Thankful Thursday: the one where I met the man I would one day marry

Happy T H A N K F U L   T H U R S A D A Y  folks

i'm so excited it's thursday

for one it means that tomorrow is friday

(insert praising hand emoji's here)

(2) my love comes home from Albania one week from today
and (3) i'm beyond excited for this post

bear with me as i am a bit sentimental at the moment
i think i get that from my dad
(hi dad)

i love looking back on seasons in my life
the good ones and the not so good ones
i love seeing how God's faithfulness
in all circumstances
has never failed
and most of the time that always comes as a surprise to me
i love looking back at times in my life where
my hopes, dreams and hearts desires
were nothing in comparison to what the Lord had in store for me

things like ending up at Cal Poly SLO
(even though i had no desire to go there)
but then i met the most incredible people
then there were trips that i went on overseas that i was terrified to go on
but they led me deeper into a reliance on the Lord
and brought me into relationship with incredible friends
and those relationships have opened up the door for opportunities that would have never
come otherwise
(like meeting more people and traveling to Utah to do wedding flowers)
in all of these situations
Gods plans were so much bigger
soooooooo much
God is always working
He is always up to something
always orchestrating
whether we see it or not

today i am so thankful
that god's plans for my life
are so much greater than the plans that i could ever have for myself

it was 4 years ago
that God began paving the way for something
so great
and so wonderful
gosh and i had no idea what was to come

sunday
J U N E  2 3,  2 0 1 3
this was the day that i met the man i would one day marry
this incredible man

and i had no clue
no freaking clue

i never would have thought in a million years it would have been him
was i interested?
nope
did i want to get to know this man more?
nah
was he at all on my radar?
not even the slightest

honestly i can't remember the point at which i first met him
i don't remember our introduction
but i do remember the day

my roommate margo and i had friends staying with us for a couple days
and so after church that sunday
we found ourselves at lunch with some guys from the young adult group

(who are the photo bombers)

we ate lunch at the iron press
then walked around the OC Mix Mart
and stumbled into a cute store that had so many garden knick nacks
and succulents
and FERNSSSS
and suddenly one of the guys we were with was in a picture with me

clearly we can see that he loved me then

i mean what other guy would take a picture with me and a fern??

i don't remember having a conversation with him that day

i don't remember even saying goodbye

but i do remember my roommate margo

taking this photograph of me with my favorite type of fern

and this guy named Robert who jumped on in

(and now that i know him 

him jumping into this picture makes total sense)

it's clear to me now that i was in no way at a place in my life

where there was capacity or space for robert when we met

i had plans and desires and dreams of how my life was going to look

and nothing was going to get in the way of that

but the Lord was already orchestrating

and He was so gracious and gave me a little glimpse into what was to come

even though i was completely oblivious

over the course of the next two years i would see robert a few times

mostly at social gatherings hosted by our mutual friends

he was around

but we weren't friends

we were acquaintances

 nothing beyond a "hey" or a "hi" when we saw each other

the only amount of friendship we had was a Facebook "friendship"

and it wasn't really until the beginning/middle of 2015

my heart started to shift

and that's a story for another time

(blog post to follow)

 i can't believe i'm sitting here writing this post

i can't believe the journey that the Lord has had me and robert on

separately

(and now together)

over the past 4 years

i can't believe that i am thankful for that random day in 2013

i can't believe that i fell in love with

and am marrying that man who jumped in that picture with me

i can't believe how incredible that man in the picture is

(cause i didn't know for a long time)

i can't believe how much God has used robert to 

change my life

to challenge me

to grow me

to show me how much my Savior loves me

 4 years ago

I  H A D   N O   I D E A

im so thankful

so so so thankful that i had no idea then

and i'm so thankful now that i can look back and see the Lord's hand in everything

im so so so thankful that Gods plan has/continues to be beyond what i could have ever

dreamt of for myself

i'm so thankful for all the big 

(and little)

things in my past that the Lord has used to bring me to where i am today

i wouldn't trade them for anything

what are you thankful for today???

Thankful Thursday: the one where gratitude changes everything.

It's been a while.
Almost three whole years.
I'm not sure how, when, or why I walked away from the blogging world
but I guess I'm back
for a little bit at least.
It honestly feels awkward sitting here at my computer typing this
I feel like I've never done this before.
I feel out of place.
Power through Rae, power through!

Ok so I have this framed print out that I found online
(for free obvi)
during the Thanksgiving season a few years back.
I printed it not because it was a free thanksgiving printable
(cause lets be real who doesn't love a freebee printable)
but because I love what it says.

G R A T I T U D E   C H A N G E S   E V E R Y T H I N G

and I really believe that it does.

Over the past couple months I have gone back and forth

between wanting and not wanting to

revisit this blog

But every time I go to the bathroom

(tmi??)

or take a shower

or brush my teeth 

I see this phrase staring back at me

and today I finally made a decision

(and ironically it is Thursday)

I am going to *attempt* to bring back

Thankful Thursdays.

I'm not sure what this will look like.

I'm not sure if it will look like it used to.

I'm not sure if I'll do it every week.

But right now I am doing it.

In my current season of life

(the busy season...which i feel like every season of life is)

 I don't want any of the Lords provisions to go unnoticed.

I don't want to loose my gratitude for his provisions because I am

"too busy"

that's unacceptable

So this blog is to keep me accountable

 to keep me grateful for all the provisions God has so graciously given and continues to give. 

(I deserve N O N E of them btw)

The little things.

The big things.

And everything in between.

So with all that being said

 today I am thankful for...

dinner dates

conversations with my mom

celebrating my sweet dad

quick trips to San Diego

celebrating friends and their accomplishments 

(yay lindsay)

car rides down the coast

summer nights

weekend trips to Salt Lake City

airplanes

(even if I hate them, they are still pretty incredible)

being surrounded by mountains

catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while

meeting precious babies

coffee, coffee and more coffee

flowers

celebrating beautiful weddings

playing with flowers

a fiancé who will drive all the way to LAX to pick me up late at night

(even if he is exhausted)...

...and then take me to In n Out

seeing my puppy

(insert weeping emojis here)

surprising friends late at night

angels games

face timing with friends in Florida

my job

my home

my room

my sweet roommates

my car(s)

surprises

wedding planning

getting to marry my best friend

(this total babe)

sweet text messages from my friends parents who offer to help with wedding plans

getting to marry my best friend

(i know i said that twice)

trips to home depot

dinner on the patio

that june gloom came and left quickly

sweet, life giving conversations

potting benches

McDonalds vanilla iced coffee

(if you haven't had one you are missing out)

my church

sushi

technology

evening walks with  T O N S  of gorgeous blooms

and lastly

I am so thankful for my Saviors immense and radical love for me.

I am so grateful for his abundant blessings in my life

none of which I deserve and yet he pours out his blessings

every

single 

day

what are you thankful for today???