something old. something new. something borrowed. something blue.

so this past weekend i was blesssed to be part of a phenomenal wedding. my best friend, katie, from the ranch married the love of her life(whom she met at the ranch) this past sunday. since i was her MOH (maid of honor) i flew out last wednesday to help all week with the wedding festivities. i never realized how many tinyyy details there were for a wedding that seems like its gone in the blink of an eye. but none the less, it was so much fun. the wedding was small but it was at the cutest little chapel and had a perfect number of people to make it magical. the bridesmaids were her 4 sisters and me so we had a ball. she let us get a dress that showed our personalities (it just had to be black & knee length) and i must say that they were all so cute. although, i am totally in love with my dress. B&K, you will definitely see me in this dress at your rehearsal dinner. everything all through the process was so amazing and of course, when katie got all ready, she looked like she stepped right out of bride magazine. i know i might be a little bias since she is my best friend, but you will see in the pictures below that she was a stunnnnnning bride. being an "insider" in the whole process has made me so much more excited about B&K's wedding. i absolutely can't wait. hope you enjoy:)

me with the beautiful bride

former coach that won the superbowl. he let me wear his ring.

me & rachel

cutting the cakeeee.

bride

stretching to work-out

kitchen shower

best friends

me, katie & our friend mandy, the viola player

"Some love lasts a lifetime. True love lasts forever."

On the first day of Valentines my true love gave to me . . .

1 box of Hot Tamales, 2 new magazines, 3 new ink pens (2 red & 1 pink), 4 boxes of Conversation Hearts, 5 o'clock movie & dinner @ Iquana, 6 hours of Movie Night,

30 days of Cathi

What a great "birth"month I am having. On my birthday, my sweet husband served me breakfast in bed, gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and we went out to dinner. He also informed me that starting (on my birthday) it is going to begin "30 days of Cathi". He said that since Bethany has always expected us to celebrate the whole month of July as her "birth"month then he was going to do the same for me! He is giving me a gift

e-v-e-r-y day. This is fun!

Just another day?

just another day? . . . I hope not!

Many times when you ask the question “how are you today?” a response that I often hear is “it’s just another day! it's no different than yesterday or the day before”.

And really, there may not be anything super significant about this day apart from:

it's another day that i'm alive!

it's another day that i get to enjoy my husband. my son. and my daughter.

it's another day that i can experience God's love, grace, and mercy.


so while it is, in fact, just another day, today i rejoice—for God has granted me yet one more day.

life is fleeting. it is a vapor, a breath, a blink of an eye. so not just today, but every day take a moment to enjoy the gift of another day! That is what I want to celebrate not just today, but every day!

just another day? . . . TO CELEBRATE!

G.N.O. @ Sips-n-Strokes

Here are our abstract masterpieces!

Until next time . . .

Brett finally made it home on Christmas Day just in time for Christmas! Kelsey flew back in on the 1st and they both got to stay until yesterday. It was so nice having Bethany and Brett & Kelsey home for the holidays.

JANUARY 1, 2010

2010 is here - ready or not! I'm not big on making New Years Resolutions. I never have been. But this year I'd like to set some goals for myself in the new year. I am going to refer to them as "Cathi's List of Ways to Improve Her Life in 2010".

1. Spend more time in HIS presence - I have always done a daily personal devotion, but I realize the more time I spend with Him the better I will be for it. 2. Build New Relationships - I would like to develop relationships with women at church even those it won't be an easy task as well as reaching out to develop relationships with other ladies to share in His word, camaraderie, etc. It is hard to develop relationships with people when you live 45 minutes away, but I am going to try to be creative in building new relationships. 3. Be a better friend - I want to make an effort to talk to and check on my friends more. I should call my besties at least once a week. I get busy day to day with work, chores, activities, etc. that I sometimes forget to check on my friends. They are just a phone call away. 4. Try to eat healthier rather than JUST trying to loose a pound or two - I want to pay more attention to eating things that good for me rather than bad for me. Then my clothes will fit better and I will feel better about myself as a whole. I don't want to stress myself out about the whole ordeal, develop better eating habits and better better choices. I want to live a healthier life and put food into my body that reflects good living. 5. Get more exercise - I tend to say this in the winter - when it is freezing outside (too cold to walk outside); however, I do hope to attend the Y on a regular basis. 6. Get ALL the family together more often as well as build family relationships with extended family members that I love and don't get to see as often as I would like - Most all of my immediate family live within a reasonable distance to get together more often. I have extended family members that live quite a bit away; however, there are those who only live a few hours away. I would rather work harder to make it happen than regret that I never took the time to make it happen. 7. ALWAYS look for ways to improve myself in being a better servant, wife, mother, steward - I like to consider myself pretty good in these areas but I never want to miss a chance to improve. I want to be more conscientious and never take for granted how blessed I am that I have a personal relationship with my Savior, God has blessed me with an amazing godly husband, our family was blessed with two beautiful, healthy children, and that he provides for our needs daily and His grace IS amazing.

Would you like to share your "list of ways to improve your life?"

all the blessings in my life.

