Our next two years...

God has really opened up the doors for Brandon and I to be in such a unique place in our lives right now. We are seeing job opportunities unfold, but are knowing that we are being called certain places.

We had known that we wanted to do CARES ministry for a long time. We both LOVE entertaining and getting to know our neighbors... so what better way that to coordinate the community events?!? I LOVE event coordinating and pulling pieces together to make a party -so this is JUST up my alley! And Brandon thrives off getting in a deep conversations a relationships with people - so this will open up so many ministry opportunities that we are beaming with excitement about!

Brandon and I went last Tuesday for our CARES interview. She approved us the join CARES halfway during the interview. What an amazing answered prayer that was! We were hoping to find out soon wether or not we'd been accepted - but God didn't hesitate to let us know. The normal turn-around time to get placed in a CARES apartment is about 6 weeks; at the end of our interview, she offered us a location to go look at that evening. Another AMAZING burden lifted. Jesus knew our hearts cry to be somewhere soon!

We then interviewed with the apartment manager on Friday - and again, about halfway into the interview she informed us that she knew we were the right people for her from the moment she saw us - God is amazing. She then offered us the position on the spot and took us to pick our apartment! WOW. We had NO idea this would all happen so quick but we are LITERALLY jumping up and down, in tears, excited! We are very very much aware that this was ALL God's handy work. We heard His calling and sought after it - and we have landed in our new home! PLUS Our manager is so so so sweet and very excited that we will be joining their staff.

On a side note, last night John, Brandon, Allison and I went to the Nutcracker Festival at Reliant Stadium.. and I get this tap on the shoulder from someone who looks a lot like me...it was my half-sister whom I haven't seen since the 7th grade. WOW. It was awesome seeing her and catching up for about 15 minutes. Brandon and I look forward to going to their house soon for dinner to really catch-up and reminisce about our Dad. Im so excited to hear her stories about him :)

God is amazing. He has taught me over and over this summer that if I wait for Him, listen to His calling, and follow it obediently, then I will be blessed far beyond my imagination.

Apartment 337... here we come :)

For You Alone Be Glorified

I'm at a point of exhaustion that I have never reached before. Every level of my being is worn down to the core - emotional, mental, physical.

But I know it's times like these where my true testament of my faith shines the brightest - no matter what I am enduring, He should be glorified through it all.

Never should my weakness become a burden; instead, let it be an opportunity to let His light shine brightly in my life.

Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him

Nehemiah 8:10
Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Habakkuk 3:19
The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

The Life of a Pre-K Teacher

WOW. I am overwhelmed with how much work is required to teach the little tykes! They are such busy bees... if you turn your back for, literally, 10 seconds, you have lost all their attention. They are at such a curious, striving for independence, learning to not bite/hit/say mean things, age. I am with the precious babies, all 19 of them, from 8-5. And I have no planning period. So calling my life "overwhelming" right now is a light term. I try and run and laminate a sheet of paper here and there on my way in and out of lunch. And I attempt to get things organized for the next day while the kids line up for recess. I really am trying my absolute best to give these children the best knowledge and education...and as long as I'm trying my best, that's all that I can offer.

I can't complain though - the Lord put me here to learn, grow, gain experience and make a difference in the children's lives. I have to be completely honest though - there is nothing I look more forward to than the last hour when we are in our "learning centers" and I get to work on enrichment art with different small groups. It's at this point that I can give each kiddo individual time. I love to chat with them and hear what they are feeling, thinkin and learning. They have the cutest things to say.. it makes my heart melt.

I also love when I hear the kids using sayings that I say and when they start singing with me randomly. A favorite of mine that they have started joining me in on when I start to sing... "Good morning, good morning, its great to stay up late... good morning, going morning to you and you and you and you and you, etc etc." (From Singing In The Rain).

Altogether, I am learning tons and am bombarded with support from my amazing fiance, who comes to visit me for lunch at least 2 or 3 times a week!

Oh, and we are 72 days from being man and wife!!! :)

Our class represented China at our school-wide cultural celebration. In their little minds... we definitely flew to China and it was amazing. :)

Unemployment rate is 9.4% of US Citizens...

And I contribute to that statistic.

