ONE Month!

Happy Friday!!
Ahh! I honestly couldn't believe it when I realized yesterday was ONE month until we get married! When we first set the date I kept thinking it was wayyyy too far away, but our engagement has FLOWN by!
Only a few tiny catastrophes have occurred.. my dress not fitting being the WORST!.. but it fits now :)
I haven't blogged in so long so I can't even remember where I left off!
I have learned so many things throughout this whole experience.  I believe the most important is that I learned how truly blessed I am--especially with all of the wonderful people I have surrounding me.
In efforts to try to keep my head on straight as the wedding gets closer, Mrs. Tinka gave me the best advice anyone has so far-- as we were working on wedding plans and I expressed how I hoped everything turned out just like I have planned in my peon of a brain she said something that really caught my attention along the lines of "People may not remember every detail of your wedding, but I'll tell you one thing--they will remember the way you acted the day of your wedding"...she probably said it much better, but that's what I remember of it... and I believe that is very true.  I don't want to be "bridezilla", I don't want to make all the wonderful people who are giving their time and love to help me to think I am a brat, and I want everyone to know how thankful we are to have them sharing in and helping make our day possible.  Blessed does not even begin to explain it well enough.

Ben and I have slowly been getting his bachelor pad ready to become the Willard home, and it has been SOoooOOOooo fun!  I cannot wait to be moved in, and share it with him!  Pictures soon to come (ha it may be a few months but they'll be here)

EmJay is still alive and well (as of last weekend, she is well).  We had a little scare with her!  She got out of the fence in Ben's backyard a few weekends ago, and she was in the brush near the creek behind his house (which is basically all woods).  She came back COVERED in ticks (and when I say covered I mean they were EVERYWHERE--you couldn't touch her without feeling tons of them--even around her eyes :().  It was SO sad because we could tell she was miserable!  We finally got her to the vet, shampooed her numerous times and put drops on her.  She is now tick free :)).  Hopefully she stays that way all summer! She wasn't allowed in the house for so long which was almost as sad as her being covered in disgusting blood suckers.

We have already had two wonderful showers--one hosted by a group of wonderful girls at the Springdale campus of our church and a couple's shower given by some of our friends at Brock & Emily's.
We have another this weekend in Helena hosted by my sister a few friends and a great group of women who I've known since I was little.  I am SO excited for the shower, of course, but also to see everyone because I haven't seen many of these wonderful people in years!!!
Can't wait to see Pete and Brody Speer either!!--

Ben finally decided on our honeymoon location! We will be going to Antigua (no, no, not ARGENTINA as my mother often confuses it).  It looks sooooooo wonderful! I cannot wait.  We will not be going until June 10 (to avoid conflict with my school schedule), but I know it will be fabulous!

We just finished Benchmark testing this week, and I am SO proud of my kiddos & SO happy to have that behind us!

The past few months have been SUPER busy, but I have had some great people helping me out!  I absolutely cannot wait to be Mrs. Willard and to have things slow down a bit for a while!  Summer break will be a great chance for me to catch up on life I've missed planning this wedding!

The Lord has been so good to me.  I thank Him daily for Ben Willard.  I have really taken time each day this week to think of all the reasons I am thankful to have him in my life & to know that I get to share the rest of my life with him! That is evident in my life.  My life hasn't turned out ANYTHING like the plans I had in my head, but it is so much better thanks to my Deliverer.  :)  I pray that I will be the wife that this man deserves.  He is everything I never knew I always wanted!!
 I was reading my devotional Tuesday night, & couldn't help but think of how the Lord truly does have a plan for each of our lives.  A great friend of mine (and bridesmaid), Emily Mayfield, text me as I was reading to share some saddening news that her mom had just found out she has breast cancer.  However, her text was so uplifting as she told me her family trusted that the Lord has greater plans for our lives than we can ever imagine.  Their family is so faithful, and it amazes me that they are able to see the hope they have by trusting in our Lord.  Prayers for them and her sweet sweet mother, please!



Countdown begins................29 days!