goodbye 2008. December 31, 2008

I’m not sure I like the whole concept of time going faster as you get older.  I think it should go fast when you are younger and then slower as you get older so you can enjoy it all quicker. (except for when you are counting down for a wedding, then time should go fast).  Regardless to my thoughts, 2008 flew by and with it came some amazing memories….

….our bible study since freshman year… now my best friends

….turned 21

**got ENGAGED!!** my most favorite memory of 2008

….and 8 hours after being proposed to, left for Mexico for a week on Spring Break

….watched my fiance’ graduate from IU

….took engagement pictures on campus

….first close friend to be married

….surprised Jeremy with Brian Regan tickets…best night ever

….learned how to play disc golf, courtesy of Jeremy

…took annual Kings Island trip with the Lee family

…engagement party thrown by my parents (here’s my bridesmaids! vanessa is not pictured)

…tried edamame and loved it! this is good because now Jeremy & I can eat at his favorite Asian places

….interned at the downtown Indianapolis Hilton

….. and lived with some amazing girls/close friends while interning all summer

….took “senior pictures” on campus with my best friends

…ran a PR on my half marathon!  1 hour and 49 minutes!!

….made lots of memories with close friends

….saw another good friend become a beautiful bride

….went on numerous double dates with our closest friends, Michael & Emily. hopefully 2009 will bring some exciting news for them

…shared a room and many memories throughout college with another best friend

…graduated from IU!

….went to Nick’s for the first time.

….and helped my younger sis get ready to go to her senior semi-formal

plus many more great memories…

what will 2009 bring?    my first job, my first “real” apartment,  marriage, the wedding I’ve been counting down for since march 2008, first memories as husband & wife, my younger sister’s graduation from high school and first year as a college student, weddings of close friends, paying my own bills, learning how to cook, turning 22, and many more that are unknown for right now.

Praise to the Lord for another year with my family and friends. I can only pray and hope that 2009 will bring the same health, peace, love, and prosperity for my family… and yours

Happy New Year!!

welcome to the indiana university alumni association. December 22, 2008

this weekend was GRADUATION weekend and it was a blast!!! I am so fortunate to have family who support and encourage me, not to mention drive 3+ hours to come watch me graduate…speficially my parents, jeremy’s parents, and my grandparents.  Although the actual ceremony itself was not as detailed as a high school graduation (i.e.- you just stand up when they call your school, there’s no name calling or stage walking), it was still special and made me realize the accomplishment I just achieved.  I am definitely sad to leave Bloomington and all the memories it holds for me, but I am also excited to move forward into a completely new stage of life.  I think that change is scary regardless because it takes you so far from your comfort zone, but you can either walk into it screaming and stomping or you can walk into it holding God’s hand and knowing that in the end, it will be just as fun as the comfort zone you are stepping out of.

my family.. mom, sis, dad, me.

my future family!! jeremy, me, justin, georgetta, jim

me & my sis

afterwords, we had a celebration at Grazie, an Italian eatery in downtown Bloomington. These are all the people that love me

this is my family! (jeremy’s dad, jeremy’s mom, jeremy’s brother’s gf, jeremy’s brother, jeremy, me, my sis, my mom, my dad)

along with the actual graduation day, I had some mini celebrations throughout the week with my roomies and closest friends.. ps- thank you to my best friend katie shaw who made me feel so special the entire week

celebrating @ Tutto Bene, a wine bar in Bloomington

me & katie..friends since the beginning of college!

I finally made it to a Bloomington staple, Nicks.

another best friend, Emily…who was kind enough to give me a Newlywed Cookbook as a graduation gift..one she knows I definitely  need

now that this chapter in my life is closing, it’s time to look ahead to a new job starting in February and a new marriage beginning in March…an exciting few months!!! until then, I’ll be in Fort Wayne until the middle of January and Bloomington for the last half..

ps- my sister had her semi-formal last night with her boyfriend, Eric…look how beautiful she is!

ninety-niner. December 18, 2008

99 DAYS until OUR WEDDING!!!!

seriously. when we set our date we had 385 days to go.. and now are at a mere 99. this is awesome.

i have a big girl job! December 17, 2008

As of Monday, December 15, 2008, I have a job!! I accepted an offer at the downtown Indianapolis Marriott to work as an event planner!! This was by far the most frustrating, time-consuming, scary, and confusing process I have ever had to go through.  For someone who likes to plan and make sure that even the tiniest details are figured out, I sure had to learn how to give God the reins as I went through a six month job search process and a two-month waiting period/interviewing process with this company.  I learned that God blesses those who wait patiently in Him (Psalm 37:7)  and that He does not create you with the passions and characteristics you have to let them go to waste (Psalm 139). YOU WILL be used by HIM!!

