a holly, jolly christmas.

christmas was so so grand. 

it was a christmas of firsts and lasts. it was canaan and i's first christmas together and the anniversary of us getting engaged. we got to be in the very place where we got engaged, which was so special. 

and it was a last in my home of 13 years. the years that i remember the most. the years where i was shaped and molded into who i was to become. the years i spent last with my dad. t was the last christmas as my mom being a "driver". an emotional, yet really wonderful christmas. knowing some things are going to change makes you appreciate what you have presently. now on to new memories!

after christmas eve services, canaan's boss & his family opened up their home to us. love the young family and their hospitality! then we got up early on christmas day and jetted to tennessee, first class style!

it was such a whirlwind of three days of being at home, and not nearly enough time for me, but the time we had there was so great.that morning we got to spend with the chapman's and see the holiday excitement of the jollys [cane's asian sisters] opening up their gifts and giggling and moving from lap to lap to take in all that was happening. that evening, we headed to the boro and did gifts and games with my family. canaan had to leave thursday morning, so we spent all wednesday with his family and then i spent the next day with my family. 
it was so so good to be with my mom, grams, & aunt shannon. we go way back together, so it was good to have some time with just them. thursday, we went to SATCO [aka heaven]. and then headed to opryland hotel to look at the lights!

                          onesie time!!

i was even blessed to see my besties for a sec! i was going to see my bestie, katie, but she had surgery that day and was zonked. but got to hang with ang and hillary! love love love what those girls mean to me and what joy they bring to my life. encouragement, life talks, Jesus moments, and not without a ton of laughing and a little dancing. =]

 alright, leaving a verse to end this post that i hope will bless you for the new year. 1 thessalonians 5:23-24. this fills up my heart SO much. our God who calls us to Him is faithful! HE will surely do it!

christmas cheers.

ok. so i am going to majorly update everyone on life is TEXAS.

- me and canaan have been married for 2.5 months now! it's gone by so so fast and has been a blast the entire time! [accidental rhyming there...] being married is fun fun fun. 
- working with the youth at prestonwood has been my favorite thing about dallas so far. love these kids and their hearts. some of the most amazing boys and girls living their lives out for the Lord! love seeing Him work like this and beyond thankful to get to witness it!
- ya'll, if you ever want to move somewhere, dallas is great. i haven't met one unfriendly person yet. it was such a blessing from the Lord to provide us with so many families that have taken canaan & i in. 
- it's 3 days until christmas and i canNOT wait to be home for the holidays! because canaan is working the christmas eve services, we are going to leave early on christmas day and fly in. this is a bittersweet christmas for me because it will be the last one in my house that i grew up in. mom is getting married to mike in february [woot woot!], so this will be the last memory of christmas in the house that has all of our family memories. the last holiday in the house where my dad was. but change is good and is of the Lord! thank goodness for new days and new mercies. it just means i will soak up all i can this time and truly enjoy it. 
- i am currently in the process of starting a new job! it's an assistant position for the president of a ministry called bridge builders. yall should check it out here! i am truly excited about this, for multiple reasons. 1) i need routine and am not the type that doesnt work. at least not yet. so a job will be really good for me! i need to feel like i contribute in that way. i will miss the impromptu visits to see canaan or have coffee with highschool girls, though! 2) this ministry is so amazing. it is about working with urban communities and turning them around for the Lord. just being there for an interview and we prayed 3 different times while touring the warehouse. so incredible! needless to say, i am super excited about being considered to join their team. 

well, that's all i can think to share this time! super general things, but wanted to catch up to now! 
merry christmas everyone!!  

some of my favorite things.

so i officially moved to texas this weekend, ya'll. i think it's gonna be a lot of fun there. me and cane are gonna have us a big 'ol adventure when i get down there. i think i'm going to wear a ten gallon hat the first week i am down there and start all my sentences with "howdy". what do ya'll think? too much?

well, moving to texas has made everything feel so real. saturday we got the uhaul and car not that full entirely full unpacked in seriously 30 minutes. big shout out to all the people who helped us to make the move not painful at all. the apartment is looking more like a home and less like the bachelor pad that it was, with black sheets and navy curtains. haha it's so neat to see how canaan and i's lives are slowly merging into one. we are both definitely nervous- nervous to not disappoint and be the best we can be for one another. which i take as a good sign because if we both are nervous about that, then we are both trying our best to be the best for one another. i am also hoping to get a job really soon. being off work for a while to get ready for the move and the wedding has showed me that i am really not one for being at home all of the time. i like my days being full and busy. i'm definitely not a workaholic, but i would like to contribute somewhere. i didn't take any pics of the apartment yet, because it's not completely settled in, but we will as soon as i get there!

