bling bling

Engagement rings seem to be popping up on everyones fingers these days. Diamonds and gold and silver shining all around. It's exciting. I am starting to feel a lot older these days due to this. My best friends have serious boyfriends and the idea of spending the rest of our lives with someone isn't a farfetched idea anymore. I am a girl, and I try really hard to stray away from the tendencies of picking out wedding colors and baby names, fully knowing that plans can change, but it still all brings excitement within me. Along with the rings, pretty deep conversations have been sparked from this idea of marriage and I am learning a lot just from watching these friends of mine plan for the rest of their life, not just a long awaited day, and night of course. They are planning to become a part of something that is supposed to be a representation of God. They talk about how it's so much more than just picking out invitations, and how the preparation for marriage, not just a wedding, is what takes work, but is what makes that day so exciting. I think thats pretty awesome.

A Weekend at Home

I've been home for a few days now from school. It's been good. I have worked the past two days, spilling all of my energy out on kids who need help following directions to simply be quiet while the teacher is talking. After those days of work, I have had the privilege to spend some time with the boy who is rapidly stealing my heart. It has been such a wonderful time for me. Last night we went thrift store adventuring, downtown to eat, Walmart, looked at Christmas lights, and then watched a movie on the couch. Time with him is something that I have found to be so appreciated. I see him only every once and a while. But those times with him are wonderful. Looking at Christmas lights was so much fun. We laughed at them more than we admired them. "Well there's Satan's house there!"(talking about houses with red lights- and if that is you, I'm sorry if that offended you). Needless to say, I laughed. We also saw Santa chilllin in the bushes, LED creepy lights, and terrible combinations of multi colored lights, white lights, red lights, blow up Santa, snowmen, and other random characters. It wasn't pretty, but we laughed.

And today, I went to a wedding. It definitely the coolest wedding I have ever been to. The decorations were not flowers, but dead trees, with pearls and snowflakes and candles hanging down from them with white paper lantern's. The wedding party wore Toms instead of dress shoes and needless to say the bride was beautiful. I cried a lot during the ceremony. I think about the day when it will be my day to walk down the isle in a white dress. A lot of things run through my head about whether or not I am even worthy of a man who can lead me spiritually and will take me for all that I am. I am not exactly the purest girl in the world, but I rest in the fact that Christ made me pure. "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool."-Isaiah 1:18 And then I start to think about the woman and the wife that I hope to be someday. A woman grounded in the Word of God, assured in her faith and disciplined. A woman who is loving and hospitable, generous and selfless. And most of all, I want to be a woman who loves the Lord way more than a man. I don't really do any of those things well yet, but one day, that is the woman I want to be.

I welcome myself to legit blogging

I have been a xanga-er for the past 6 years or so. It has been good, but I felt like it was time to start a big girl blog and be real with it for once. So here I am. Dara Marie. Ready to type it all out.