Update

Our summer has been quite busy, thus far...but it's been so fun! I'm going to try and give you a 'rough' update of what's been going on lately, so hopefully it doesn't get too lengthy!

Well, first up in Cody's life, the church moved offices and now they are relocated in the Lancaster Home (Historic Home on VT's campus). Everyone is so excited about the new location and how God will use this new opportunity to reach MORE student for Jesus on Virginia Tech's campus. I can't wait to see God move this fall!

Here's a pic of Cody's new office -he's always wanted a glass desk :)



After that, the 2nd wedding of the season occurred. So, me and 2 other girlfriends loaded up in the car and headed to Illinois for Kristi & Clay's wedding! It was quite a trip, but we stopped halfway, in Columbus, and stayed with Matt & Maria (thanks, again, it was a Godsend!)

So, this is where the story gets interesting...if I had to put a label on it...I'd call this section, Tornadoes. So, me and the girls get into Columbus around 6:30pm on Wednesday, and then we all decide to go out to dinner. So, we pack up in the car again and Maria tells us about this new place to eat (story on that later). So, we get lost (of course) and I'm driving in this tiny little town outside of Columbus and I pull into a small gas station to turn around and then these sirens start going off. The girls inform me that, that means there's a tornado near!! Now, I'm from FL, so I have no past experience with tornadoes {give me a hurricane ANYDAY!} So, I'm kind of nervous now (not to mention another girl in the car is kind of freaking out, so that doesn't help!) So, I quickly turn around and furiously scan the horizon looking for tornadoes and anxiously thinking of how I plan to 'out run' it with Danielle's car! We turned on the radio and sure enough a tornado was in our vicinity...so I keep speeding and try to get out of this weather! Well, praise God, no dodging of the tornadoes! We made it to the restaurant and finally got something to eat at around 8pm! It was quite an experience! I'd love to say that was the end of it, but oh no...

Well, after that exciting night, I was ready to get to Illinois (the irony of that is too funny, now!) We get to Illinois and start helping out with all the last minute details. It was a lot of work, but we had such a blast doing it. It was so fun because we all were "bachelorette's" that weekend, because none of our husbands were able to join us. Well, Saturday finally came and the wedding was gorgeous (pictures below).







Then the reception started....and about 2 hours into it, a man gets on the microphone and says "The fire department has just informed us we are in a tornado warning, and one has touched down about 3 miles from here. If everyone could please make their way to this secured hallway, that would be great." Me and Danielle just look at each other and laugh. I honestly thought this was a joke! So, about 100 or so attendees cram into a hallway and just wait. About 15 minutes goes by and they say, "it's made a huge mess of the town next to us and is headed our way! Everyone needs to get into these bathrooms immediately; kids first, then women and men." When they dropped the "kids first" I knew it was serious. I think I was legitimately about to hyperventilate. My hands were shaking and I was thinking "I can't believe I'm going to die like this!" So, me and Danielle and Emily Nichols cram into this bathroom stale (picture below) and wait it out! There are probably like 50 people in this bathroom--it was insane! Some lady even got everyone's attention and starting praying that God would break up the storm. Even right now, as I'm writing this, I'm nervous thinking about it. haha. I just can't believe that happened..TWICE in one week! I was texting & calling Cody, my parents and Em (back home) and asking for their prayers. It TRULY was an answer to prayer that we are alive. The tornado dissipated about half a mile from the church and touched ground right past the church! Needless to say, I was done with the Midwest!!




We packed up that night and left at 5am the next morning! I wanted to see my hubby!! The girls dropped me off in Columbus, where Cody was leading worship for his brother, Travis', FIRST launch service at their new church, Covenant (shameless plug...if you live in the Columbus area, check them out!!! Covenant Church Online)

We had a great time hanging out with Travis, Vanessa, Noah and Estella (cutie pie pictured below). We also had such a fun time double dating with Matt & Maria (so wish I had a picture of that!!) Ness, Stelli and I went shopping and we had a great time just talking and hanging out! This was also the time Vanessa guilted me into training and running a 5k with her and her sister, Hannah!! (see previous post)



Well, then Tuesday morning came and we headed back home!! We had about two weeks with NOTHING TO DO!!! It was so glorious! We celebrated our 2 year anniversary and spent so much time together! Since we bought a house, we thought an appropriate anniversary present to each other would be furniture--haha! So, we bought a sectional for Cody's man cave!


In recent happenings with my job, I've applied for a new one! It's an event planner position within Alumni Relations at VT. I've really started to LOVE event planning, so I thought I'd give applying a shot! I'd honestly LOVE the opportunity, but I know that God is sovereign and He is in control...so I'm ok with whatever happens! I'll keep you posted!

This past weekend we went to wedding #3, Emily Reed and Nathan Love! It was such a precious wedding, with her father, a pastor, giving the message! They are such a dynamic amaznig couple and their wedding was so lovely!

Fuzzy picture, but they have 80's sunglasses on!


Part of the reception--this truly doesn't even give it justice! It was beautiful!

