Aloha!

September 30, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a (nearly) Wordless Wednesday, but since our return from the great state of Hawaii left us with some pretty amazing pictures, now seems like a good time. 🙂 Enjoy & Mahalo!

Our first leg of the journey was to Houston, TX. We arrived, booked a room at a hotel we chose randomly, and when we arrived...who should step off the elevator, but our long-lost friend Josh!! Small World! — Our first leg of the journey was to Houston, TX. We arrived, booked a room at a hotel we chose randomly, and when we arrived…who should step off the elevator, but our long-lost friend Josh!! Small World!

We made it on the Houston to Hawaii flight!! (Note: Our Big Smiles!)

Hanauma Bay

Waimanolo

Punchbowl Cemetary

From Our Hike Up Diamond Head

Our Sunset Dinner Cruise.

Pearl Harbor & the USS Bowfin Submarine

Pacific Aviation Museum

Y'all...see Monday's post about my CRAZY ISLAND HAIR! This WIND and my MANE really didn't help with our picture-taking! — Y’all…see Monday’s post about my CRAZY ISLAND HAIR! This WIND and my MANE really didn’t help with our picture-taking!

Our Dinner Cruise Catamaran

USS Bowfin Submarine

Kona Brewing Company

Polynesian Cultural Center

Hawaii Baptist Academy – Where I Attended Middle School

Diamond Head – Again

On the flight over…while my hair was still behaving!! 🙂

And there you have it folks – the highlights reel!

Until tomorrow…

What's Up Wednesday

Pilgrims & Pillow Fights

November 26, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, Y’all!

Today, you should be very thankful because I come bearing few words! 🙂 On this day before Turkey Day, we are sharing some pictures of what we have been up to.

If you read yesterday’s post, you know we traveled to Plymouth, Massachusetts to really get into the spirit of Thanksgiving. Not only were we able to see Plymouth Rock & the Mayflower II, we also ventured upon the National Monument to Our Forefathers – which was absolutely breathtaking:

It was a stark reminder, through everything going on in our country today, of the principles our great nation was actually founded upon…

We had a lot of fun, and I strongly recommend visiting Plymouth, MA!

Remember us telling you we had a Youth Ministry Lock-In a few weeks ago? Well, we finally recovered enough from the night of NO sleep to share the photos:

In other YM news, this past weekend, we held the Christmas Craft Fair, at which our youth group manned the “Wisemen’s Treasure Chest”… We raised $444 (yes, really – if you read this blog regularly, you’ll know why that makes us smile!) for our group!!

Well, we are settling in for the day… A Nor’Easter is heading through and it has been SNOWING all day!

These are some shots from earlier this morning…So excited for snow and snow with my husband HOME!!! Yay!

From our little family (minus Craig who is behind the camera, and Miss Daisy who is most likely under the bed snoozing) to yours, Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

What's Up Wednesday

Uncle Craig & Aunt Pier

October 15, 2014October 15, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Lucky you! You’re in for a NEARLY wordless Wednesday – but stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog…it’s FULL of WORDS. 😉

This weekend we traveled to Minnesota for the first time from Maine, all to see our beautiful niece, Eden.

Isn’t she adorable? 🙂 Can you say a quick prayer for God to bless us with sweet Baby Jonah soon?? This experience only increases the baby fever! 😉

We also spent some time with Marty & Danielle – Marty is Craig’s first cousin, and Danielle is his beautiful wife. 😉 We always have a BLAST when we get to spend time with them!

And, of course, NO family trip can do without some group photos! These turned out really well!!

Until tomorrow!!

What's Up Wednesday

All In Just Over A Month…

October 1, 2014October 2, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres6 Comments

Wow – It’s been awhile since we have published a What’s Up Wednesday! But once you see “what’s been up” in the post below…I think you may understand the reasoning for the break from blogging! 🙂 Enjoy the mini picture album, and see how much God can do when you simply say “YES!”

It all started with Craig and I putting our house on the market. We knew it was time to move…but at the time, we had no CLUE of how big God’s plans for us were!

