To the Class of 2016

I should be graduating this Saturday with the rest of the class I started my higher education journey with. But being removed from the collegiate world for the past year, I've gotten the chance to sit in the stands & watch from an outsider's perspective. I've watch them marvel in the glory of their true senior year for the past nine months. They've won awards, been placed & voted into valuable leadership positions, made a difference on campus & on their sports fields, staff members have sung their praise, underclassmen have followed their lead, & what a great year it has been for my former classmates. I could not be more proud of them for the difference their presence on this campus for the past four years.

I graduated a full year ahead of them, & yes, part of me wishes that this would be the year I would get to receive my diploma but the entire Reston me is so glad I didn't spend the last month cramming for papers, tests & projects. Sorry, but I'm not sorry.

& to the class I started with, I want to offer some advice about the new world you're about to jump head first into.

1. Things are going to change.

It's okay to be scared. It's still acceptable to cry on the phone to your mom. It's okay to blast your car radio and go on a drive. It's okay to still be young. But be ready for change. You won't notice it at first, but one day you'll wake up to find a whole new perspective of yourself. Use that perspective as your motivation to keep going, to keep pushing. 

2. It is okay to say no to a job offer.

Trust me, I've been there & you don't have to take that first job that's put on your plate. This is your life, you get to make choices now, & you can choose whether or not you want to take this job, whatever it may be. But don't assume something will just fall into your lap, keep your options open & put out your resume and fill out applications. But do something that you're interested in. Eventually something will come up. Eventually something will feel right. Trust yourself, know your strengths, talk yourself up in interview, don't be shy. You deserve the best, don't sell yourself for anything short of that.

3. It is okay for you to want more.

Don't live outside of your means, but take the opportunities that are placed in front of you. Go see a musical, take a mission trip, try an internship. Allow yourself a little leeway cash, you don't always have to spend it, but save it up for a night out or just a new outfit.

4. Get a credit card (if you don't already have one).

I managed to only use money I had in a savings account during my college years, but little did I know that by just having a single credit card I could have been building up my credit to help get a better loan for my first real big girl purchase, a car, which will soon turn into a house loan, or a property loan, or a business loan. Building credit is so important, & I don't think that it is stressed enough, but be careful not to build debt. Make your card a single or double item only card, like gas and groceries. Necessities, not wants. 

5. Set a budget.

You are now entering the world of money. You are about to really see how much living costs. You are about to spend a whole lot of money, on very little things. & trust me, things can rack up quickly. It may not seem like it, but college was the cheapest you are going to live. Endless AC, water & electricity. Free garbage pick up & wifi (even if you weren't always satisfied with it). So be smart. Don't take hour long showers & you don't need AC to survive. Your new digs don't have to be top shelf quality, because most likely you will move, & then move again. Save yourself the cash & don't cash out on small decor items, get the basics & leave it at that for now until you really begin to settle yourself. Become a temporary minimalist. Take into mind, that right now, less is more. Now is the time to start saving money, not spending it.

6. Keep up good habits (or at least start them).

Be positive. Pray. Exercise. 

You're (we're) young. You'll (we'll) be stressed, frustrated, misunderstood, taken for granted, over or under worked & paid. & it's okay. Get that in your head. You are going to be fine. You eventually be successful. It may take you time, more time than you wanted. Don't ever let your success be determined by the amount of money you make or the hours you put in. Keep pushing & soon thing will begin to feel right. 

Pray, because there is a God who is rooting for you, reach out to Him daily. Find your own personal way to praise Him, He will hold you. Even if you feel lonely, lost, scared, He will be there. He has plans, be willing to accept those plans.

Exercise. Because you will gain weight if you just sit around. They say the "Freshman 15" is a thing, well trust me the post-graduation weight is just as real. Set small goals for yourself. Buy a set of weights, follow Pinterest and YouTube workouts; you don't need a gym membership to be in shape. Besides, don't you want to be the one who looks great at all those class reunions?

I promise you'll be okay.

You've all done so many great things already, you've got a great start. You'll go on to be performers, teachers, business leaders, lawyers, parents, spouses. You will go on to help so many people in a thousand different ways that you'd never even planned for. 

Always keep your chin up. Always keep your eyes & heart open.

Happy graduation, my dear friends. I am so proud of you for fighting through this past month of school, I know how much it can suck. But I love you all. Thank you for each holding a special place in my heart.

Peace & love.

B.

{PerfectOneTwentyFive}

So it's been awhile since I've updated my thought & life. I've just been a bit busy. 

Recap: I got engaged. Yes! Well that's what I was supposed to say, pretty sure I just mumbled letters as he out the ring on my finger. But in 65 days, I am going to be Mrs. Joseph Davis. Exciting right? Well it is for me. 

So my abscene is due to the fact that I am crazy busy. While waiting tables during the day, I'm going crazy with my princess business & getting all kinds & sorts of gigs & events. It's great to see things really flying. 

My busyness has led me to go almost a little insane. Sleeping poorly, not keeping a regulated diet, super hard lack of exercise. My life is kind of falling into a mess all while I'm supposed to be the most organized I have ever been. 

So, I've dedicated this post to me taking a breather to sit down & write. 