So, as stressful as it is to have no money, except the tiny pay check I get from The Gap every other week, you gotta look at the sunny side of things:

1. We're mastering how to use coupons and price-match at grocery stores. Brandon and I get a kick out of the $2.10 we get back from Guest Services for our coupons :)
2. Everyone has that "we were so poor at this one point of life. we thought about selling our house/car/jewelry/dog"... so I guess this is ours. But it's not so bad... we've got each other, so we'll be okie-dokie!
3. I am learning every technique to job searching online. And that you must email your resume in every sort of format you eown, so the employer might potentially have one of the programs you use! "My resume is attached as Word Document, PDF and DocX" lol
4. The dog is always happy - no matter how poor you are :) He eats his ice cubs and is as bouncy as can be!
5. 84 cent packaged mashed potatoes are amazing - especially when Brandon makes them
6. Good friends always come to the rescue and pitch in to buy some D.P.'s for the apartment!
7. Brandon has learned some great ways to make me stop crying - he is pretty much the funniest person ever.
8. My Big sister always comes to the rescue and makes me smile... "Brig, I've called some people in Houston and they are going to keep their ears open for a job. Also, Juicy Couture at the Galleria is hiring full time sales associates!"
9. Window shopping is a little fun. I go in stores I would never dream of going in bc I don't have any money at all - Louis Vuitton, Coach, De Beers... just to name a few
10. God loves us no matter how much money we have. I mean, hey, we are eating 3 meals a day and have gasoline in our cars and Bibles to read - what else could you REALLY need (besides a job!)?

Anyhow... writing this out has made me a little happier... thanks for visiting :)

Brigette

Decision Day

Today at VBX, tons of children made decisions to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. How exciting! I'm so excited that they made the decision to want to know Him. And how lucky they are to know him at such young ages - they have their whole lives ahead of them to tell the world about Him. AMEN!

Anyhow... Brandon was one of the leaders who counseled the children who prayed to accept Jesus in their hearts. He told me such a precious story - I had to retell it on here so hopefully someone will hear it and share in our smiles!

Brandon said he was speaking to a group of kids and was reciting Romans 10:9 to them... "If your confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe He has raised from the dead, you will be saved"

Well, right after he says "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.." The cutest 5th graded you have ever seen interrupts Brandon and says " Jesus is Lord!" Brandon looks at him, smiles and says "Good Job" and continues with the scripture.

Priceless. :)

Honeymoon

I am getting SO excited about our honeymoon!! I mean - obviously we are both looking VERY forward to it; however, it hasn't really felt real until we booked the room!

Hello Maui.... This is one of the rooms at our hotel....
And of course... the view...

And we got such an AMAZING deal for our 7-night honeymoon! Well, 8 including the wedding night, but that will be *cross-fingers* at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas!

After booking the room today, we started talking about all the activities we want to do... here's our list: surf lessons, attend a Luau (which will be easy, considering our hotel hosts one every night!), take hula classes, couples massage, snorkeling, go whale watching (holla for whale mating season in December, ha!), travel the Road to Hana, along with many other things!

Anyhow... just had to share my excitement!! :)

The Ministry World

This summer has really been a test to me to see how I would enjoy being a ministers' wife. Brandon, interning at a large church, has been really busy and involved in activity after activity. I knew, moving down here, that he would be busy and this would be a good time to see how I am going to tolerate the ministry world.... well, I LOVE it. It's kind of hard to put into words how excited I am to be marrying a youth pastor. I feel like the Lord is going to work just as much through me as He will through Brandon. Sure, there will be some down-times with his work, just like any other career would have, but I love that he is going into a profession that I can be just as involved in as he is if I so desire!

5 years ago I would have never pictured myself as a ministers wife. In fact, I never pictured myself as anyone's wife... I wasn't think about the future. My mom never filled Jennifer's or my mind with thoughts of weddings or marriages - she was always encouraging us to be ourselves, work hard and learn as much as we could (and I am so thankful she raised us that way!). But now that I have entered this season of my life, I am beyond excited. I really feel like the Lord has prepared my heart for ministry. I, like many other people, have seen a handful of life-changing things happen in my family and I feel like these experiences have shaped me into the person I am. The Lord is going to use these past events in my life to help me minister to young women. Thank you, Lord, for molding me to be able to give back to Your people!

