Inside Lively's Nursery

For those of you that are curious about how Lively's nursery turned out, here you go! I am one day past my due date, and still anxiously awaiting her arrival. I have nested to the maximum capacity and needed something else to occupy my time and mind while I wait for her to decide to come meet the world, so I thought I'd share some pictures and explain some of the projects I did for her room. 

Her room is a light pinkish/purple color. I decided right away that I wanted it to be very girly and a little shabby chic. The first of many projects that I worked on was her bedding. I sewed teacup/floral inspired crib bedding which included: a ruffled crib skirt, crib bumpers, crib sheet, and crib quilt. This project took me a few weeks to complete, but I saved at least $250 by making it myself. The cost was only about $150 (compared to the $400 I would have paid for custom bedding). I am really pleased with how it turned out. 

Her dresser/changing table was my second project. I really wanted to redo an old vintage style dresser and put a changing pad on top to serve as a dual purpose piece in her room. I found this dresser on Craig's List for $50. It was a yucky yellow/gold color, so I just sanded and painted it a bright white. I love how it turned out. 

I also did a little lamp redo. The blue teapot lamp on the dresser was a gem I found while thrift shopping with Brett. It started out all the wrong colors and didn't have a lamp shade, but it worked and I knew that a little paint and creativity could make it perfect for Lively's teacup/floral inspired nursery. I chose a robins egg blue color to paint the base of the lamp, and found an inexpensive plain lampshade that I covered with white/cream roses. It turned out cuter than I imagined and gives off just enough light when its night time in her room. 

A little story about the antique rocker in the corner... This rocking chair was my grandmother's. Growing up, she was my only living grandmother, and we lived right down the street from her, so we were pretty close. I think I got a lot of my creativity and love for old/antique pieces from her. She died a couple weeks before I moved to Dallas for college, and when asked if there was anything I wanted from her house, I chose the rocking chair. I always thought it was beautiful, and being a girl who knew one day she would want to rock her babies in it, I thought it was the perfect piece to choose. I think its sweet that a little piece of my grandmother is in her room. 

In the photo above, there are a lot of small projects I did to pull her room together: A silver platter I found at a thrift store with magnets on it to display photos, the "L is for Lively print was given to us from Brett's mother and I found the frame for it while thrifting, the bow holder frame I made from a frame I found thrifting that I painted and glued strips of ribbon to the back so I could clip the bows on them for easy access/display, the headband peg-shelf-thing was another gem I found while thrifting that we just painted bright white, and finally the shelving unit was mine that we found for $16 at Salvation Army that I used when Lively's nursery was my office/craft room, it used to be just the exposed wood and we painted it white to match the other furniture. 

As an artist, I had to paint at least one painting for Lively. The lyrics I painted are from a song that ministered to my heart throughout my pregnancy, and the verse I wrote around the edges was the inspiration behind her name and the prayer we spoke over her from the beginning. 

And finally, one of my favorite pieces from Lively's nursery, her mobile. This piece came from China. I purchased it when I was on a mission trip there in 2010. It originally was something you would hang over a doorway (like those beads they had in the 70s), but I remember thinking one day it would make the perfect mobile for a baby. I simple inserted a wooden hoop in the top of it to make it round and added ribbon to hang it from the ceiling. I love that it ended up going so well with the theme and colors we chose for her room. 

Hopefully, my next post will be introducing our baby girl to the world and sharing our birth story. Not too much longer, Lively girl... We can't wait to meet you. 

~Brandi

Behind The Name

So many times over the past seven and a half months I have intended on writing a post about my pregnancy. Due to overwhelming experiences I have gone through over the entire course of my pregnancy, I failed to do so. I plan on sharing more in detail the story of my pregnancy/birth once our baby girl arrives in November. Today, however, I wanted to share the story behind the name we have chosen for her. 

Prior to discovering that we were expecting, I prayed quite specifically for our future children, and very intentionally asked the Lord for a daughter. It was such a surreal moment sitting on the doctor's table looking at our baby and hearing the sonogram tech tell us "It's a GIRL". For me, it was like the Lord was sweetly whispering to my heart "I hear you". That was such a gift for me spiritually at that time in my walk with the Lord. I needed to know my heart's desires were seen by God and that He did indeed care about those desires. 