In the midst of a horrible economy, I am incredibly thankful to even have a job.. one that is providing benefits and help to Jeremy and I and a job where I can hopefully enjoy what I am doing.  I sincerely pray for every American who is still in search of something to help provide for a family or even just oneself.  I had a short, miserable process and cannot imagine those who have been doing this for a year or more. My heart really does go out to you  and I pray that you just stay strong and continue to trust that God has not forgotten about you.

Well, I have about 8 minutes until I have to go take the last final of my life (notice how I am blogging and not studying in this time frame) . In less than an hour I will be done being a college student.  I am not sure how I feel about this. I really think I am about 60% happy/40% sad.  On one hand, who wouldn’t be happy with the fact that I never have to take a test, write a stupid reaction paper, do an entire group project myself, or walk to class in frigid temperatures? On the other hand, I cannot even begin to explain how much my life has changed in the past 4 years.  I think I’ll probably write a blog on that within the next two days but seriously, God brought me to IU for very, very specific reasons and its hard to acknowledge that it is time to leave the place where I have changed so much and become confident in myself to move to the unknown. at least I get to take a husband with me

ah. only 5 more minutes til exam time.  well, I’ll update more often now that I am one hour away  from being a grown-up.

i hope that today especially you are sensing the Lord’s blessings…

mom & dad & carly.. .can’t wait to see you

His path. December 8, 2008

don’t you worry.. just because I am lacking in my daily posts does not mean I am behind on my 25 praises.. last week was by far the busiest week of the school year and I am exactly one and a half weeks away from being done with college forever.. so, these next 10 days will be quite busy as well

anyways. yesterday was an amazing church service, I’ve never felt so many different emotions in one service. I think that at one point or another every person in the service cried and it wasn’t that the pastor was trying to make us cry, it was just evident that the Holy Spirit was in the room and working deeply in our hearts.  Pastor Bob talked to us about patience and how that is usually the first thing to fly out the window in a situation. The worst part is that we oftentimes lose patience with Christian friends and family and by snapping out our brothers and sisters, complaining about them, or tearing them down, we are ultimately tearing down the Body of Christ.  This made me sick as I realized how often I have complained about someone who is my brother or sister in Christ..

oh and Pastor Bob also brought up the 25 days of praise and said he hoped we were still following it (heck yeah.)

Jeremy and I were privileged to see the true definition of marriage and unconditional, sacrificial love during church as we took part in communion.  At ECC, we take communion by walking to the front of the church and taking a piece of bread and juice. Usually the last row will start walking up front first just for congestion purposes and after  a few minutes, I noticed that no one was walking up so I turned around to see what was going on and the image I saw made my heart jump and tears start to form instantly.. .a man, probably about 40 years old was severely limping towards the front of the church.  He was walking painfully slow with a cane and it appeared that he had been in a car accident or had a stroke that took away his ability to walk as well as some mental capacities.  However, walking alongside him was his beautiful, healthy wife- and that was what stopped my heart.  She was not paying attention to who was watching, she was not telling her husband to keep going, she was just matching him step by step and you could literally see that his strength was coming from her love. They were only 40 years old- they have so much life to live and she made it so clear that her life was still complete with this man who looked different than he did the day they got married.  I couldn’t help but cry. Jeremy had his head in his hands as he was caught up with emotion as well. The two church leaders who were passing out communion were also overcome with emotion and when Jeremy and I went up to get our bread and juice later on, they both had tears streaming down their faces. It was so beautiful.