As pumped as I am about being Brandon's wifey - we are (or I am) getting stressed about the future. His internship ends in a month and a day.... and where are we going after that... hmm, good question. But wherever we go, I am so excited that it is him and I going there TOGETHER! Eek! I love him. And he has no idea that I'm writing about him on this (like he reads my blog! he doesn't even read my one-lined emails lol)! Which brings me to question - does anyone read this? Or am I just rambling? I mean, I could talk to a brick wall, so I suppose it would be completely normal for me to write this and no one respond lol.

Thank you for reading if you make it this far :)

Hymns

I've been thinking about what kind of songs we might want played at the wedding and during this I realized what a LOVE I have for hymns. Gosh - the words, the instrumentals, the voices - they all add up to make such AMAZING songs. I have narrowed it down to about 5 songs that I will pick between later on in the process.

"Heres my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above..."

What beautiful words.

"Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I've proved you more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more..."

I literally listen to these hymns over and over. They never grow old. They bring me such joy! In a crazy, messy and buzy life that I am living right now - these songs bring such a peace. Thank You Jesus for giving us the gift of music to praise You through!

On a side note... I saw this on a friends facebook status: "when your dishes are calling and so are your children... pick your children" I love it! I will definitely play by that when I have children. The house might get a little messy, the food might be a littler burnt, but our children will know that they are LOVED, by both their parents, but more importantly, by their Creator.

My Big Sister Singing

Although I am a tad partial, I have to say that my big sister has the best dad-gum talent this planet has seen! I LOVE watching her perform. She sings, dances and acts so well! And I must say, I don't have a tad jealous bone in my body - I'd SO much rather watch her perform than someone make me get up on stage and take a stab at a performance like hers. I am a PROUD PROUD little sister!





The group of family and friends that came to watch Jennifer perform!

Making lemon!

Although subbing isn't as desirable as having my own classroom, I really have tried my best to get to know the little ones and have a positive influence on them (even if I'm only with them 8 hours out of their life)!

I had the entire class lie on the ground in a big heart shape! I then printed the two pictures together and taped them together to make a big heart! The teacher had it waiting on her desk when she returned from surgery!

This teacher went on her honeymoon so we made a big welcome back sign! The "welcome back" is all their little handprints! The sign was huge, needless to say!

Just a really funny card one of the students made!

A sweet young lady in one of the classes I have subbed alot for - you can just tell by looking at her that she is angelic.

"I am a producer. I control the US. I wrote the declaration of independence. I live in the white house. I work in the oval office. I am the 44 what.."
Answer: "Barack Obama." ..... Who knew? lol

I love gummy smiles! :)

Photographer!

I think I have picked him - my photographer!!

These are photos he took of a couple that got married at Perkins Chapel and had their reception at Cityplace.

Perkins chapel...

Sweet picture...
Cityplace 42nd floor...
This is just a pretty picture at someone else's wedding...

An Evening with our Niece & Nephew

These babies are just too adorable for words! The pictures say it all....

Meet my 7-month-old, adorable neice, Isla. Beautiful blue eyes, bright red hair and ruby red lips...
She liked my ring. Uncle Brandon told her that one day she would have one too. It was a sweet moment :)Uncle Brandon decided he would sing to her....

Not a fan....
And then there is crazy fun Asher! He and Brandon laughed for about an hour straight!




What a night!

Billups Birthdays!

My niece,Karoline, turns two! (This was in January but I'm just now uploading the pics to my computer!)
I LOVE this picture of Brandon and Karoline. Karoline had just finished putting on her bday gift from us.. her first pair of HIGH HEELS!
Now onto Pawpaw's 70th birthday! This was his place-setting at the table. Pawpaw loves crossword puzzles. So we made one up about him!
(the scrabble letters say "Papa is a handsome dude". He used to get all the grandchildren to say that when they were little)