We had both a boy name and girl name picked out prior to finding out the sex of our baby... just to be prepared. Before I was pregnant, while on Facebook, I read a story that touched me. I had liked the Christian artist Jimmy Needham's fb page, so his posts would pop up on my newsfeed periodically. Jimmy had written a post about the story behind his daughter, Lively's, name. Jimmy and his wife, Kelly, experienced a miscarriage in their first pregnancy. After going through this difficult experience, they were blessed to become pregnant again. After finding out they were going to have a girl, they chose Lively as the name to speak LIFE over her not only throughout the pregnancy but throughout her life as well. I automatically loved the name and the story behind it. When we discovered that I was pregnant, I too wanted to speak nothing but life over my baby and knew that this name just "fit" our baby girl. I have always loved the verse John 10:10 in Scripture which says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The middle name took some time to figure out, but honestly did not take much debate between Brett and I. I remember texting Brett and said, "What about Hope for a middle name?" And he simply said, "Okay." I, of course, have big dreams for our daughter and the work she will do for the Kingdom. I think "Hope" is such a big piece of the gospel and that she will indeed bring hope to those she comes in contact with. So that's our side of the story...

Yesterday, Brett got a text from his mom who shared some very interesting information about our baby girl's name that we didn't even know. While reading her Bible, she came across something incredible in 1 Peter and texted us this verse: 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." 1 Peter 1:3 KJV

How crazy is that?! Our baby girl is certainly a gift from our Lord, but I had no idea her name was written in His Word thousands of years ago. I gotta say I teared up when I read it. Not only did the Lord hear my prayer for a daughter, but HE named her. Such wonderful confirmation of who He says she is: Lively Hope Gilpatrick. I love her name and I cannot wait to meet her. 

-Brandi

Excited, Excited!

I have been super eager to post this. It's been sooo hard to keep it quiet. Yesterday, my amazing hubs became the Student Pastor at our church, Stillwater Community Church, in Rowlett, Texas. We are beyond excited for this new adventure in our lives and feel privileged to serve the Lord in this capacity.

Brett and I both surrendered to God's call into the ministry as teens. It has felt like such a long journey to get to this point. It almost feels surreal. However, something I've realized along the way is that it isn't our occupation that qualifies us as ministers of the Gospel. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. God's calling has nothing to do with occupational status or promotions, but rather it has everything to do with the people God has called you to. Jesus was a carpenter, yet his calling was to disciple. The Lord is looking to use each of us to share His salvation with those He has positioned around us. Sometimes He places specific groups of people in our hearts for us to pursue like: teenagers, children, the elderly, widows, orphans, young women, or even people from a specific ethnic group or foreign country. Despite the different people, age groups, and ethnicities, the call is the same: Reach, Teach, and Multiply. These three simple words make up our church's mission statement. I am so excited to get to continue our ministry journey at a church that truly understands the responsibility we have to disciple others.

Another exciting announcement is that I have been chosen for an internship at Buckner's Humanitarian Aid office. I'll be starting that this week, and I am so pumped! Buckner is an adoption agency and a missions organization. I've been interested in serving in some capacity at Buckner for the past three years. I'm so excited to have this opportunity. We ask that you join with us in prayer for these ministry opportunities and that we would be obedient to the Lord's voice and steadfast in the calling we've received. 

With love,

Brandi 

See inside our lil home :)

Greetings and Happy New Year from the Gilpatrick's!! I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas Holiday and have gotten some time to rest up for this new season we are all entering into. Christmas was a true blessing for Brett and I. We got to go home for about four days to visit our families. It is awesome to have both of our families in the same hometown. We get to see EVERYONE in a short amount of time. It is always great to get away from the city to rest and visit with loved ones in the country. Over the break, we also got to celebrate a very important day ;) My 22nd Birthday!! I was very blessed with getting to eat dinner with my family and going on a weekend getaway with Brett to Houston. It was exactly what we needed before the craziness of 2013 begins. We got to rest, shop, and just spend quality time together. It was nice to not be busy for while and just be together.

I want to switch gears however and give you a promised peek into our little home in Garland. I have said for months that I would post this, but I wanted the final touches to be in place before doing so. Well, here you go for all you curious people out there. Our first home :)

Living Room

Dining Room (my favorite room)

Kitchen (notice the chalkboard pantry door)

Guest Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Our offices (two guest rooms)

Our Bedroom

There you have it folks! Our home has been such a blessing. Its awesome to know that we know that we aren't throwing our money down the drain renting. This house was an answer to the prayers we prayed to be able to live in closer proximity to our church family in the Rowlett/Garland area.

In my next post, I plan on sharing some of my personal 2013 resolutions and some new exciting stuff coming up in the near future! Stay tuned ;)

With love, Brandi

Success to share

This past week I wrapped up my fall courses (all of which ended with successful grades), and I had a bit of a break to catch some rest. However, that did not last too long before I had to jump back into the mode of school work. I started my winter mini this past Saturday. I am taking Fine Arts and will complete the course in only two weeks! I really have been enjoying the course so far, and I think its because of my artsy background. Believe it or not this is my first art class since the sixth grade. Looking forward however to this class flying by and having a few weeks of NOTHING before the spring semester kickstarts.

