Home Again...

Hello Friends and Family and Merry Christmas!

Finals are finished, grades are coming in, and I am happy to be home!

Since I've been home, I've been sleeping in a little, spending time with my family and I have loved being able to watch the snow fall! I am home when I finally get to see real snow!

I hope to post some pictures of family and friends sometime this weekend, especially all my little nieces and nephews that will be here Saturday! My neices, Bella and Sophie have definitely been keeping me busy and the boys will come home this weekend! I can't wait!

Next week I will do some more wedding planning I hope and Monday all of the wonderful women in my life are coming with me to go dress shopping!!!! I would love to post pictures of that but I don't want to spoil the surprise for Benj!

Today some friends from North Carolina are coming and will spend the rest of the week with Benj and I. They came last year around Christmas time and I am so excited to have them back! I have also been making lots of jewelry and will have a Jewelry Party this Saturday if any of you would like to join us! Let me know and I send you the details!

That's everything that's going on this week and next and again, I hope to get some good pictures up here for everyone to see! I love and miss you all and pray that your Christmas Season is a great one!

~Steph

Engagement Pictures...

We're coming home soon!!!

Benj and I are just finishing up finals here at school and will be home for the holidays!!! We have had a great semester but it seems like it went by so quickly! I can't wait to see many of you at home for Christmas and just wanted to share with you some pictures that Holly took for us while we were home for Thanksgiving Break....Enjoy!

Album #1

Album #2


Love you all and we will see you soon!
~Steph

We're Getting Married!!!!

Hey Everyone!

We just want to thank everyone for their excitement with us on our engagement!!! The wedding planning is going great!!! God is already providing so so much!!!!!

I just wanted to give our friends and family an update on how things are going! We are home for Thanksgiving break right now and loving it! Its been great to be able to catch up on sleep and work on studying and homework! Benj and I have finally picked a place and date so mark you calendars.....May 30th!!!! We'll be getting married around here and we are so excited for you all to be a part of celebrating with us!!!

Thank you all again for your encouragement and excitement with us on our engagement and we would appreciate your prayers during these last two weeks of school! Finals are coming and then we'll be home again for a whole month! Yay!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!!!

~Steph

The Proposal...

Benj took me hiking last week, (Oct. 21st)! We had left after our morning classes to go back to our apartments so that we could take advantage of the beautiful weather (a great reason to skip my class, I know). The plan for the day was to take my car to the shop and then drive a ways down the road to go hiking. As we were pulling into our apartment subdivision, we followed a FEDEX truck in and I didn't think otherwise...Benj dropped me off quickly and later I found out that the truck had my ring in it!

Anyway, We didn't get to take my car to the shop so when Benj came to pick me up, we just went hiking. We got to the parking lot a little before 2pm and hiked and took pictures and hiked some more. When we got to the bottom of the waterfall, we were sitting on some rocks when another couple came up and were taking pictures. I really wanted a picture of Benj and I in front of the waterfall so he asked the man if he could take a picture of us with Benj's camera. The man took a few pictures and then as he was about to give the camera back, Benj ask if we could get just one more picture...he asked if I wanted a different pose and as I was trying to figure out how to stand a different way, Benj got down on one knee and it seemed like forever before he said something because I was so taken aback. He proposed and I excitedly said YES!!!

I had no idea that this was coming, he didn't even seem nervous or act funny! Benj did such a great job at everything...from picking out the perfect ring to planning the perfect day!!! God just blessed that Tuesday so so much and I couldn't be more thankful!!!! Later that evening after calling all of our family, we went out to dinner to a nice steak house and had a wonderful meal with great service!!! It was the icing on the cake (or rather for us...the whipped cream on our cheesecake that was just amazing!).

I hope you all enjoyed reading a little piece of our story and we are so thankful for everyone's excitement with us!!!! We can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving and Christmas break and look forward to hearing from you soon!!!

Still In Shock,
Steph

Woo...We're Engaged!!!

Hey Friends and Family!

Some exciting news here that I'm sure all of you have heard......Benj and I are Engaged!!! Yay!!!!

God has been so good to us and is faithfully showing us where to go next......I will post a few pictures on this blog and hopefully write about how Benj proposed this weekend!

Thank you all for your encouraging words and excitement with us during this time!

love you and miss you,
Steph

Half-Way Through....

Hey Friends and Family!

We just had our fall break here and I had such a restful and productive weekend! Just a quick note this week....

Please be praying for us all...Mid-Terms and big assignments/papers are this week! Please pray that it wouldn't be too overwhelming and that we would be able to stay focused and work hard!

Also, I posted some links on the right side of this page of most of the JEWELRY that I have made and that I am selling......pass the word, I am working on being ready for a party at home in mid-December before Christmas! I'm hoping for this one to have a little more of a selection and please let me know if you see anything you think people will like or that you like yourself and I will get to work on that!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Love and miss you all,
Steph


P.S.....here are some pictures from Joel and Lacie's Wedding!

Back at school....

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting on my blog lately.....a lot has happened and I have finally found a quiet moment to sit and think!

I am finally back at school and loving living off campus! Our apartment is in a great location and is quiet. Kim (my amazing roommate and friend) and I have so much fun together and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to live with right now! School and work are busier than ever it seems, but it finally feels like things are calming down a little (i hope).

Last weekend, it was just wonderful to be able to see friends and family that I don't get to see very often at Joel and Lacie's wedding! Congrats Joel and Lacie!!!! What a great time it was and I hope to post some pictures too....

Benj and I are still trying to find a church where we can really be a part of, so maybe this is a prayer request...that we would find somewhere to be a part of each week and get to know some new faces. It's hard to find around here because it's such a college age atmosphere, so it always seems packed out with our peers and not regular families, but the searching is a blessing...we are learning a lot in the process.

I have also been learning that God is the giver and taker of all things. I think, though I know He has always done this, that this is the first time I have really realized that though He is blessing me and providing for me....He is also constantly taking from me.....keeping me completely dependent on Him and Him alone....keeping me from pride and boasting. It's a constant struggle it feels like sometimes, and Satan is trying his hardest to distract me and make me doubt......but God is faithful and is showing me that if I walk with Him and know Him and live for Him, He is my true source of power and life! This is all definitely easier said than done, but I just felt like I needed to share with you all what God is doing in my life right now! He is teaching me, stretching me, making me trust Him more, to prepare me for something.

Once again, I love and miss you all and would love to hear from you!

In Him,
Steph