It was just the most pure definition of marriage I have ever seen. It was what God designed it to be and in a world where marriage is about sex, looks, and money, I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast of what God created it for.  I will remember that moment for the rest of my life and especially as I am walking down the aisle to Jeremy in 3 1/2 short months.

so for today.. Jeremy’s praise to the Lord is that he has the ability to walk and move freely on his own. That if the time comes, he know I will be walking right alongside him, matching him step for step, but for now- he is grateful that the Lord designed our bodies to function throughout the day and that he has been blessed with a healthy body.

for me.. I am praising God for his perfect will- that sounds cliche but I have just realized in the past year that God seriously has the best for each of His children.  He wants the best for us and for His kingdom- I saw that when my internship took a direction I wasn’t planning for, when my life completely changed when I came to IU, and when Jeremy came into my life way earlier than I was expecting. By praising Him for this, I am acknowledging to myself and to God that as much as I love to plan things and have everything squared away, I am learning to relax and enjoy the direction He leads us down.. it always ends up way better anyways.

carly michelle. December 5, 2008

my little sister, carly, is the CUTEST girl you will ever ever meet.  she may seem shy at first but once you get to know her, you will find she has a quite a little humourous and outgoing side   we are four years apart so we have never been able to spend time together going through the same stages in life but as we have gotten older, we have started to have more in common.  i love love love spending time with her and am SO thankful that she is my little sister…

see, told you she’s cute anyways, so I spent yesterday praising God for her as part of my 25 days of praising the Lord.. I cannot WAIT to spend time with her over Christmas Break

DAY FOUR….

I’m going to go ahead and post for today because I work 9 hours @ Starbucks today and won’t feel like getting on the computer late tonight

After having a whirlwind of a week, I think today it would be best to praise the Lord for health.  My body has gone through a lot recently as I have been incredibly stressed and anxious waiting on a job offer.  I didn’t sleep some nights, didnt’ eat others, I started shaking in class and I had massive headaches for about 5 days straight.  I didn’t workout, sleep, or eat right. holy cow.  well, it all caught up to me the past two days as I became super fatigued and just did not want to do anything.. I forced myself to go to the gym and sleep 8 hours (even though I wanted to just lay in bed all day) and today is the first day that I feel back to normal again.  Through all of this, I just realized how glad I am that I have been blessed with mental health- where I knew that I needed to get things back together and get back on a daily routine, and physical health.  It’s been an incredible experience to see my physical health completely change the past 2 years as I started training for half-marathons (and completing them!) and have learned more about nutrition and sleep.  I feel more in-control of my overall health and I am so thankful that I not only have learned this information but have been blessed with a body that responds to it and has given me no problems

that’s me in the red shirt this past September.. I ran the Fort-For-Fitness half marathon in 1 hour and 49 minutes!! best time yet!!

so, I am on day 4 of my challenge- where are you on yours?? I encourage you to take today and spend it praising the Lord for the first thing that comes to your mind.. I’ve noticed that the more time you spend praising God, the less time you have to complain or worry…so try it

have a great day

mom&dad. December 3, 2008

“Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

Praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

Praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.”

-Psalm 150

With this said, I spent today praising the Lord for two different people (to combine yesterday and today because I kind of forgot yesterday).. and it was fun to praise Him for two of my most favorite, inspiring, encouraging, most amazing people in the world: my momma and daddy. (see post below for my purpose in this activity)

My mom~ the most loving, caring, considerate, funny, encouraging woman I have ever met. not to mention she’s pretty and shes XX years old! (your welcome for not writing the # mom) My mom is my best friend and is always willing to listen to me, even when I am argumentative and in a bad mood. I don’t know where I would be without her… I hope I can be at least a 1/4th of a mom to my kids as she is to me.

My dad~ the most hardworking, athletic, funny, supportive, and intelligent man in the world.  My dad has taught me so much and has helped me to mature both mentally and emotionally. I admire my dad for so many reasons and am proud to know that many others do as well. I don’t know where I would be without my dad…

not only are they amazing individually, but they have withstood many circumstances and just celebrated 25 years of marriage.  I know what true love is and what it means to love unconditionally because I have seen my dad unconditionally love my mom and my mom unconditionally support my dad… I am also incredibly thankful that regardless of what I have wanted to do or felt, my parents have ALWAYS supported me.  They were right there with me when I switched my major, when I decided to date after being in bad relationships in high school, when I have cried through mistakes and laughed through joys.  They have taught me how to have confidence in myself, how to handle situations maturely, and that the Lord will always guide me.

thanks mom and dad.. i love you and had fun thinkin about you all day and praising God for you