I thought I would share a few recipes that have been quite successful for me this past week. I stumbled upon a new cookbook called 1,001 Recipes: Short, Easy, INEXPENSIVE. The title sounded great, but I really thought that it had to be too good to be true. I decided to pick a handful of recipes from it and mix up our menu for the week. Here are some of the recipes that were serious hits in our home:

Chicken Taco Pie (my fav for the week)

1 lb. chicken tenderloins

Vegetable oil

1 (1 ounce) pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 cup shredded Mexican 3-cheese blend

1 (8 ounce) pkg. corn muffin mix (I use Jiffy)

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut chicken into 1 inch chunks and cook on medium high heat in skillet with a little oil. Cook for bout 10 minutes. Drain and stir in taco seasoning, bell peppers and 3/4 cup water. Reduce heat, simmer and cook for about 10 additional minutes. Stir several times

Spoon chicken mixture into 9-inch (23 cm) deep-dish pie pan and sprinkle cheese on top. 

Prepare corn muffin mix with egg and milk and mix well. Spoon over top of pie and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Serves 4 to 6. 

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (8 ounce) carton whipped cream cheese with onion and chives, softened

butter

4 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1/4 cream cheese on each chicken breast. Wrap each with bacon strip. 

Place seam-side down in sprayed baking dish. Back uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear. 

To brown, boil 6 inches from heat for about 3 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Serves 4. 

Tangy Pork Chops

4-6 pork chops

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup honey

Preheat over 325 degrees

Mix ingredients in separate bowl. Place pork chops in baking dish. Pour sauce over meat. 

Cover and bake 45 minutes. Serves 4-6. 

I hope you get a chance to try some of these extremely simple and tasty recipes. I would highly suggest any young wife picking up a copy of this cookbook. It's a great tool to stay on budget and mix up the menu. Have any recipe successes to share? I'd love to hear about them :)

Brandi 

Forgetting to Remember

photo by Pinterest

I don't know about you, but one of my biggest downfalls is my ability to forget to remember what God has accomplished in my life. So quickly after a prayer has been answered or a hope has come true do I move on to something else that isn't the way I want it to be. I spend much too much time complaining about things I want God to change rather than giving thanks to Him about the works He has done in my life.

With November being the month of thanks, I really wanted to check my heart and attitude. I haven't jumped on the daily thanksgiving posts on Facebook bandwagon and have had sort of a sour attitude towards the whole "giving thanks" idea. This month I have felt really attacked with negativity, misfortune, and self-pity. I could list you a ton of rotten things that have happened in our life within the past four weeks that have stolen my joy and replaced my thanksgiving with frustration and complaints. However, I'd rather give you another list. This list is all of the wonderful things God has done this past year and serves as my reminder right now (when its hard to be thankful) that God is working and is faithful.

• God gave us a house
• God allowed us to move closer to our church community (this was a prayer I prayed for about nine months)
• God gave me a job that allows me to be home in time for dinner with Brett every night
• God has been faithful to us financially
• God has allowed me to go to school and provided the finances to do so
• God has continued to grow our marriage everyday
• God is opening doors for our future careers 
• God kept my mother safe while she received a pace maker last week
• God is working in our student ministry kids and growing them
• God allowed us to fix the plumbing leak we had a few weeks ago
• God provided a new car battery for my car
• God allows us to spend the holidays with our family
• God provided Brett with a great work place and great people to work for
• God provided our every need

This list could go on and on. Most of these things stated have been things the enemy has attempted to steal and twist around for me to complain about. It is so easy to blame God instead for hardships and overlook how He blesses us through them. I choose to be thankful and remember the things He has done for us this year. It encourages me when I look forward to the possibilities to see God work in our lives next year. 

Blessings,

Brandi 

Fall Y'all

Hey there! It has been quite a while since my last posting from back in September. This fall has flown by, and I can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner!! Thought I'd drop in to give our friends and loved ones a run down of our September, October, and November adventures and preview of some stuff coming up in the near future.

In September, I began getting settled into a completely new schedule. I have had the awesome privilege of getting to study at Dallas Baptist University this semester. To say I'm enjoying it would be a huge understatement. I get to stay at home and do my school work on my own time and in between my ever-changing work schedule. I have absolutely love my major (Christian Ministries: which took me forever to finally nail down) and feel like its true conformation that I'm doing what I was created to do. :) I just registered for spring 2013 classes and am on the right track to graduate by December 2013. Hooray!!

