The Royal Wedding!!

Have I ever mentioned that I am a HUGE royal fan?? It all started when I was in the fourth grade and my teacher gave us an assignment where we had to read a biography and do a report on the person. I choose a book about princess Diana and after reading that book I was hooked! That was when I became aware that there were real princesses, princes, kings and queens that were really alive in the world today! I thought princesses and princes were just made up in fairly tales I had read as a child. It was so interesting to me and what little girl doesn't love the idea of marrying a real prince someday! I was one years old when Princess Diana married Prince Charles and I don't remember watching the wedding, but mom told me that I watched it with her and her best friend.

After I got over my disappointment that Prince William was about to be officially off the market :) I became very excited about the wedding of Prince William and Kate. I recorded the wedding because even though I am a fan I was not going to get up at 4:00 am to watch the wedding live. Weddings always make me cry and I got teary eyed watching Kate walk down the isle and when William told her she looked beautiful at the altar. They are too cute together!! You can tell they are really in love! I can't even imagine how nervous Kate was knowing a billion people would be watching her every move. Some of the reporters were saying you could see her chest rapidly moving up and down as she stepped out of the car to go into the church. I think she did a great job and looked so incredibly beautiful!

Kate's dress was so beautiful and perfect for her. It was so elegant and classy... the way a bride should look. William looked so handsome in his military uniform. I thought Kate's bouquet was a little small. Maybe she wanted it small to show off the dress more??

My uncle buddy walking my mom down the isle

Kate's dress reminds me of my mom's wedding dress. My mom's dress had long, lace sleeves, and had lace around her neck and shoulders just like Kate's. Even my mom's hair was similar to Kate's. She's convinced Kate stole her look :)

Kate's sister Pippa looked so beautiful too! I love her dress but many people are saying as the maid of honor she shouldn't have worn white. I see their point that the bride should stand out in white, but I am sure white bridesmaid dresses will be the new trend for a while.

The kids that were part of the wedding party were so adorable! I love how the girls matched Kate and the boys matched Will.

The first kiss! Then a second!

One of my favorite parts of the wedding was when Will and Kate drove off in the convertible with balloons on the back and a "Just Wed' license plate. It made them seem like any other couple driving off after their wedding except with a Calvary, guards, and thousands of people along the road.

Kate's parents. Love the top hat by the way :)

Speaking of hats....maybe it's because I'm American but I just don't understand these hats. How do they stay on their heads and foreheads?? The blue one is okay I guess, but the pink one looks ridiculous! Anyway, I love the tradition of the hats in Britain and it was fun watching all the guests arrive at the Abby and seeing all the hats the women wore. I am personally glad that we don't have to wear hats to church in America because I look horrible in hats!

Victoria Beckham's hat. Do you like it or think it looks strange?

Some hats are better than others...

With this hat on she will have to duck under doorways for sure

The hat on the left looks like a birds nest with a flower in the middle and the blue one just makes me laugh :) I am picturing myself wearing one of these hats and I don't think I could stop laughing and pull it off in public!

Chelsea Davy's hat was more simple and if I had to wear one I would probably choose this one.
It reminds me of the hat Reese Witherspoon wore in Sweet Home Alabama..one of my favorite movies!

The Queen's hat matched her dress perfectly and she can pull it off for sure! I just think she is the cutest thing ever :)

The wedding was definitely a fairy tale wedding! Kate was just a commoner, as they call anyone who is not from the royal blood line, and she met and feel in love with a prince in college. What an amazing love story...one you would read about in a fairy tale.

As I was watching the wedding, God reminded me that every Christian that gets married really has a royal wedding. Our daddy is the King of Kings! People keep talking about the fact that Diana was a blue blood (she was from the royal blood line) and Kate is not. Well, if you are a Christian you have royal blood (Jesus' blood) running through your veins! There are so many parallels with the royal monarchy and the Kingdom of God. Throughout the Bible God used these parallels to teach us more about how the Kingdom of God operates.

I love the scripture reading that Kate Middleton's brother James read at the wedding...there is something about that British accent that makes everything sound so good!

He read Romans 12:1,2,9-19:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Easter Weekend

My family and I went to Glenn's house for Easter weekend this year. I was off work on Friday so we drove to Rockwall after work on Thursday. My dad, Ross, and Glenn played golf on Friday and my friend Carrie came over to visit. It was so good to see her!

Carrie, Me, Stephanie



Ross and Stephanie drove in on Thursday night and Ross had to leave on Saturday to get back for Easter Sunday at his church. Stephanie's had a doctors appointment in Dallas on Monday so her mother-in-law drove her back home after her appointment.

Glenn's birthday is in July but we celebrated his birthday early because we weren't
sure if we would all be together in July. Mom has this hat she likes to make us wear on our birthdays....Glenn is a good sport :)

On Saturday we had planned to go to the lake and ride Glenn's new jet ski's but the water was too cold and one of the jet ski's wasn't running right so we barbecued hamburgers and played washers outside in Glenn's backyard instead.

Stephanie, Ross, and I bought Glenn this clock for his birthday. He never really liked the clock that we helped him pick out originally for above the fireplace and I found this one and knew he would love it. It has Texas license plates all around it...it is a clock made for Glenn and would make any Texas boy proud!