ok, so on to something else i'm excited about. FALL. it is finally fall in tennessee. so stinking excited. driving back yesterday, we saw the trees slowly starting to change here. loving it. i miss the drives to knoxville only for the reason of seeing the leaves change. i love getting warm drinks at starbucks now. i love being able to wear my moccasins, scarves, jackets, flannel, plaid, and boots. i love friday night football games and having the smell of pumpkin in the house. i can't wait to decorate my new home in fall attire. pumpkins and mums are a must. tell me your favorite thing about fall! chances are , i'll agree with you. 

last thing: i got a twitter. follow me!

 

i'm backkkk.

hey ya'll! so it has officially been FOREVER since i've last blogged. but, as most of you who will be reading this will know, i am getting MARRIED and moving to good 'ol texas in a mere 2.5 weeks. yes, not months. weeks.

this has been an amazing season. i can't believe it's about to happen. not only am i getting married and becoming a WIFE, but i am moving to an entirely new city in an entirely new state. and getting a new job when i get down there. i am not sure what that job is quite yet, but the Lord is good and we will figure that out when the time comes. what i am thankful for is that my soon-to-be fiance husband [goodness, that's weird] is already down there and has been tremendously blessed with people embracing him in their loving homes. we are also blessed to have people down there we already know, which makes it feel like such a small world. so i'm so glad that becoming a new married couple isn't joined with jumping into the vast unknown together as well. canaan is established there and can therefore help me adjust. 

i'm really looking forward to:
-getting to go on a grown up trip on a plane and everything with just my man and me and have a vacation. no family. just me and my husband. what a strange feeling! am i really this old already? can i handle this? [a week in maui, i think i can manage]. 
-being able to live life with cane and experience things together. it has been so long since i have just been able to do simple things with him. it's going to be an absolute blast. 
-i can't wait to decorate our home and "nest". it's one of my all-time favorite things to do. canaan is so good about telling me to "do my thing". haha he's the absolute best. i let him handle the tech-y stuff with complete trust. and he trusts me with the decorating and arranging of the bedroom, kitchen, etc.
-getting to know my youth girls down in plano. i got to go on a mission trip back in july with canaan's youth group and get to know an AMAZING group of soon-to-be freshmen girls. i will have the honor of doing life with them when i get down there, and cannot wait. God has already blessed me more than i deserve by connecting with them. they already amaze me with their hearts. 
-texas football games. this is the only other state that takes football as seriously as i do. 
-becoming an aunt again!! one of my good good friends from college and her husband are adopting a teenage boy form belize! so unbelievably excites for this season for them. please be praying for them as they embark such a unique time of parenthood. they are also making clocks to sell to raise money for the adoption, so please help them by buying one! they make them custom, so read here to learn how to get one! yayay!

so it's coming down to the wire. pray that i can finish out the next two weeks as stress-less as the other 9.5 months were. we do not want to worry about anything. what the important thing is is that at the end of the day on october 6th, cane and i will be married. everything else won't matter. 
please pray that moving to texas this weekend will be without much hassle and go well. we are so thankful to have good, strong friends who are going to help us move on both ends- tennessee and texas. couldn't do it without them!
scripture for this season:
^"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
1 john 4:7-12

the land of 10 gallon hats and tumbleweeds.