Well, I think that about wraps it up!! We have been pretty swamped, but life is amazingly good and we're so grateful for each day! I'll try to keep you posted a little more regularly :)

Up next: July 4th in Boone and Carissa & Dan's wedding :)

Love y'all,
LaRae

27 before 27

As some of you may know, I'm turning 27 this year. I'm not sure why this is such a strange/frightening birthday for me! I think it's just the sound of it TWENTY-SEVEN. It echoes in my mind, reminding me of how old I'm getting and how much of life has already passed me. Now, let me get this out of the way, because these comments are inevitable. yes, I realize 27 isn't THAT OLD, and I'm still a youngin', blah, blah, blah! Ok, that's done.

Ok, back to my rant, where was I? Oh right, TWENTY-SEVEN (echo)...It's just so strange. I remember being in high school and wondering what my life would be like at 27...never would have guessed this!! So, I was thinking this morning, since I'm feeling so old and that life is darn near passing me by...it's time to make a list (surprise, surprise)!! So, here is my 27 before 27 list....27 things I want to do before I'm 27 (or maybe the year I'm 27...I have to give myself a buffer! I only have 14 weeks and 5 days to complete it!)

So,here it goes....(in no particular order)

1. Train for and then run a 5k (thanks V for the motivation!)
2. Get a new job (hopefully!)
3. Bake a souffle!
4. Cook something new each week
5. Write more handwritten letters
6. CONQUER budgeting
7. Read the entire Bible (ok, that may be an entire year one)
8. Get a cool, new, professional blog design
9. Buy our 1st painting
10. Finish decorating our new house!
11. Sing on stage with Cody...without wanting to throw up from fear!
12. Go an ENTIRE work day without going on facebook (haha)
13. Write letters to each person I love and tell them why they are so incredible!
14. Pray more, TONS more!
15. Eat less sugar/dessert (funny how 15 contradicts 3)
16. Go on a vacation with just ME & CODY...NO ONE ELSE!
17. Successfully plant something and actually have something grow from it!
18. Get Cody recording time to make his demo!
19. Learn more about international & domestic adoption
20. Have more grace & mercy
21. Go hiking with Cody(I'm writing this with my teeth clenched and rolling my eyes)
22. Refinish SOMETHING/ANYTHING made of wood!
23. Purge my closet and give it all to those in need
24. Send more cards and buy more presents for friends & family!
25. Lose weight & get in shape!
26. Laugh everyday
27. Go to Paris and kiss Cody at the top of the Eiffel tower (Hey! A girl can dream!!)

and one for good luck....

28. Love Jesus with reckless abandon more and more each day!


Now, it's your turn...what is something you want to do before a big birthday or before you die?!?

My fabulous friends!

Next Monday, Cody and I will celebrate 2 years of marriage. wow, TWO YEARS!! I can’t believe it. So much has happened, it’s crazy! I’m sure you (the reader) are expecting me to elaborate on how much I love Cody and all that gushy stuff….well, I’m not. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m so in love with Cody! Life today is even more sweet and cherished than it was two years ago! But, I’m going to talk about my bridesmaids….all 9 of them :)

If some of you don’t know, Cody and I just bought our first house. Yes, it’s exciting and couldn’t be happier, but with moving/buying a new place comes boxes…LOTS of them. Honestly, in our old place we could barely move around, never mind enjoy our ‘things’ we had stored in the guest room of our 1^st place. Well, now that’s not the case. We have tons of room (so grateful) and TWO guest rooms now (come stay!!) But, as is our fashion, we always have a ‘drop area’. You know what I mean, a place where you just put stuff for “a later time” to rifle through or organize, but in the meantime you shut the door! Yes, well we surely have one of those. It’s our upstairs guest bedroom. This holds everything that encompassed our ‘home office’, Cody’s closet and all things that didn’t find a home in the previous house and subsequently have still not found a home here! Well, the day finally came (today) to UNPACK THIS ROOM!! This afternoon, I started in on the pilgrimage to my perfectly unpacked and clean room mecca! Boy, it was a task…quite the journey! But, I had a blast in the process! (I’ll post pictures later, when there is actually something in the room…it’s empty—praise God – right now!)

Ok, that’s enough backstory…as Cody would so kindly say, “please get to the point!” Well in the midst of this glorious trip, and yes, I say trip, because this was a serious journey down memory lane! Boxes of old pictures, old cards, clothes, etc. (Here comes the point, I promise)…In the midst of all this, I found this!

(For those of you who don’t know, this was a scrapbook my bridesmaids made me and gave me a few nights before my wedding)

I was able to sit and look through it and just appreciate everything that was written and all the fabulous creativity that was put in it! Now, I can’t think of who to start with, so I’ll just go in the order they appear in the book. First up, Bailey!