At the beginning of this semester, I was given the opportunity to nanny for a family in the Garland area. After praying about opportunities to help bring in more income this summer, I was thrilled that it would allow me to work a more steady work schedule than I had been working at the shoe store. Starting our second year of marriage, it was really important to me to be able to be home in the evenings with Brett and be home to make dinner each night. The past year, I've worked a different work schedule each week and never knew if I would work mornings, close the store, or work Saturdays. This would be fine for a single person, but I had a hard time with the inconsistency. This nanny opportunity would not only give us the extra income I'd been asking for, but also allow me to be home EVERY evening to make dinner and spend quality time with my husband. I have really enjoyed my new work environment this semester and especially enjoyed my new schedule.

October seemed to really fly by for the Gilpatrick family. Along with nannying, I started being a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts and am really enjoying it. I had a couple of parties in October and love getting the pink boxes delivered to my door! Here's my website if you are interested in look at the super cute products: mythiryone.com/brandigilpatrick :) Brett started leading the middle school ministry each Wednesday night. He teaches and co-leads in the student worship team. I'm so proud of him. He is so dedicated and is incredible at what he does. We've been blessed with great opportunities for discipleship and growth at our church. Brett is able to shadow other pastors in many roles within the church. Its truly a learning experience every week. He has even been given the opportunity to preach the church services a couple of times this fall, and I love getting to sit in and be ministered to by my husband. (Proud wife moment, hehe...) At the end of October we had a Trunk or Treat at our church thrown by our student ministry. We got the chance to dress like we were from the 80s with our kiddos and pass out candy to the kids in the community. Here's some pics: these people are so fun!

A couple of unfortunate happenings in the month of October can be described through these photos: 

We discovered a sewage leak under our bathroom, which turned out to be two leaks. Thankfully we have two bathrooms and did not have to go without toilets for more than a day. 

I was rear-ended while driving to church on Wednesday. Not a traumatic experience. But my drink flew everywhere when they hit me (which was a cool effect), but when they got out to check on me, they were covered in their left-overs from Fuzzy's Tacos. I laughed about it later. Thank God for insurance. 

My sweet Momma :)

Now we are already a week into November, and I am already looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've been anti-pinterest-projects when it comes to holiday decorations this year. I felt overwhelmed with everyone's fall wreaths and pumpkins that I just decided to skip the decorations for fall. I've rebelled against the expectation to have cute decor and still have our summer wreath on our door from when we moved into our house in May. Ha... (Don't worry... I will decorate for Christmas) A bit of news about my family. My mother just had to have a pacemaker put in a couple of days ago. She was having high blood pressure issues and feeling short of breath. The doctors say her heart is healthy but the pacemaker will help regulate her heartbeat and fix some of the issues she's been having. Please continue to pray for my mom, but I'm thankful she is doing well after the procedure and will be feeling much better soon. 

Well, that's all for now. Hope to write some during the holidays and eventually post pictures of our new home (only six months late on that). Can't wait to have a break for a few days in good ole East Texas with friends and family over Thanksgiving. 

Blessings,

Brandi 

Summer2012:)

I cannot believe it is already September! Where did this summer go?! In my last post, I shared about our time at youth camp with our student ministry. Since then, our life this summer has been crazy busy, and it has gone by so fast. We were so busy with school, work, and events that I that I was relieved when it was over because the fall semester would be a bit of a break for us. Anyway, I wanted to, however, write a post covering all that we have done this summer, and share what the fall semester is going to entail. Here we go.

We kicked off the beginning of the summer with the purchase of our new home in Garland, Texas. We officially moved into our home in the middle of May after painting the interior and making a few cosmetic changes. We were so ready to live in the community were we served and fellowshipped with. Our church body is in Rowlett, Texas (only about 10 minutes from our new home). This was a wish Brett and I had for a year when we were commuting from North Dallas. The Lord was very faithful to us, and we are enjoying our sweet little home and loving the community.

Moving Day

Right after moving (like the day after), I started my college courses for the summer. About six months after we got married, I really wanted to go back to school to finish my degree, and being married, I feel a huge since of urgency to finish as soon as possible. Therefore, I have decided to take classes in every opportunity I am presented, so I can finish at a quicker pace. This summer, I took nine hours at a local community college. Most of the summer, I was up at the school at 7:30 am everyday (no fun). Let's just say, this summer was not one of rest for me.

Also right after moving in, we got to celebrate our first anniversary!!! See the "Love and Spontaneity" post to read up on our anniversary trip adventures.

As seen in my previous post, Brett and I got an amazing opportunity to go with our student ministry to youth camp at Lathom Springs this summer. The Lord truly overwhelmed my heart with love for our kids and confirmed our purpose in serving them every week. Many of our kids gave their lives to Jesus that week, and we got to see those who received salvation follow that up with baptism at the end of the summer. Our church body gathered at a water park called Hawaiian Falls here in Garland to watch many get baptized as a testimony of their faith in Jesus.

