First thing my husband and I did after we got up this morning was get ready for church. 

                                                                                            We attend:

      We love our church, our pastor, our pastoral staff, our friends, and most of all, we love that God shows up every Sunday and blesses each service. 

      Today was a great sermon on how much God loves us. That he would do anything to reach out to us and save us. Our pastor used scripture from Luke, Chapter 15 to prove that point.

Luke, Chapter 15 talks about 3 different parables that Jesus spoke of during that time period. These parables included: a shepherd was attending some sheep in the pasture, one of those sheep decided to stray away, and then eventually got lost. The shepherd left the 99 other sheep behind (in a safe place, of course) to go look for that one lost sheep. The second parable was when a woman had lost a coin, in doing so, she decided to "turn her house upside down" to look for this one lost coin, she even had friends come over to help her find it. Lastly, the third parable was about the Prodigal Son, who left his earthly father behind to go party and live his own life (a life of sin), but the son finally came to his senses and decided to go back home. At a far distance, his earthly father saw him and was overwhelmed with joy to see his son come back home.    

     The point behind all of these parables is to demonstrate how much God loves us and how much He cares for us. He cares enough for us that he would do ANYTHING to save us and to have his children come back to Him. He even went as far as having His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON to come down from Heaven (a perfect place) to be born here on earth (a sinful place), to live, breath, and walk on this earth, and then to DIE FOR US ON THE CROSS (a very brutal way to die) SO THAT OUR SINS WOULD BE FORGIVEN...but it doesn't stop there, God also had His Son, Jesus, to go down into the pits of Hell, grab the keys (look this up in the Bible to see what I mean here, it's good stuff!), and then to be RISEN AGAIN, and to ASCEND INTO HEAVEN TO PROVIDE A PLACE FOR YOU AND ME! Wow! What a God, right?! That He would do alll of that for little ol' you and me...PRICELESS!
 
      The message to the congregants was to not judge others for what they do or where they have come from (as God does not, in the time of Grace), to see the potential in others (just like God sees potential in us), and that we, as people, were created to be ambassadors for Christ. God has chosen US to speak on His behalf to others so that they may be saved, too. 

                                                                               Great message, huh?!  


      After the sermon was over, our pastor had one of our young adults to come up and pray. Although, he's not one who likes to be bragged about, I can't help but say that God definitely has a great plan and purpose for his life. I believe that he will be used to touch lots of people's lives. May God keep you and bless you through your walk of faith! 

Another individual to point out is a teenager in the youth group who won a very important award. This award was from competing nationally in the Church of God Teen Talent...so it's a BIG DEAL, and we are all so proud of her! She won in the Art Division....here is a pic of her artwork and BIG trophy!!

                                                                                After church, we had lunch at:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmm!!!

     And, then the rest of the afternoon/evening consisted of a Sunday afternoon nap, posting wedding photos on Facebook, working on this blog, homework (for my hubby), Froot Loops for dinner ;), and kitty time. 


                                                         This was my outfit for today (go to "Fashion"):

Saturday was the BIG DAY for my best friend Ashley and her new husband, Corey!! We are all so proud of them! The wedding was beautiful! They make a beautiful couple! And, we love them!!

Preparations:

Wedding Ceremony:

Reception:

So, I did a little better today at waking up and got up at 9:00 instead haha ;)

Before getting out of bed though, one of our little critters came to say "good morning" :)

I then put on my bedroom slippers because it was a chilly morning!

Since it was still pretty dark outside due to rain and therefore causing it to be dark in the house, I came up with the idea of doing a 20 min yoga lesson on a blanket under candlelight right in our living room for my little exercise today  :)

After my yoga lesson, I checked Facebook, and as I was scrolling through my newsfeed, I came across a video of Luke Bryan that he, himself posted on his facebook fan page. He played a song off of his new CD...and I like it :) 

​Then it was time to get ready to go meet the wedding party girls for Ashley's wedding to get our nails done!!

*Btw, this was my first time having a real pedicure done, and my second manicure done....it was sooo nice and relaxing. I see some more in my future ;)

I was represent'n at the nail salon ;) 

Afterwards, I came home for a little bit, had an overdue breakfast/lunch and then took a quick nap before going to rehearsal.

                                                                      Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner :)

Lastly, I came home to catch the last 15 minutes or so of Luke Bryan live on yahoo.com/live

Can  you tell that I am a big Luke Bryan fan?!! ;)

So I was a little bad today, and got up at.... 

....Teehee,  however, I can justify due to going to bed at 4:00 in the morning, working on this blog lol ;) Being an Instructional Aide at a school allows me the freedom of different time frames due to being off in the Summertime (Whoop, whoop!).

​*Side Note: Isn't that a beautiful horse picture?! ;)*

Once I was up, I did my exercise. Today, I walked on the tread mill for a mile to Group 1 Crew

By the time I finished my exercise and a shower, it was pretty much lunch time. Since I missed breakfast, I decided on a breakfast/lunch menu for today, which included a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some milk. ;)
​ (The jelly was homemade raspberry jelly that my Grandma made, and it was so yummmmyyy!)

While eating my breakfast/lunch mixture, I did my Bible study and devotional. Today, my Bible study was on Genesis 18; Job 23; and Psalm 14.

(Please go to "Personal Insights" to find an extra blog post about Psalm 14).