I think it looks great above the fireplace.

Mom, Stephanie, and I also helped Glenn put together his Astros themed room.

I love this picture of the Astros stadium he found at Target. It goes perfect with the green walls my dad and Glenn painted.

The bat underneath the picture is a bat that some of the actual Astros players use and a friend of Glenn's knows a guy who works for the people who make them and got Glenn a personalized one.

On Easter morning mom gave us a chocolate cross and a Christian music CD with songs that have to do with the cross.

Easter morning before church

One of my favorite things about Glenn's house is that there is a small lake in his neighborhood with walking trails all around it. If I lived in his neighbourhood I would love go walking there everyday.

A family fishing on the lake

The wildflowers were so pretty

After church we went out to the lake to take some more family pictures

The only problem was it was so windy and bright that it was hard to get any good pictures

I am so thankful that all my family was able to get together for Easter this year and celebrate the day Jesus rose from the grave. I am glad that the cross wasn't the end of the story..can you imagine what the Pharisees thought when they found out the tomb was empty. Or can you imagine what the devil thought when Jesus rose from the grave because he thought he had won.

I always think about this song I heard a long time ago when I see a picture of Jesus on a cross...it's a country song about this little girl that lives in an abusive home and her parents end up getting into a fight and her dad shots her mother and then himself. The little girl is taken into foster care and her foster parents take her to church for the first time. She sees a cross with Jesus on it and says, "I don't know who that man is on that cross but I know he got off because he was there right beside me as I hid behind the couch the night my parents died." I am so thankful He is not on the cross anymore and that He is alive!

Happy Easter!!

My journey...

As you can see there have been a few changes to my blog thanks to Leslie at Sweetie Baby's Custom Blog Design! I had the idea of changing my blog title to "Michelle's Journey" because I love the analogy of life being a journey (hence the dirt road pic) full of mountain tops, valleys, turns, bends in the road, crossroads, stop signs, dirt roads, nice paved roads, bumpy roads, smooth roads, beautiful scenery, not so beautiful scenery and surprises along the way.

Don't worry...I am still abandoned to Him (Jesus) but this title describes why I started my blog in the first place. I wanted to write down for myself (and anyone else who is interested) my life's journey so I can look back one day and remember it all. It has definitely been an amazing journey so far and I look forward to the road ahead!

"The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way" Psalm 37:23

Spring has sprung!

Last weekend Mom and I went to Grammy's to visit her and we stayed the night on Saturday night. It is nice because she lives two minutes from our church so we got to sleep in a little on Sunday morning. I love going out to her house and spending the night...it reminds me of when I was little and she would take me for the weekend. She still lives in the same house and there is just something about being at your Grandmother's house that makes you feel good and relax. Mom told me that when I was little I had a suitcase that said "Going to Grandma's" on it and when I would get mad I would pack my suitcase with my dolls, a coloring book, and my toothbrush and tell Mom I was running away to Grammy's...I always loved going to her house :)

As an early Mother's day gift my mom painted Grammy's back porch for her. My dad built it for her years ago and painted it white. It needed to be cleaned and painted badly. I like the green color Grammy choose and I think it turned out really nice.

Grammy loves roses and she has a green thumb when it comes to growing them....maybe it's because her name is Rose?? She has grown roses my whole life and I always love seeing and smelling all the different color roses when I visit. She always sends us home with plenty too! Grammy and her pink roses After visiting Grammy and seeing all her beautiful flowers I was inspired to get in the "Spring" mood and do something with this space in the backyard. I planted a vegetable garden here two years ago and last year it sat empty. I have been thinking about doing a vegetable garden again, but I decided to make it simple this year.

I love blackberries so I bought two blackberry plants. I have never grown blackberries before but I am told that they grow anywhere and are very easy to take care of. They grow in the wild and the man at the garden center told me that after you plant them they are hard to get rid of...that is my kind of plant! I decided to just buy two and see how it goes this year. Hopefully, I will be making blackberry cobbler sometime this summer :)

I also bought some flowers and planted them in pots to put on the front porch.

I love when the two trees in the front yard start to bloom. I have written about these trees before...they are the first ones to loose their leaves in the Fall and the last ones to bloom in Spring but when they do they are so pretty.

Mom and Hallie

Today, Mom and I got to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather at our church link sale. It was hot outside but really windy. It reminded me of being at the beach...which is the one place I have to visit this summer. Can you tell I am a little anxious for summer to get here...only 33 more school days left but whose counting :)

I love the kids at my church so much! They are the sweetest kids and the best helpers. This is Eli holding the link sale sign.

All the kids in our children's ministry got together and made jewelry, pillows, and birdhouses to sell at the link sale for missions. This is Vanessa and Eaton showing me the jewelry they made...you can see the pillows and birdhouses on the table behind them. They did such a great job!

Next to the link sale a couple was selling baby chicks, bunnies, and cocker spaniel puppies. I almost left with a puppy they were so cute! It was like a mini petting zoo for the kids and they loved holding the baby chicks. The chicks and puppies were well loved on today :) It was a great day..I always love spending time with my church family and the link sale was a success.