"Pawpaw is special because...."
Klaire with her momma! Look at those chubby cheeks!
Karoline with her Mimi (aka...Brandon's mom!)
The Birthday Boy!! I love him!!
My sister-in-law and I!Pawpaw had a clever game for Krystal, Brandon and I to play. It went a little something like this: "Put this plastic bag over your head...... Now, take take off something you don't need." If you can understand from the picture... Krystal and I were slow to understand the joke. Ha! (WARNING:Children, do not try this at home!!)
Playing "airplane" with far too many adult guys...This game ended quickly!
They love each other....
Alot...
The Men.
(From left. Grayson (Brandon's cousin), Ryan (Bradon's little brother), Brandon, Pawpaw (Brandon's grandad), Jared (Brandon's big brother), Bob (Brandon's daddi-o), Roni (Brandon's uncle))
Hello Me (and Krystal)!

Champ exhausted from a long day of birthday celebration (and from his first experience of being stepped on!)
Hope you enjoyed re-living the birthday celebrations!! Stay tuned for Klaire's and Debbie's birthday (both in the next two weeks!)

Blessings

What a great day! I am trying to make it a point to notice even the smallest things in life that I know God grants me the opportunity to experience and enjoy.

Things that made me smile today....
- I got to spend the afternoon with Brandon on a Tuesday! People who have survived a long distance relationship would understand the joy that this brings! We can meet and have lunch on ANY day (well, sorta). I definitely do not take those mid-afternoon dates for granted .. for 3.5 years we didn't have that!!
- Brandon is AMAZING. He is DEFINITELY my other-half. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else.
- I know who Jesus Christ is and LOVE Him - I can't ever be thankful enough for that!
- I have such great friends... Katie and I had another hour conversation about weddings, registries and politics today! She and I are definitely in the same boat of life right now! She is so practical with everything; I am trying to learn from her ways. "I would rather just register at Costco. You know.. they sell China, Samsunite luggage and towels!" - Katie
- Kaela and I had a catch-up talk! I miss that girl. She and Daniel might of found a house to buy in Tyler. I am soo excited for them! She is SUCH an amazing woman. I definitely give the Lord FULL credit for having her and I find each other at A&M when we did. His timing is the best.
- Mrs.Billups cooked another great dinner tonight and Mr.Billups got a Snuggie! That made us all laugh for awhile!
- Champ's paws turned green from the grass. Talk about a grass stain.
- I got lost driving home from Addison today, but I found my way home without help! YAY!
- Ryan (Brandon's little bro) sold one of his geckos for $150 to a nice man with a baby - the whole situation just makes me grin.

What blessings have you seen today?

My Future Initials...

Cake Vendors

Cakes:
http://www.paninicakes.com
(This company is who I am using for our wedding. They will work with any budget!)

http://www.deliciouscakes.com
(A young lady named Sunday works here - she is terrific! We cake tested with her but ended up going with Panini Cakes due to prices. But she is great! And she is a wedding coordinator as well. She is very well priced for her coordinating services!)

Brandon and I at Delicious Cakes test-tasting... We just had to get a picture with this gigantic cake! It is not the cake we are getting - but sure looks pretty amazing.


Enjoy!

Prayer Please

-I just found out that a good friend of mine, and my hair dresser for the past 4.5 years, has lost her husband in a car accident. Please stop for a moment and pray for her and her 2 young children. I can't even begin to fathom the loss she is feeling right now.

-Please also lift up Brandon's grandma. She is a strong, independent 91-year-old woman, but has recently been admitted to the hospital for heart problems. They have revived her heart back to a regular beating pattern but she is still having horrible pains throughout her body. The doctors aren't sure what is wrong and no medicine seems to help the pain. I just pray that the pain leaves and she can just relax and enjoy the days she has left on this earth until she goes to join our Lord in heaven.

Frameable?

Brandon and I loved our trip to Italy and Paris this summer for multiple reasons - one of which was for the beautiful architecture that could make for some great artwork for our first place!! I have messed with a few of these pictures in the hopes that we could blow them up and hang them on the wall. I wish I had an artistic eye! I LOVE photography. I wish I could spend a year learning how to see an object and be able to make it look beautiful in a photo! But, until that year comes knocking on my door, I'm just going to try my best with my amateur eye!


On a side note... isn't he a stud?