Wedding planning is going great. My mom & Aunt Lori are so helpful. My family is supportive & my fiancé is absolutely the best man. We've got a date & venues. My dad is ready to start building & designing to make our ceremony beautiful. Flowers are ordered, The Dress is almost finished with alterations, Joe looks so good in his new suit and shoes. We've got ties and earrings. I'm working with our caterer this week & crafting out the wazoo. 

Seriously, weddings are so much fun to me. I've always enjoyed them. I can remember when I was younger going to my cousins' weddings or people my parents knew, & when I wasn't a flower girl, I would always try to sit on the end of aisle. My favorite part was to have the bride's dress trail over my feet as she walked down the aisle. For some reason, that moment was so magical. 

As I've grown, & played the role of bridesmaid or maid-of-honor in my friend & sisters weddings, I have grown to see the magic in the grooms face as he sees his bride for the first time. Or the weepy happiness in a fathers eyes as he gives his daughter away. Crazy how one day can leave so many different elements of magic all over the place. There's magic in the dressing room as the bridesmaids all laugh & playfully tease so to ease the bride's nerves. 

I brag about my soon-to-be husband to people I wait on at work. I show off the beautiful ring he picked out, I tell them "He's alright. He'll do for now." But they know I mean more. Because he deserves more of a beautiful description. I'm not easy to deal with or handle at times. I can still get moody, upset, frustrated, he deals with me when I'm purposefully annoying him & trying to get a rise out of him. He's got patience & I lose count of how many times a day I hear the phrase, "I love you." People tell him he is lucky to have a catch like me, they're right, but they're also wrong. I'm the lucky one. I got the prize. Never would I thought that I could fall so hard for someone else, love as purely as I love Joe.

He's my absolute favorite person to spend my days with. 

I'm the lucky one. Joe brings an uncanning amount of joy to my life. He makes me laugh, he laughs at me. Joe knows how to cheer me up & how to level my head. 

I bet everyone has heard the saying, "When you know, you know." Well, it's so true. Funny because I was beyond against Joe at the beginning. Scared of what people would think of me & my decisions or choice in judgement.  But what I wasn't aware of was the amazing man God placed into my life when we both were at difficult & uncertain times. I just want to go back in time & tell myself to let go of my heart & hand it over to him, because he's the best one fit to guard it.

Love is beautiful. I hope everyone can experience just once in their life someone who fully & selflessly understands them.

Follow our love story & fairytale at www.theknot.com/us/PerfectOneTwentyFive or watch my page for wedding updates, pictures or just more snippets of my bragging on my Joe. 

Peace & love.

B.

{Recipe}

I never thought I would be the type of girl who would mourn the absence of her boyfriend when he leaves for work or for a weekend speech tournament. I never thought I would become so obsessed with the presence of him. My daily routine of seeing him as many minutes in a day as I possibly could has plagued me with an aching feeling that I can't match with anything else. I have never felt more complete, loved, & wanted than I do when I am with Joe.

This is how my relationship with the Lord works, too. & as much as i love Joe & would do absolutely anything in the world to serve him, I would do that much more to honor & glorify my God. You see I get my worldly fulfillment from Joe & am beyond blessed that my heart was opened to him, but my soul is sustained by my Lord & Creator.

First & foremost, I give myself to Him. From the beginning of our relationship, I told Joe that my heart belonged to God, & luckily, he has come to share a piece of it too. 

I've admired watching Joe's faith. Watching how he analyzes sermons & devotions, how he can depict out the smallest piece of an argument & cause the other person to really think about what they believe in & who they believe in. His faith & constant search for the real truth has brought me to find mine. 

Secondly, any young Christian girl sat through some Wednesday night purity class & they talked about their future husband. They listed traits that would describe him: hardworking, loving, handsome, funny. But a trait that usually made the cut would be "God-fearing." The classic good girl response & if you didn't put that one down first on the list then where did your priorities really lie, right? Not to say that you shouldn't desire that trait in your life partner, but have you ever realized that there is more than one version of a follower of Jesus Christ?

It took me a long time to come to terms with that. My man was to stand out but also blend in. To be called on day after day & Sunday after Sunday. He would have the respect of the elders & other members of the church. A lot of pressure. When I think of a Christian man, I think of my father. I think of my grandfathers. I think of my brother. So many other wonderful leaders I have had in my life. I have seen them work in the church. I have heard them praise. I have witnessed their broken hearts. I had a cookie cutter version of what I wanted my husband to be doing to express his faith & love for his savior. 

But finally, I was blessed with Joe. The man who I'm not going to see standing up every Sunday to lead praise & worship. Or be asked to say a prayer for every Lord's Table. He might be the one getting up to do announcements or reaching it to those who may be in financial, mental, spiritual, or physical conflicts. I see a man who will support & pour him whole self into a person or a project. A man who is driven by passion. 

One day, I told Joe to lead me. He said no, walk beside me. We've been hand in hand ever since. 

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return fir their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls & has no one to help them up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." 

Ecclesiastes 4:9,10 & 12.

1Also, 12 Th

I don't want a gingerbread man, a cookie-cutter version of the Christian man picture I painted in my head many years ago.. I don't need a gingerbread man & his sugar coating & gumdrop buttons. I need someone who will put a bitter taste in my mouth that will help me to think, that will help me to challenge & try until I find my own recipe of faith.

God gave me my God-fearing man. In a way that I would have never expected.

Peace & love.
B.