25 days of thankfulness December 2, 2008

Pastor Bob challenged us this past Sunday to think of one thing every day that we are thankful for and praise God all day long for it (check out Psalm 150).  The sermon talked about how difficult we seem to make it to praise God- we blame Him for our emotions, our circumstances, other peoples’ circumstances, etc.  I find that I am doing that quite often right now as I graduate in 17 days and do not have a job (not to mention the idea that the wedding is 4 months away and we have no money).  So, I am refusing to fall into the devil’s trap and am instead praising God for something every day.  I decided the best way to stay accountable to this is to post on here. But bear with me, since I no longer have my own computer I might have to post a couple days at a time

so Monday was Day #1 and the first thought that popped into my head was:

jeremy lee will definitely not be the happiest man when he sees this picture on here but that’s ok I already have the ring haha Anyways, he is the first thing I think of whenever I am praising God.. how blessed am I to marry a man who loves me more than anything else, makes me laugh harder than I ever have, and supports me in all I do? It makes my eyes water just thinking about it.

not gonna lie. I didn’t think to praise God for something today until I was sitting bored out of my mind in my night class tonight so I don’t want to jipe the praises so I am going to be praisin’ Him for two things tomorrow to make up for today and tomorrow… you’ll just have to wait to see what they are

goodnight!

Mr. & Mrs. Brandon Lapehn!! and Thanksgiving 2008! December 1, 2008

our thanksgiving break was super short but really fun! Jeremy had to work 3 14 hour days so we were not able to leave to head up north until Thanksgiving morning.  We were greeted @ my grandparents with my family and a few other relatives.. The past few years my family Thanksgiving has been catered food which tasted horrible so my mom and I decided to tell the family that either we made the food this year or else we weren’t coming. And let me tell you, the food was WAY better this year…good job on the turkey Mom!

This is our 3rd Thanksgiving together already…@ my grandparent’s house.

The annual sister picture.. this is pretty impressive because we are about the same size now

After an afternoon with my family, Jeremy and I spent the night in Hartford City @ his parents.. The next morning we woke up and headed to Indianapolis to spend the day @ his aunt’s.  I love being around his family because he has such a huge family!  We had 8 people at my family Thanksgiving and like 40 at his! This is why Jeremy and I will be having lots of kids- but not for about 10 more years.

Anyways, Jeremy spent some of the afternoon bugging his little cousin, Hailey..

 

We left his aunt’s house on Friday night in order to be ready for Hannah & Brandon’s WEDDING on Saturday! Oh my goodness, I LOVE weddings!! And I had just written a post about how anxious I was for our own wedding- going to an actual one made me even more anxious! especially with everyone asking if I was getting more excited… Eeeekk! you have NO idea!!

 

here comes the BEAUTIFUL bride!! this is my FAVORITE part!!! Seriously, this is the part I dream of whenever I think of my own wedding!! She was so pretty and Brandon was BEAMING at this point!!!

Brandon & Hannah at the start of their ceremony.. look @ that smile on his face

while we were waiting for the new couple to come out, we ran into some fine young men…

me & my date

I was SO  happy to see VANESSA!!! My long lost best friend!! she’s down in Memphis with Teach for America so I hadn’t seen her since Bonnie & Steve’s wedding in June

getting into the getaway car… look @ all that dress!! They are another short couple so it gave me a good idea how incredibly midget Jeremy and I will look on our wedding day

Jeremy & I at the reception.. I just wanted a picture with my ring lol

dancing with the bride

one of my all time favorite pictures of us..

see, told you she is beautiful!

some of my most favorite people in the world!! Hannah (bride), Heather, and Alicia!

 

the night was full of good pictures as this is my new favorite of Heather and me!

 

 

the wedding was absolutely beautiful and everyone is super excited for Hannah & Brandon.. after she graduates this semester, they are moving to Seattle.. we will miss them

 

As far as my own graduation/life, we are still waiting to hear back from the job interview I had two weeks ago. They said 2-3 weeks so this week should be it… it’s incredibly hard waiting and pair that with the most amount of schoolwork I have ever had and let’s just say this week is stressfull. yikes.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We realized that even in the midst of a short break, how thankful we were for time to travel home to see both families, eat good food, and have a little bit of time to relax.

and just think, Christmas is right around the corner!! It’s lightly snowing in Bloomington today- soo pretty