​My devotional out of the "Devotions for the God Girl" book today was:

After some God time, I went outside on our deck to work on this blog and to create a Facebook page designated for "The Baker's Journey" blog. So, be sure to "like" our blog on Facebook! :)

Once I got done working on Facebook, it was time to make a  Walmart trip. Walmart is our go-to store for just about anything.

While I was at Walmart, I came across these two awesome cups which made me happy :)

Since I was only going to Walmart, I just wore some comfy clothes, and the reason I'm telling you this minor detail is because  I wanted to show you the shirt I wore........it's my SKYDIVING shirt!!!! 

                                                                 Now, back to the journal..........

Coming home from Walmart, I encountered a slow-moving tractor ahead of me on a back country road. 

Although it is frustrating either way, I'd much rather be in a "tractor-jam" on a back road than a "traffic-jam" on the interstate!!

   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​When I got home, I quickly unloaded so that I could go visit my Grandma, Cousin Charlotte, and Baby Cousin, CJ! :)

It was hard to say good-bye, but afterwards, I went to surprise my best friend's (Ashley) mother with a little "thinking of her" gift as she is working hard to do final planning and preparation for Ashley's Big Day!!

Oh and by the way, today's choice of music while on the road was.....

While shuffling through Luke Bryan's Playlist on Spotify, I came across these two particular songs:

The first song, "The Car in Front of Me" actually made me start to tear up haha, especially towards the end of the song (click on this link to hear the song: https://play.spotify.com/track/2D5PdRwBfA60PwTlM3J1vp )

The second song, "Chuggin' Along", I thought had a really good message to it. (Here is the song: 
https://play.spotify.com/track/3jvrHHVSoWCZqGNSnfplb5).
 
*Find my blog post called, "Luke Bryan v. My Hubby", under "Personal Insights" :)*  
​

After surprising my best friend's mom, I came back home to finish getting ready for my best friend's, (Ashley) Bachelorette Party.

As I was getting ready to leave, I saw these sweet babies watching me....

They love me haha :).....and I love them!

Finally, it was time to PARTY at Ashley's Bachelorette Party!!!!

                          Hey guys, welcome to my first "Daily Walk" journey blog post
....here is what I did today.....

I started my morning off with a 20 min workout on our stationary, exercise bike, and today I exercised to some good ole Michael Jackson.

After my exercise and a shower, I tried making a sunny side up egg (or what I've always called them, a "dippy egg") for my very first time. I have to admit, it was a little scary haha. I kept thinking to myself: "Did I put the egg in the pan too soon?" "When will I know to turn it over?" "How do I turn it over so that the yolk doesn't spill out?" haha.
In spite of it being my first time, I don't think I did too bad for my first time ;)   

While eating my breakfast, I read my Bible and my devotional book. (I have set a goal for myself to read the entire Bible, and to try really hard to stick with it. My plan in accomplishing this goal is to read one verse a day out of three different books of the Bible, until I have read the entire book. So for today, I started the first verse of chapter 1 in Genesis, first verse of chapter 1 in Job, and the first verse of chapter 1 in Psalms.

I started in Genesis simply because it is the first book written in the Bible. I decided on Job because our young adult group at our church that we attend on Wednesdays touched on Job's story, and it intrigued me to want to learn more about him. Lastly, I chose Psalms as my third book to read because it is one of my favorite books in the Bible. 

As for the devotional that I read today out of the "Devotional for the God Girl" book today, this is what I read..... 

After my Bible study time, I did some laundry, re-arranged my husband's closest, and did some dishes. Although house chores aren't my most favorite things to do, I'm still thankful to be able to take care of the things God has given us.   

By the time I did all of that, it was lunch time and then nap time :) 

​Once nap and cuddle time was over, it was time to get ready for one of my best friend's (Ashley) Wedding Shower. 

Along the way, I stopped at Walmart to get Ashley a Wedding shower gift. Since the purpose of this shower was to bring a recipe and ingredients, I decided to go with a stir-fry to bring to the shower. This is what I got her....

Ingredients for the recipe:

• Sirloin
• Large Onion
• Fresh Broccoli
• Fresh Carrots
• Small tomatoes
• Green, yellow, orange, and red peppers (one of each)
• Fresh ginger
• Light Brown Sugar
• Soy Sauce
• Vegetable Oil to fry the veggies in
• White Rice to go with the stir-fry

Cooking Utensils:

• Large frying pan to hold all the ingredients
• Realtree camo knives to cut the meat and vegetables

Extras:

• Green and white kitchen towels
• Peanut M&M's (because they are one of Ashley's favorite candies ;))

I actually made this same recipe about a week ago. I got it off of Pinterest (please go to "Recipes" to find this particular recipe, which will be called, "Venison Stir-fry". However, instead of the sirloin, I used deer meat since that was what was in our freezer at the time. This is what the stir fry will look like when it's all done.....

​*Side note on the Realtree camo knives: I, myself purchased these same knives a couple weeks ago. I found them on a side aisle at Walmart. Originally, I only got them because I like camo, but I thought to myself that it's probably just made for looks, and that they won't actually cut very well....BUT, boy, was I wrong! I am a true witness that these knives are amazing! They are now considered the best knives currently in our kitchen!! haha*

Anyways, back to the gift ideas,
                                                 ....here was what the finished project looked like.....

Ashley's Wedding Shower!!!