Wired Camp '12

Matt & Lindsey's Wedding

Elijah & Cambriegh

This summer was an exciting time for our families. In the month of May, we welcomed two new additions to our family. Two of Brett's cousins (Jessica and Kristina) gave birth to their beautiful babies. Jessica had a sweet little boy, Elijah Rayy, and three weeks later Kristina gave birth to beautiful Cambreigh Resse. Sad that we couldn't be there for their births, I finally got to meet them in July. I am so thankful for Facebook, because I felt like I knew them before I met them from all of their precious pictures. We also got to be a big part of exciting things in my families life this summer. Brett got the amazing privilege to preform his first wedding for my cousin, Matt, and his new wife, Lindsey. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and we were so honored to be a part of that special day. Along with the wedding excitement, we heard news a few weeks later that my other cousin, Jim, and his wife, Liz, are having a BABY! The baby is coming next spring, and I cannot wait to hear if they will be having a girl or a boy.

Mrs. Victroia Searcy

Speaking of weddings, I got to celebrate my high school best friend's marriage to the love of her life. Victoria Waugh is now Victoria Searcy, and her's and Michael's wedding reception was beautiful (and so were they). I was so glad I got to be there and celebrate the most exciting day of their life.

DBU Student ID

By mid-July, I really began to think about where the Lord wanted me for the fall semester for school. Something that is really important to me is to contribute to our family by doing my part to work and bring in extra income. Having this heart, I knew that I wanted to finish my degree as soon as possible. Dallas Baptist University has always been at the top of my list for places to get my education. Also, being a Christ for the Nations graduate, I knew that DBU would accept all of my credits and present me with scholarship money to attend. Even with the scholarships, the tuition fees were daunting. I felt completely selfish asking Brett to allow me to go to a school that was so costly. After discussing it together, we decided it would be the best place for me to finish my degree. I started my classes last two weeks ago, and I am loving it. One of the greatest blessings about the program I am in is that I can take all online courses. Living in Garland, I would have a long drive to the DBU campus, so it is great to be able to do my classes from our home and on my free time. DBU is also such an encouraging place to study because the people are true servants of the Lord who want to see us succeed. Every time I have called the finance office, every person I have talk with has been completely reassuring and encouraging. The Lord has also been very faithful in our finances and helped us make our first two payments to DBU this semester. God has really shone me what a privilege it is to be a student there, and I am so grateful for this opportunity. I am getting my bachelor's degree in Christian Ministries, and I hope to graduate by December 2013. What a great day that will be!

iGosians

In July, I got to serve iGoGlobal at a base camp in Denton, Texas. If you are familiar with iGo, then you know that base camp is an important part of sending out students to the nations. It is what gets them ready for their journey, and for most of them, it is their first experience overseas. I went on my first mission trip through iGo in 2009 to Tokyo, Japan, and that experience shaped my desire to work in missions in the future. It was a privilege to serve as an iGosian for the weekend, AND I got to spend it with my sweet friend, Breanne, and her husband, Kendall. I don't get to see her too often, but I always enjoy our time together.

We got to celebrate Brett's 23rd birthday at the beginning of August. No better way than with a surprise party right?! I sent out a mass-facebook-message to all of our friends from church to meet up at his favorite restaurant, Pei Wei. If you know me, then you know that I can't get anything past Brett, but this time... I DID! He was completely surprised when we walked in to see 25 of our closed friends waiting for us. He even got two free gift cards from the owner for bringing so many people in for his birthday. We followed up the evening with some soft-serve Fro-Yo and went to see the Dark Knight (which was sooo good). I loved getting to finally do something for Brett (without him suspecting a thing) and celebrating him with our wonderful friends.

Throughout this summer, I have had a hard time getting good hours at work. I have continued to pray this summer for either more hours or new opportunities. It is my heart to work and help Brett with bring in income, but nothing changed over the first two and a half months of the summer. By mid-August, I was presented with an opportunity to nanny for a family a couple of hours a day every afternoon. This opportunity was perfect for our schedule and situation. One of the biggest blessings is that I get to spend every evening with Brett, where my old work schedule I was sometimes working until 10:00 PM any night of the week. The first week of nannying went really smooth this past week, and I am enjoying my evening with my husband again. Another great opportunity I was presented with is becoming a Thirty-One consultant. I absolutely love their products and am really enjoying being a consultant! Already had a few parties and looking forward to having more this fall.

Something I am thankful to have experienced this summer is godly women pouring into my life. Much to my surprise, after praying for friends and community, I received constant requested from four-five different women who wanted to pour into my life this summer. I have been able to have lunch with a different one of these ladies each week and it has made all the difference in my life this summer. I have learned more about my role as a wife, the importance of godly community, and the grace of friendship just from these women being generous with their time. This was something I have been most grateful for this summer.