ok. so i saw neither while in texas. but i did see lots of boots! 
most of you know i just went to dallas for the weekend to see canaan. & boy, what a grand ol time we had! we went to the JFK museum, strolled around ikea, spent some sweet time with prestonwood youth group, ate at in n out, and toured all around dallas. so so fun! i even had an interview at prestonwood thursday. please pray for the Lord's will to be done, whatever that might be! i would love to give the details about the interview, but i want to see if something happens first. please be praying!
but prestonwood was amazing. folks, its huge. but it was so comfortable to be there. i felt instantly at home and welcomed by everyone. it was so neat to sit back and see what canaan does. to finally see where he is everyday and what his life is like there. it was great to see the Lord utilizing him and him be so passionate about it! he loves those kids, and he lets that shine from him. love it. =] saturday night, there was a youth service, and i got to help a little with the kids that came to the youth group that night. the girls i met were precious and made me miss my girls form knoxville so much! after, me and canaan went to big service after. what a good word! sunday, i got to go to the regular service and then hang out with the youth again during their sunday school time. so many kids! it was a blessing to see all of them there. please lift a prayer for their lives, that they will be changed and living for Him!
sunday morning, i got to spend some time at the church on my own, and had some awesome time with Him and in the Word. i was reflecting on the teachings i had heard that weekend. saturday night in the youth service, the youth minister chris talked about acts 3. he spoke about the crippled man and how he had begged all his life. he knew no other way. day in & day out, he begged people walking to and from the temple for money with his head held low. thats all he knew to ask for. then peter offered him something greater than gold or silver. he offered the man something in Christ he thought unimaginable- the ability to walk. he then held his head high praising the name of the Great Healer. this is so parallel to our lives. we ask the Lord for what we think is the best we can get. but then the Lord offers us the unimaginable. life. we then live our changed lives with our heads held to the sky, constantly praising our Savior. 

cant wait to go back! now, here are the pics. =]

 

me & cane at the JFK museum in dallas.

 

where JFK was shot.

 

downtown dallas.

 

wonderfullll way to start the evening.

 

 

just call me crafty cathy.

i know my name's ami. but it didnt sound as good as "crafty cathy". that rolls off the tongue easier than "crafty ami". you see my point?

anyways, ever since pinterest has taken over my life [see last post], ive done some crafts myself. & im going to share them with you today! arent you so so excited?! i know i am. =] ok- here are some fun things. one craft i did will be coming soon. cant post it quite yet. ok here we go.

 

craft 1: coffee filter wreath.

thats right folks. all you need is one of those green styrofoam circles from a craft shop, about a million brown coffee filters [id recommend 2 packs], and lots of pushpins. the thing i like most about this is that it looks so much more difficult than it really is. it was a fun project, thanks to the help of hillary osborne. =]

 

craft 2: baby jar bobby

pin holder.

ok ok. i know this isnt exactly a craft. but i thought it was a novel idea. i found it in my kitchen, and my mom had had it for ages and never used it. it keeps them all in one place and is kinda cute.

 

craft 3: glass shampoo/conditioner bottles

this is an old craft of mine, but i thought id include it. this gives everything a much nicer look in the bathroom. plus i love clear jars and schtuff like that. so i threw out the tresemme bottles after i filled up these glass containers. and these hold a big bottle of tresemme, so you dont even have to keep putting more in until you have to buy new shampoo altogether. genius, i say!

 

craft 4: button heart

isnt this the most amazing thing youve ever seen?? ok- i cant take credit for this one.... yet. i think its neat to take anything youve collected and frame it in a heart shape. i have currency from all over the world, so that what im gonna use. that way its not just under my bed collecting dust, but i can actually look at it and see it. 

thats it for my crafty side. i also have other big news. some of my closest friends are venturing to china today. they will be on a mission trip with my home church, belle aire, and will be gone for about 2 weeks. i dont know what im going to do without them! but im so so excited for them. what an amazing blessing and journey this will be. as children of the God of the universe, we get to share His story and love and Gospel with the world. what a gift! and what peace we have in Him. i pray that this changes them forever and they go share with a people immensely less fortunate than us. they serve a dead god and are held in bondage under this false religion. may our friends and siblings in Christ share the amazing freedom and JOY we have in our Father! it makes me want to dance around just thinking about it! so please be in diligent prayer for them as they are there. to be fed enough to feed, energized, and filled with the Spirit to make His name & glory known. 

psalm 105:12-15

 

 

 

pinterest.

so i have a new favorite thing. my friend lindsey jo told me about this website called "pinterest". its a website that lets you "pin" anything you like from the internet onto your own personal "pinboard". at first i was skeptical.

but now, im not hooked at all completely hooked. this website is amazing. you can pin different recipes you find, places you want to visit, things youd like to do in the future, DIY projects, clothes you love but cant afford, dream homes, funny sayings, etc. 

its so so fun! you are even in a network of people and can "repin" /like anyones pins that they post if its something that interests you. my favorite thing that i pin is things to out in my house one day. so fun to think about & daydream about. loving the place that im in now, but its fun to dream a little. =] i encourage you all to get one now. so so fun & its an organized way to keep all of your ideas in one place, no matter what you want to keep track of. g getcha one, people!