My life has been hectic here around the holidays but sometimes I just have to make myself stop and think about my life and the people in it. It's so cliche to hear people say, around the holidays the most, that they are thankful for family, friends and Christ most all, but a New Year's Resolution of mine is to intentionally be thankful for certain things daily. I have been so blessed in my life to be able to experience so many things, go places I never thought I would go and do things that I don't feel worthy to have been involved. This holiday season though I've had a a different outlook on thankfulness. Americans, including myself, are so spoiled with clean water, air, clothes, shoes, cars, abundant amounts of food so much that we forget that it's a blessing to have the things we do. We expect its just something that will always be there and we just assume most of the time that the other people of the world live the exact same way. Sadly, to say it's not like that. In Atlanta, just a few hours away there are more than 20,000 homeless people on any given day with children being almost 40% of the total. It slips my mind most days that there isn't only extreme poverty in other countries but just down the road from us all. I'm not making this post to make everyone sad and guilty that we aren't doing anything to help these problems, but I'm making it to show us just how much the Lord has blessed us all. I am so thankful for my family and that I was raised in a Christian home with a dad and mom that love the Lord and has shown me how to make Him the basis of a relationship. I've gotten to go and experience so many things that most people my age never get to experience and I'm so thankful that they have supplied the resources and love and prayer that I've needed along the way. I've also been blessed with a best friend, my brother. He is one of the coolest people I know. His outlook on life has taught me so much in the last few years. Along with him, I'm about to be blessed with something I've ALWAYS wanted, a sister. Never did I ever think that I would have to wait this long for one, but I'm just happy that in June I will finally have one. Kelsey, I'm so excited to have you in our family and to finally have you as a sister. I couldn't ask for a better one and I look forward to the relationship and friendship that will grow in the years to come. And lastly, I'm thankful for my heavenly Father. I'm thankful that I live in a country (as of now, ha) where I'm free to worship God however I please. He has blessed me with His fellowship everyday and I am so blessed to get to experience Him as I go about life each day. If your reading this, I just want you to sit back and think about how blessed you are. You have food to eat, clothes to wear, a place to live and people all around you that love you. I love you all dearly and I'm praying that in this new year you will have a new outlook on life and thankfulness and that you experience HIm and His love. happy new year.

me overlooking the pacific ocean after the 116 mile bike ride

where we camped the 2nd night on Mt. Shasta

God's creation. both simple & complex

212 year old tree in Su-ao Yilan, Taiwan

I climbed this . . . Mt. Shasta 14,564 ft

This summer, I got to facilitate people through this all summer

Golden Gate Bridge. checked off bucket list

Sequoia Grove. check off bucket list

Mt. Shasta mid-camp 9,736ft

I thank God everyday for his wonderful creation

Merry Christmas from our home to yours . . .

christmas + GLEE, oh it doesn't get any better than this!

Blog Wish Lists

I have added Wish Lists for all of us on the blog sidebar. This will be helpful for gift giving for holidays and birthdays, just in time for Christmas. Whenever you find something that you need or would like, add it to your Wish List. Be sure to delete the sample item on each of your lists.

Happy Holidays !

New Website and Blog

Rural Studio got a new website last week and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Also, our skatePLAY blog url got changed because it kept getting hacked into. What they were hacking, we still do not know.

.one fine day.

so last night one of my best friends, katie, got engaged. we met at the ranch this summer & we clicked and haven't been apart since. she's marrying a guy that she met at the ranch as well that lives in ALABAMA. she lives in dallas so we have to skype mostly but the Lord knew that I needed her here so I am so thankful that he let her marry someone that live HERE. she asked me to be her maid of honor which made me feel so very good since she has 4 amazing sisters to chose from but she picked me instead!!
i also found out yesterday that i'm going to be able to go to Dallas for thanksgiving to spend it with katie and her family. as well as, mandy, our other very dear friend from the ranch who lives in nashville. we all haven't been together since the ranch so i am so excited about being able to spend a week with them... its gonna be one fine turkey day:)

the beautiful B2B @ yogurt mountain

me.katie.mandy

where katie will be in a few years, but it wont be a watermelon

me & k

my new obsession

i don't usually watch tv, let alone get addicted to tv shows, but this show is in a league of its own. it the best show ever. i tried not to get hooked but i found myself counting down the days 'til the new episode came out. i've also become very passionate for this show, i mean anyone that will listen has their ears filled of why they need to watch this show and the best part is listening to the soundtrack while driving down the road. if you have not watched this show you need to go online right now and do it:)

Film Photos

Here are some more photos from the cruise from the film that I got developed.

FREEDOM!!! (Carnival that is!)

We are totally sold on cruises. It was amazing and so much fun~

THE FREEDOM docked @ Key West!

KEY LIME PIE @ The Blonde Giraffe in Grand Cayman . . .

THE BEST!

BRETT @ the "SouthernMOST Point" of the US in the Florida Keys!

BETHANY excited about her Crab Cake . . . scrumptious~

WATERFALL IN JAMAICA . . . beautiful & refreshing!

The Proposal

What a special weekend . . .

Brett proposed to Kelsey and she said yes . . .

Brett transformed Brooke & Grant's backyard into a floral paradise.

Hundreds of beautiful Spider Lilies

covered the back lawn and there stuck the middle was another beautiful

yellow flower that Brett

picked just for Kelsey right before he knelt down.

Then he "popped the question" and placed the ring on her finger.

I think the next picture means "that's a definite yes"!

the bride-to-be and her ring

(which Brett gave her in his Grandmother's ring box)

The gorgeous ring designed especially for Kelsey

Brett - Thank you for inviting both families to be a part of such

a special moment in you & Kelsey's lives.

Kelsey - Thank you for being who you are and for loving our son.

B & K - We love you both and feel that you are both very lucky to have each other.

Brett & Kelsey

Grease @ the BJCC for Lisa's Birthday!

Bethany, me, Terri & Lisa

Taylor HIcks

Lisa & Taylor Hicks (that's him to the right that she is point at!)