Wow... that's a lot to take in. But I am so encouraged to read over all that the Lord has done in our lives and the lives of those closest to us this summer. Can't wait to see what God has for this new season. Bring on fall and the cooler weather.

Blessed by Your grace and faithfulness

Brett and I got the AMAZING opportunity to chaperone our teens at youth camp about two weeks ago. I was probably more excited about camp than the students... I went to camp every year when I was in youth as a student, and it was by far my favorite part of the entire summer. It was at camp that I received the majority of my discipleship and developed strong Christian friendships which are still strong today. It was through camp that I realized my calling by the Lord to pursue a life in ministry and surrender my life to His good and perfect will. I also was exposed to my first opportunity to go overseas on a mission trip (Tokyo, Japan 2009) which exposed the Lord's desire for me to commit my life's work to missions and sharing His gospel. All of these huge life events were a product of youth camp when I was a teen, so you can see why I was so excited to witness these type of events in the lives of our teens, too.

We had a blast worshiping with the kids, discussing the message in church group time each night, and praying with them after making life changing decisions. We also had a blast watching the never-ending fireworks show, sliding down the water slide at the lake, and cheering on the Avengers at the basketball tourney (we got second place)! My favorite part was just getting to spectate. I loved being in the back of the group at worship and just watching how the Lord moved our kids the respond in worship of their Savior. I was so grateful for just getting to watch it. We had seven of our kids accept the Lord as their Savior that week, and I can't wait to see them get baptized at the end of the summer at Hawaiian Falls.

Stillwater Student Ministry

I am convinced we have the best kids in our student ministry. I love getting to hang out with them every Wednesday and Sunday. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 

I am so thankful for this man. I love the call of worship and youth on his life and glad that I get to tag along for the ride. It's been really cool to see his passions creep into my heart over the past year of marriage. Can't wait to see what's in store for us in the future. :D

A bit of exciting news (for us a least): This past week I found out that I received a $1,000 grant for school this next year. The Lord knew just what I needed to hear. I am so thankful for His grace in my life and His faithfulness to us even when we are unworthy. Praise Him. 

Paint Parties

I wanted to drop in to share with everyone some information about the Paint Parties I am offering through Paint Me Away, the custom art business I have to provide artwork and murals for various people. These Paint Parties are a new idea for the summertime, and I am excited to start booking dates for them.

A Paint Party is a party in which you can throw for your child's birthday, bridal shower, or small group in which every member of the group gets to paint a customized canvas by the direction of me. The host of the party gets to discuss their ideas for the subject of the painting for the group. For example, for the kids, each could leave with their first initial or name on the canvas in order to have them extra-personalized. This would make a great favor for all your bridesmaids and gives you time to spend together with your girls. And, maybe your small group would like to get together to try something new. This is perfect for any age or level of artistic ability because you can customize the level of difficulty for the group.

For a price quote on a Paint Party, acrylic art piece, or custom wall mural, contact me at (903) 658-1055 or email me at brandi2009leigh@yahoo.com.

Like Paint Me Away on Facebook for 10% off your next order!

Love & Spontaneity

After finishing up my spring semester of school, I feel like I haven't stopped going..... Immediately after the semester ended, as I have mentioned, Brett and I moved from our north Dallas apartment into our first home in Garland, Texas. The move, packing, unpacking, starting to work at a new location have been overwhelming enough, but on top of that I have continued to take summer classes which began the Monday following our move to Garland. So, the past three weeks every day for THREE hours I have been captive in my three week long government class. I have realized over the past three weeks that I do not enjoy talking about politics, especially with people who have incredibly differing beliefs and moral standards. This class has been emotionally draining, and I am happy to have completed the course TOMORROW. All that to say... I have been in need of a break.

Brett, too, has been busy with different stuff as well over the last month, or so. I may have mentioned before that Brett became an umpire this season for baseball, and he LOVES it. I have enjoyed seeing him take to something that he likes to do and has fun doing. Umpiring, too, has been a financial blessing for us in our season of moving into and purchasing our home. Though it has been such a blessing, this spring we have found ourselves in lots of different areas of life and spread a little thin. We have been tired once we both get home and left time with each other on the back burner until life decided to slow down. 

A couple of months ago, Brett and I decided that for our (first) anniversary we would take off Friday-Monday of Memorial Day weekend, our anniversary was May 28th. I had been looking forward to taking off for those four days and just spending time with Brett and getting away from all the busyness. We were unsure, with the house expenses, if we would be able to go on a weekend trip or just have a "stay cation", but honestly I didn't care... I just wanted a break from schedules for a while. 

