{Ross and Allie} Engagement Photos

I had a lot of fun with these two a few weeks ago!  They are wonderful, godly people, and I'm entirely happy for them and their new future together!  So blessed to know them!

{Our Backyard}

These are just some pictures from Christmas Eve (2013) that I forgot to post.

The idea of this time we had together was to pick up sticks and small pine cones to make the star for our Christmas tree.  It turned out beautifully, despite the burn it left on my thumb.  While we were out there, we stopped for an hour to admire our "backyard".  Since we don't live in an actual house, we don't literally have a backyard.  This section of land (known as The Point) looks out over most of Columbia, viewing the city, the Broad River, and fields with livestock further out.  It is simply peaceful.  God has given us such an amazing view of His beauty through our backyard.  You can see in one of the pictures a bird flying in the distance; where he is, he is far above the ground below him.  But we are high enough on our little hill that his high height is eye-level with us.  How incredible.  These are some memories of our backyard.

{Be With You Forever || Kristian Stanfill}

Today's Song of the Day

What a great way to start off the New Year: praising God for all of His goodness and faithfulness.  This song gets me {even more} pumped about God's love for me!

Happy New Year, world changers!

Be on the lookout for God's love this year.

What's songs are getting you pumped about facing the new year?

{the best of} 2013

These are some of my favorite things and favorite moments from 2013.  Thank you to everyone who loved, prayed for, and supported Frank and I this year in all the different ways you have.  We hope your 2013 was as fruitful as ours!

Favorite Life Moments of 2013

1. Our Wedding Day!
2. Our honeymoon
3. Cutting my hair the first time
4. Summer together
5. Frank's birthday
6. Family time
7. Frank's first 5K
8. Hearing my calling
9. Winter Formal
10. Our first Thanksgiving
11. Seeing the second Hobbit
12. Our first Christmas

Favorite Blog Moments of 2013

1. 100 Blogposts
2. Our Wedding
3. My Husband

MUSIC

Favorite songs listened to from 2013 (no particular order)

1. The Curse by Agnes Obel
2. You Know Me by Air Traffic Controller
3. House of War by Tristen
4. The Man Who Lives Forever and Ends of the Earth by Lord Huron
5. Fury oh Fury by Nico Vega
6. If I Had a Heart by Fever Ray
7. Down to the River by Brown Bird
8. Royals and Team by Lorde
9. Heartbeats by the Knife
10. Fire by Noah Gunderson
11. Gracefully Facedown by The Devil Makes Three
12. Blunt the Knives by The Hobbit Dwarf Cast
13. Sweet Tennessee by Judah and the Lion
14. Major by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
15. G# by Kitten
16. How You Like Me Now by the Heavy
17. Pompeii by Bastille
18. Lost in the Echo by Linkin Park
19. Hearbeat by Kopecky Family Band
20. Black and White and Blue by Ladyhawke
21. YOLO by The Lonely Island
22. All Saints Day by the Silent Comedy
23. Is Your Love Big Enough by Lianne La Havas
24. Change by Churchill
25. Gangsta by Tune-yards
26. Comeback Kid by Sleigh Bells
27. Thrift Shop by Mackelmore

Favorite Artists listened to from 2013

1. Agnes Obel
2. Kopecky Family Band
3. The Heavy
4. Brown Bird
5. The Devil Makes Three
6. Old Crow Medicine Show
7. Lorde
8. Lord Huron
9. Metric
10. Nico Vega
11. Awolnation
12. The Wiyos
13. Kristian Stanfill
14. Gungor
15. Phil Wickham
16. Matt & Kim

MOVIES

Favorite Movies Watched in 2013

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
3. Tombstone
4. Monsters U
5. Anchorman 2

TELEVISION

Favorite Television Shows Discovered in 2013

1. Duck Dynasty
2. Once Upon a Time
3. Downton Abbey
4. Property Brothers
5. Vikings
6. Brain Games
7. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
8. Allo Allo
9. The Black Adder
10. Sherlock
11. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
12. Swamp People
13. Band of Brothers
14. The IT Crowd
15. The Bible
16. Too Cute

Favorite Blogs Found in 2013

1. Today's Letters
2. Kyle Donn
3. Life Ever After
4. Life Ever After Photography
5. Old Enough For Fairytales
6. WanderLost

Favorite Websites from 2013

1. Nielson RewardTV
2. Half Cut Tea

I'm looking most forward to 2014 because...

1. Celebrating the second year I'm married to Frank.
2. Going to Johnson City for the first time
3. Getting my back completely fixed
4. Frank graduates!
5. Emily graduates!
6. To see this movie.
7. To see this TV series.
8. And this TV series.
9. Seth Myers hosting the Late Show
10. Getting to see what God has in store for us!!

2013 was jam-packed with lots of good times and memories.  Come on, 2014!  We are pumped and ready for you!  Happy New Year, life lovers!