When we made plans to move to Maine, and answered His call to “PACK!”, our house sold in basically the snap of a finger! We knew we would be downsizing, and so we had a grand ol’ two-day yard sale:

After everything had been sold, donated or packed, we took a final look at the beautiful Georgia view from our back porch…

…and we said goodbye to some of our dearest friends…

…and we packed up the biggest moving truck Penske had available…

…and set off for Vacationland (otherwise known as “Maine”)! *If you’re a Lefebvre, you understand why I’m pointing to the grill of this truck…If not, just know this moving truck was an International…and that means it was ‘OK” to make the trip!

We made the LONG drive from Georgia to Maine…

…and arrived safely to our little apartment with the furs!

We started to check out our new neighborhood…

…and enjoyed some delicious seafood and beautiful views along the way!

Our pups enjoyed the ocean for the first time…

…and if you’ve never watched the movie “Marley & Me”, do…and you’ll understand why the beach was such an experience for us… 😉

We celebrated our two-year/cotton wedding anniversary, and received this beautiful cotton bole from my parents in a box!

We celebrated our marriage in Cancun, Mexico!!

We had the most MAGICAL anniversary dinner at Thai Cancun…All of the pictures taken were taken from our own private tiki hut for dinner!!!

When we returned from our whirlwind trip, it was back to work for me! Fortunately, being a youth minister means I have the most rewarding and fun job in the world and we got to see Rend Collective Experiment!! If you have never heard of this band…A) They are AWESOME! and B) Look them up! I especially like their song “Build Your Kingdom Here”!

Next up, we celebrated my 32nd birthday! Craig made me a Gluten-Free Three-Layer Banana Pudding Cake! It was DELICIOUS! And yes, I know, I am incredibly blessed to have such an amazing husband! I don’t take him for granted – at all!

We visited the Victorian House in downtown Portland, Maine, and also the Urban Farm Fermentory…

We walked around downtown Portland, and I found a pier on which to take a Pier picture…

…and we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Street & Co. (also in Downtown Portland)…

…where we, of course, enjoyed the lobster! Lobster Diavolo for Two, to be specific! Yum!!!!And that, my dears, is what has been keeping us so busy! In between all of that, we welcomed our sweet and beautiful niece, Eden, into the world (not in person yet, so that’s coming); we attended a Church conference in middle Maine; we traveled to and from Atlanta because my biological father was in a terrible motorcycle accident (Prayers are still needed for him, please!); and we have been running a youth ministry while I study Biology on the side.

I need a nap.

But don’t worry – We’ll be back tomorrow!

What's Up Wednesday

A Vacation In Pictures

July 23, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

Welcome to another edition of Nearly Wordless Wednesday, telling the story of our wonderful and much-needed beach trip to the Florida Gulf!

We made it!! Can you tell how happy and RELIEVED we are to finally be away from it all!??! 🙂

Naptime!

It had rained ALL DAY LONG – downpour rain, thunder and lightening – so we had to wait until evening to step onto the sand, but what a beautiful walk and gorgeous SUNSET!!!

Taken from our condo balcony. GORGEOUS VIEW!!!

More beachwalk!

Reading The Harbinger. Seriously – this book is a MUST-READ!

Angelo’s Steak Pit – I hadn’t been since I went with my grandmother when I was 5-6 (at most) years old. I remember she bought me a gold-dipped shark tooth necklace… I was so proud. LOL. Craig and I ventured back and had to have a souvenir – We chose this lovely red boot glass.

The End! 🙂

What's Up Wednesday

wAhOo!!!! wEdNeSdAy

July 16, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres6 Comments

Y’all. We made it! Today is our Friday, because tomorrow is Day #1 of our trip to the beach!!!

I cannot TELL you how needed this trip is! We have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off for months now, and to have a few days on the horizon with nothing to ‘worry about’ except for our ~~sunburns~~ tans…is a dream come true!

I spent last night doing all the laundry, and packing for the both of us. Craig may think we ~~finally~~ have sold our house and are ~~finally~~ moving with all of the luggage that is packed and ready to go! 🙂 I think, in the back of my mind, maybe I’m hoping we can just stay at the beach and never come back – provided we got to pick up the furs! 😉 Ah, wishful thinking!

I am probably more excited about our beach trip because of WHERE we are going than anything else. It will definitely be a stroll down memory lane! Panama City Beach was the beach to visit when I was a child. I have fond memories of visiting with my grandmother and adventuring at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park. I remember going with my parents and another set of grandparents as a child, and being amazed with the sugary white sand, and going crabbing on the beach at nighttime.