Brett decided the on Friday that we should go to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a spontaneous three day, two night vacation of relaxation. (I love having a husband who loves treating me.) We got up early on Saturday morning and loaded the car for our four and a half hour trip to Hot Springs. I loved this time together (even though I slept a good bit of it) because I got to hear stories about my husbands childhood vacations to Hot Springs with his family. I love when my introverted husband shares stories with me that I have never heard over our nearly seven year-long relationship. 

About an hour from Hot Springs, we decided to stop in the middle of nowhere at a gas station for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs. While parked at the station, an employee of a small tire repair shop behind the station noticed that we had a flat on the rear passenger side of our car. Now if you are like me and have never really been to Arkansas, this was the only gas station for about 30 miles both ways around us... and probably the only tire shop for an hour or so from us. The man kindly told Brett that we had a flat, which we had not (not would not have) noticed. Thought they had just closed their tire shop, he graciously offered to reopen and repair our tire until we could get to Hot Springs and buy a new tire to replace it. Needless to say, we were extremely thankful that we did not have a blow-out on the highway without civilization nearby to get it fixed. Would that have been stressful... With only about fifteen minutes lost on our road trip and a few cute pictures taken to document our adventure, we were back on the road to Hot Springs. 

I decided on this trip that I really like taking vacations with my husband. He is not one to stress out if things don't go his way and is incredibly flexible when things, like a flat tire, happen. The remainder of our trip we had a flawlessly smooth and relaxing time. Saturday evening we explored historic downtown Hot Springs, went to the tower overlooking the mountains and city, and ate some darn good pizza at Dough Boys on Central Ave. We also went to the wax museum and treated ourselves to some yummy ice cream. After sleeping in on Sunday, we went to get a massage at one of the spas in downtown. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. (Brett and I decided we should get massages at least twice a year, for our anniversary and my birthday, of course... ;) hehe.) We wrapped up our night with an anniversary dinner and a magic show, which was wonderful. Monday, after checking out of our resort, we headed to the Garvin Woodland Gardens for our last activity. We got to see beautiful views of the Ouachita Mountains and take pictures of the garden's gorgeous waterfalls. This was a perfect ending to a wonderful anniversary weekend! 

We are already thinking about where we want to go for our anniversary next year. Anyone have any ideas? Where are some of your favorite vacation spots?  

Moving Day & Mother's Day

The life of the Gilpatrick Family has been really extremely scattered lately. Since the middle of April, right after our closing date of our house, we have been living out of boxes and off of fast food. That's what I get for accidentally packing our can opener two weeks before our moving day... oops! We had been working on our house for weeks painting, staining kitchen cabinets, and doing little fixes to get it ready for move day.

Well, our moving day finally came on May 12th, and we were so ready to finally be in our new home. We rallied up all our family from Henderson and Stillwater church family to help us move our things from our third floor apartment to our house in Garland. About seven vehicles were loaded up with ALL of our belongings as we paraded from North Dallas to our new residence thirty minutes away. We are so thankful to have everyone who helped us move, because it would have been much less enjoyable had it been just Brett and myself.

First house picture, of course :)

A couple of weeks leading up to our moving day, we received so much help from my in-laws to complete our projects on the house before actually moving in. They helped us our dining room wainscoting and the staining of our kitchen cabinets. We definitely could not have done these projects with our them offering to help us. The finished product was so beautiful!! Take a look.

This is our dining room. My favorite room of the house.

The weekend of moving day was also Mother's Day weekend. We kind of planned the move the day before Mother's Day on purpose so that we could for sure see both of our mothers that weekend. (Even though both of our moms worked so hard to help us move that weekend, I'm sure that wasn't the dream mother's day, but we were so glad to spend time with them.) Sunday night, Mother's Day, Brett and I went to the Ranger's game with my parents, sister, and future brother-n-law. I got two new Ranger's shirts at the game, and we got to see Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam!

Something else that began for me last Monday was my May-mester in school. I decided to take all the summer courses that I could, and I started my three week Government course last week. I am enjoying the course, especially the fact that in two more weeks I will be done with it. ;) I am also taking History and Statistics this summer. Woohoo....

We also just celebrated our first anniversary together. Be expecting a post from our anniversary trip, as well as, more pictures of our home as I finish decorating. Have a great week!

His Compassion

To all who stop in regularly to read my posts, I apologize for my absence and lack of posting over the last month. Goodness... Has it been that long?! Lots have happened over the last month and to get you up to speed I will be sharing a "new house/moving" post hopefully very soon. I am stopping in to write a quick post about an incident that happened to me yesterday.