{Bucket List} 2014

This is my bucket list for 2014:

1.  Study the Book of Amos

2.  Reach my goal GPA by May!

3.  Watch Frank graduate

4.  Take a Dance class

5.  Find two Zumba partners

6.  Start Tai Chi

7.  Get urban bikes

8.  Take a road trip to anywhere!

9.  Start my final year of Undergrad!

10.  Learn conversational Swedish

11.  Watch my sister graduate high school!

12.  Help my sister move in to college

13.  Get a fishing pole

14.  Go fishing

15.  Throw the fish back in the water

16.  Start an inspiration board for 2014

17.  Take a picture every day of Frank and me

18.  Pet a bunny
19.  Read a big book from cover to cover
20.  Go to Johnson City
21.  Stay up late to see an entire meteor shower
22.  Read and apply the manual made for my camera
23.  Own a Duck Commander duck call (yes, just because)
24.  Take a pottery class
25.  Punch a shark.  Just kidding.
26.  Learn conversational Cajun French-Creole
27.  Focus on photography a bit more
28.  Replace the flash bulb in my camera and look at tripods!

What's on your bucket list, life lovers?

(Oh yeah: 29.  Kiss this guy a hundred million times!!!)

{Word of 2013: Brave}

Brave

brāv

    adjective

    1.     ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.

            synonyms: courageous, valiant, valorous, intrepid, heroic, lionhearted, bold, fearless, gallant, 

            daring, plucky, audacious

            antonyms: cowardly

    verb

    1.     endure or face (unpleasant conditions or behavior) without showing fear.

I was scared at the beginning of this year.  I had a lot of things on my mind.  Friends? Family? School? Classes? Car? Car payments? Rent? The next five years?  I began the spring and fall semesters freshly dumped on by stress and anxiety.  As I pushed along, I remembered the Lord being near me, even when I complained to Him about how suckey I thought life was.  He listened.  I told Him about how alone I felt.  He listened.  I told Him about how bad my back was hurting.  He listened.  I told Him about the classes I didn’t want to take anymore.  He listened.  Nothing really changed until I started asking Him for help after I was done complaining.  That’s when the courage set in.  Half way through this past semester, with all of these complaints on my mind, God heard me ask Him for help amidst my complaining.  He helped me.  God gave me courage to face the rest of the semester in every way.  The one word I have received from God this year is: Brave.  Brave because of God.  With God’s bravery to me, I have also been able to recognize bravery in others.  There were signs of bravery everywhere theis year.

Bravery to begin the last year of high school without old companions, but with new companions, and a good direction.

Bravery to finish strong, his first race!

Bravery in facing physical pain to have physical gain.

Bravery to lead, even when it seems like there is little chance of winning.

Bravery in pushing against the flesh, even when pain is so strong.

Bravery in finishing the hardest semester of Undergrad.

Bravery in facing an intimidating struggle, even when it feels like we've lost a part of the self, we know it's been restored to something even better.

Bravery to go somewhere far away because we know that's what is best for us to grow.

Bravery to fix what is broken, even if it takes a chiropractor, and ice pack, encouraging friends, and constant pain at the beginning; we know that things need to get worse before they can get better.

I don't have any pictures of me at the chiropractor, so this, I thought, would be a good fill-in for the moment ;)

Bravery to love and be married, even though so many asked why we don't just wait.  We knew it was the time, the right time, for us, and so far God has shown us just how providential His timing has been this year.

Brave ones.  That’s the word I kept hearing, and that’s the kind of person I kept seeing: brave.  This year has been a daunting year in more ways than I have mentioned.  Lots of pain, sorrow, triumph, and struggle to be faced and everyone faced bravely.  God is ever present in us, and He gives us our encouragement.  God gave us this word :: brave :: because He is brave for us.  Now let’s use this bravery from last year to face the next one!  What will the word of next year be?

Stay brave, world changers!

{Our First Christmas!}

The Brazell's first Christmas.

We opened presents in our fuzzy jammies.

We drank hot chocolate with Bourbon-flavored marshmallows.

We watched a ton of Downton Abbey.

We called family.

We went for a walk.

We relaxed, loved, and had fun :)

We carried on the tradition from my family of having fruit for Christmas stocking fillers.

We each opened one present at a time.

We thoughts about waiting for the evening to open presents (a tradition we want to start with our kids, someday!) but we were a little too eager to see what we got for the other ;)

Christmas time was here, full of joy and cheer.  Now it's over, or at least the day, but it will be back again next year!  We both know that Christmas is to be celebrated all year long, though ;)

We hope you had a Merry Christmas, and we hope you have a Happy New Year!

{Brazell Interviews} The Story of Christmas

In light of Christmas being tomorrow, Frank and I wanted to share with you the true meaning and reason for Christmas.  Many people don't know, or fully understand, it's origin simply because of the culture we live in.  Christmas is not just about getting presents, or having Christmas parties.  The meaning of and reason for Christmas is actually very simple, very beautiful, and its law is love.  Please feel free to follow along with the Scripture links provided below.  Also, if you have any questions for us, we'd love to read them in the comment section below - we will answer as soon as we can!

Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 7:13-14

Isaiah 9:6-7

Luke 1:26-38

Luke 2:1-21

{Hysteria || Muse}

Today's song of the day

This was the first song I ever heard by Muse.  It was the summer between 6th and 7th grade when I was channel surfing the radio and came across a rock station playing out of Myrtle Beach.  I listened to it all the time.  When I heard a song I liked, I wrote it down, waited for it to come on again, and then recorded it on tape off the radio! Remember those days? Anyone?  Well this is a song I was pumped about having a 'copy' of on my tape player.  I listened to it most of the way back from the chiropractor tonight.