transform your home this time of year. I hope this gets your creative juices flowing! Happy decorating and DIY-ing everyone! Oh and if you have more ideas - please feel free to comment! I have to capitalize on this phase:) 

the one with the correlation

Taken at the Reservoir during my prayer time today. Beautiful New England afternoon:)

When I started this blog a couple of months ago, I intended to post "deep thoughts" on Monday mornings. Well, as you can see - I've posted exactly three deep thoughts which you can find in the "Monday Musings" section of my blog. And now, this right here will become the fourth deep thought. 

For those of you who know me, you are aware of several things about me: I cry easily, I MUST talk through every feeling I've ever had, and I can go from sobbing to laughing in about 30 seconds flat (it's a gift). Well, since getting married those emotional mood swings have grown exponentially. Allow me to be clear - I have the most wonderful, patient, adorable husband on the planet and none of these things are due to him. I blame it all on the stress of transitioning (which I talked about several musings ago). 

But last week marked another turning point in my emotional state. For the first time in awhile I felt more like myself. I felt like I was finally having more normal (nay, rational) emotional responses to daily life and that I was even more easy going (and my husband says, "hallelujah"). I've been trying to determine what, if anything, changed and I came to several conclusions. 

1. Thanksgiving break came and I took a break from the daily pressures of work. I even got out of town:) 

2. Prayer. I started reading a book on the subject (The Prayer of the Righteous by Mark Templer) and I've been having longer, better times with God. 

Simple, right? However, this weekend came and several things got in the way of my prayer time. And wouldn't you know that my emotions got out of control again. Sometimes the correlation between prayer and my daily dose of peace surprises me. And I have to wonder - after being a Christian for 10 years - how am I still so shocked by this? Why is it that I still think that I can make it through the day without intentional, meaningful time with my Maker? 

After all, let's think through some heroes of the faith - they were all noted for their devotion to prayer. 

David: wrote most of the book of Psalms as prayers and songs for God. He teaches us to be honest with our Lord.  

Daniel: was willing to go against the laws of Babylon in order to pray to his Creator. He was even arrested for it!

Elijah: he prayed and called down fire from heaven, rain from the sky, and victory over his enemies. 

Paul: began every letter talking about how earnestly he prayed not for himself but for the disciples in all the churches. Talk about a selfless man of prayer. 

And most notably - Jesus himself! He prayed alone, with his disciples, in large groups - he was constantly withdrawing to spend time with his Father. Even God's Son needed and prioritized prayer. It begs the question - who do I think I am to avoid deep prayer times?

I have a feeling that I'm not the only basket-case who gets surprised by how a lack of prayer affects her emotional well-being. Thank goodness I'm not alone:) But here's my thought - what if I really conquered this? What if I made a true and deep commitment to changing this area of my life?   I think it's time to make that decision. I refuse to be surprised by the correlation and in fact, I'm devoting myself to a higher standard of prayer. 

Who's with me??