First of all, I wanted to share that along with moving to Garland this past weekend, I also started my new job. I have worked for the company DSW, or Designer Shoe Warehouse, for the last six months near our old apartment in North Dallas. Thankfully, with our recent relocation once we bought our house, I was able to get transferred to the Firewheel Town Center DSW in Garland. I started working at the new location this week and am so far enjoying it, though it will take some adjusting to.

The incident I wanted to share actually happened to me while at work yesterday (Thursday) at the new store. Now having worked at a shoe store for six months, I am very surprised that something like this has not happened to me until now. The results of this story, however, have given me a wonderful new perspective of the Lord and His compassion.

Here we go. Okay, so as a sales associate, one of my jobs is to help assist any customer who needs help find a specific shoe, style of shoe, or size. I am expected to take care of the customers as best I can, doing most anything to keep them pleased with our service and products. Yesterday, there was an elderly man who came into the store and immediately asked if someone could help him find some shoes he was looking for. I was paged to help him by a manager, and I began attempting to find what he was looking for. This man was looking for very specific styles of shoes in which we did not have much to choose from, and we also did not carry much in his size. Finally, we found a pair that looked like they would work, and he decided to try them on. Because he had recently had surgery and could not physically put on the shoes, he asked me to do it for him. Now, I know what you are thinking... "No big deal! He is elderly, of course I would put on his shoes for him." But a couple of things that you don't know are that within the few minutes that I was helping him find his shoes, this man was incredibly rude and cranky. He continued to insult our shoe selection and my service because I "couldn't find anything for him". And the kicker was that as I looked down at his feet, I swear he had some sort of fungus growing out of his toes. I was already frustrated with this customer, but I decided to bite the bullet and help him with his shoes. THEY FIT! Success! Because these pair fit, the man decided to buy them and just wear them out of the store. As I was checking him out at the register, I continued to offer him a store membership which would help him by giving him back coupons for future purchases. Immediately, he told me "NO!" and how he never finds shoes at our store and that what he was buying today was "secondary". Frustrated I managed to smile a few more seconds until he left the store.

How could this man be so angry and ugly to me when I had done everything I could to serve him well and give him what he needed. Immediately, I was reminded of the story in the Bible where Jesus washes his disciples feet. I am positive that the disciples feet were not well manicured, clean, or smelling nice. I am also positive that Jesus did not choose to serve them in this way because He thought that they would be forever faithful to Him. The point of Jesus washing His feet was rather to emphasize HIS faithfulness to us. Goodness. I am human, and one of the hardest things for me to do is to love people unconditionally. To love people like Jesus loves sometimes seems nearly impossible, especially when people don't seem lovable. Something I pray for myself is that the Lord softens my heart to people where it has become hard. I pray that I can serve as Jesus served, even when faithfulness is not returned to me.

At our wedding, last May, Brett and I decided to have a feet-washing ceremony after exchanging our vows. I especially pray that the Lord continues to allow us as a couple to serve each other as Christ serves the church. Here is a picture from our wedding and I hope it reminds you to serve someone this week.

Have a blessed weekend! And expect a new house post soon with pictures of our home!!

It is finished!

This morning was sooooooo exciting.... BECAUSE we became homeowners!! We went this morning to sign the papers and pick up the keys to our sweet little three bed, two bath home in Garland, Texas. Words cannot express the joy Brett and I feel that we finally get to move into our new home close to our church family and friends. I have been itching get closer to those we love and spend most of our time with. This year, for me at least, has been hard not having community near by especially being our first year as a married couple. I can't wait to ask people over for dinner and spend time with friends without a 30 mile drive to get there. The Lord has been so good to us in this entire process of house hunting, inspection/appraisal, and closing on the house. I am also very thankful for all that have been praying and encouraging us through advise during our home-buying process. All that's left is to PAINT and move in. We have set the move-date to be May 12th, and I am super excited to spend our first night in our new home. 

 

Boxes, ready to pack :)

Pizza Night!

Tonight I decided to try a new pizza recipe. I realized the other day that Sunday nights have turned into pizza nights for us. Back in football season, I would just get a frozen pizza and chicken wings for our dinner the Sunday nights the Cowboys played. Since then most of our Sunday evenings I have made some form of pizza. Here is what I made tonight:

Muffin Pan Pizzas

Can of 8 jumbo biscuits

Pizza sauce

Pepperonis

Jalepinos

Cheese

(You can include any toppings you like in addition to what we did.)

Place each biscuit in muffin hole and press in the middle of dough to make a bowl shape.

Add pizza sauce.

Add your choice of shredded cheese.

Add pepperonis and other meat toppings.

Jalepinos for Brett of course ;)

Bake for 13-15 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy!

Here is the final product, and if I do say so myself... they sure are yummy! 

What are some special weekly meal you and your family have? Care to share some other fun recipes?