This is the definition of “the beach” to me. I have lived in Hawaii; visited Grenada, Jamaica, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast. Hands down, my favorite beach will always be the Florida Gulf.

We are looking forward to sharing our photos on our return, and who knows – While we are away, you may even get an update or two…

But if you don’t hear from us until Tuesday of next week – we are just fine…Relaxing by the waves!

What's Up Wednesday

Status Quo?

July 9, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Finally! The middle of the work week! We’ve made it!

So how has your week been thus far?

If you read our post yesterday, you know ours has been a whirlwind. We haven’t stopped and it doesn’t look like stopping is in sight any time in the near future!

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “If only I had known then what I know now!!!!”? We all have. But do we ever do anything about rectifying our situation, or do we accept what is as the status quo?

That’s how I have been feeling as of late. My job is just a job, and while I am/we are very involved with church and very active in all we take on, I just don’t feel fulfilled in my career life. Don’t get me wrong. I love my husband so much, I pinch myself every morning to make sure I’m not living in a fairy tale. Our church (and our church family) are amazing and really do feel like family. The singles ministry we have begun with another (awesome) couple at FullTurn is going to impact our community in a way I can’t even begin to fathom!

BUT

I don’t feel like my brain ever gets to turn on.

I want to be CHALLENGED and I want to LEARN again! I enjoyed my first go-round of college a little too much, and attended classes a little less often than I should have. I have my Bachelor’s degree, but it isn’t in an area I feel fulfilled with…

And so when Craig asked me what would make me happy the other day…

I told him, “Going back to school. For real this time. To learn.”

And he, being the amazing husband that he is, said YES.

So, after WANTING and HOPING to do this for YEARS, but never being brave enough to pull the trigger; Never being confident enough to go after my dreams; Never having the follow-through to take the leap…

We registered me for my first class.

I am going to start off slowly. I still have a full-time job. I still have a ton of other responsibilities.

But I’m doing this.

August 6th, 2014. Get ready.

Prayers Please!

What's Up Wednesday

Let Us Experience The Glory Of Your Goodness

June 18, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

This has been a busy week, following a busy week last week.

But this Wednesday, instead of posting about what WE are up to, can you do a favor for us?

Can you please pray for my dad and the sweet lady in blue, pictured below?

My grandmother, “Ma”, went to ICU last night, with a very high white blood cell count and very low levels of potassium, sodium, etc. Please pray for God’s healing hands, and the peace of His presence for both her and my father, and his siblings…all of us.

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TTC Tuesday · What's Up Wednesday

Worry

June 11, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres5 Comments

It feels like I haven’t posted in forever – even though you guys got an update on Monday. I wrote that post last week because I KNEW this week was going to be just craziness!

The past two days WORRY has been on my mind – and not so much in the way of things I am worrying about, but more so about what I am not worried about. Last Tuesday, we posted about Future Baby Jonah and got something very rare for this blog. A true first, actually. A nastygram, in the form of a blog comment. It was supposed to be anonymous. The person used a fake, and very rude, e-mail address, and said something very hurtful, but thanks to technology, know that whatever you post or write on the internet, your identity can be found out. That said, we know who this comment came from.

Rather than WORRYING about what that person said, and if it might be true, I was first angry with her and then later – after much prayer and cooling off time 🙂 – sad for her. Her comment made me remember what my life was like without Christ at the center. It makes me look back on how unbearably bleak an existence without hope is.

I love the way The Message translation of the Bible reads. Try this one on for size:

James 1:2-4

The Message (MSG)

Faith Under Pressure

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

My faith in Christ means that I don’t have to worry. His Promises are real. His Word is true. His Spirit is our comfort.

The Holy Spirit has revealed and continues to reveal to me and to those around Craig and I truths and promises about our Baby Jonah. He asks that we continue to follow Him – no matter what, and the more closely we follow, the more He shows us we are on the right path. It is an uphill journey. It has not been easy.

He doesn’t promise easy. As a matter of fact, He warns the road is a hard one.

Matthew 10:16

The Message (MSG)

16 “Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.

So don’t worry. Be diligent in your prayer life and follow Him – no matter what.

1 Peter 5:7

The Message (MSG)

6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

If God is for you, after all, who can POSSIBLY be against you – and stand a chance?