Bailey Alexandra Smith Hulslander, friends since 6 months of age. I can’t believe we are still friends, today. Even as college and moving has drawn us away from one another, you are considered a best friend of mine. You were so much of my childhood! So many memories I have consist of the fabulous times we had; from Wellington Academy, McDonald’s birthday parties, to playing dress up, gymnastics, to the Three Stooges and Odyssey of the Mind. We’ve been through Sarah Plain and Tall, first kisses and 5^th grade together! And let’s be serious, we were basically sisters…we even had the blonde hair and fair skin to match :) I think of you often and I’m so proud of the woman you are today! No doubt you are as an amazing wife, to Ryan, as you were a friend to me. Love you, Moe! Love, Larry :)

Tara Morgan Propp Morris, friends since I was 5 years old (about 1988). Tara, my goodness….two words, Hartland Street. You were my first friend when we moved to our new home and I can’t believe we are still friends. We had so much fun together…you seriously were my childhood! In every memory I have, we were always having fun and laughing! I’ll never forget the ‘fancy lady dress up tea party’, when Ramsey and I first learned the word prostitute on the bus (hahahaha, thank you public school) your white knee socks, REBELS cheerleading, the Estero Beach Club, the skating rink,, missions trips, concerts with our moms and ski trips!! Your family, was and is, truly my family. You are beautiful, inside and out, and I’m so grateful God gave you and your family to mine. I can’t wait until we’re all old and talking about those silly stories in Oakbrook! I miss you terribly; I wish Indiana wasn’t so far away!! So happy we’re penpals :) Love you, TP! Did we seriously meet Jerry Springer outside of Cracker Barrel?!?!

Emily Jean Millage, friends since 8^th grade. I can’t even write this without tearing up! How to do you say thank you to someone God gave to you as the sister you always wanted? Em, you get me. Plain and simple. You are my biggest cheerleader and you have always been used by the Lord to show me the woman He sees me as and created me to be. Your thoughtfulness is beyond words. Even when you were in Korea, you sent Cody and I a 1 year anniversary present!! I am so honored to call you my best friend. Thank you for the late night AIM chats and phone calls our freshman year of college. God used you to draw me back to Him and that is something that counts for eternity! Even though we get separated, often, we pick up right back where we started! To even start listing our jokes would be trite, this blog would get much longer than it already is! Thank you for accepting me exactly as I am and encouraging me to be me every moment! You are my sister and I love you so much I basically married the male version of you :) Thank you for being you! God’s plan for your life has been and will be amazing and out of control…can’t wait to be there there whole time! Love you, emma. Love, Kazoo (hahahahahahahaha)

Ashley Dawn Cherilla, friends since Junior year of college. Ash, what can I say, you are Cody’s best friend and I knew you were going to be mine, too. Laughter and Tears…those are our two words. Hahaha. whenever we were together we were doing one of those two! My last college roommate and there for all the craziness! I’ll never forget our talks, we could write a flippin’ book!! God used you to keep me close to His heart when life was horrible and to share in the laughter of all the rest! College, concerts, cooking and cranium! …..so much more, I can’t even begin to write it! You are K-fed to my Britney :) Watching Friends until 3am, that one night we had dinner at the bar of Waterstone Pizza, collecting Pashmina scarves, POG, TrueID, South of the Border, going to the club in Roanoke, those hussies decorating OUR Christmas Tree!! It has been a sheer joy to be there for you when you were laughing or crying J 135 Primrose forever. Take care of Florida for me (and Matt Wertz)! Love you, Perscilla Cherilla!

Abigail Michelle Reighard, friends since Senior year of college. The Thanksgiving Flight that changed our lives J With the same middle name and love for designer labels, how could our friendship not bloom! You are truly my soulmate! Your heart is so kind, it inspires me to love others! The cards you wrote me for each day I was in Haiti was more of a Godsend than you will ever know—God used them to keep me going EACH day I was there. You have the most incredible strength I have ever known and yet you never complain. You are my inspiration and my role model. You are more than just beautiful, you are STUNNING and have the incredible heart to match your gorgeous self! 734 and POG. You made our senior year fabulous!! I miss you more each day we are apart! I get giddy just thinking of how God will use you and your story—you are incredible and one of a kind! Thank you for my Ramones shirt and teaching me to love as Christ loves us! “There’s a 30% chance it’s already raining”! LIPS!!!!!! I love you, Regina! Love, Karen

Lindsay Marie Crosby, friends since Senior year of college. Cady, you are so much fun! Every time we were together we were probably getting in trouble and laughing about it! The night I was skanky Britney Spears and you were Slash from Guns-N-Roses, our destiny of friendship began! You are beautiful and probably the only home-schooled person I know who is normal, with the exception of Lindsey Lohan (no offense to home schoolers)! You can always make me laugh and let loose! Thank you for your humor and just letting me be stupid with you! You have an uncanny ability to make any shirt (ugly or cute) look fabulous! I loved our first trip to the monogram and the photo shoot that ensued afterwards!! Nashville is still one of my favorite memories from college! We had too much fun…especially with your sketchy relationship and then Beth thinking I liked him!! Ummm YES, ummm NO! We even looked hot in those gay shirts! You are truly the easiest person to be around and I miss you so much! God has been and still is using you in great ways! Tell Karen Kingsballs, hi for me and Abs! J I love you, Bing!

Jessica Ream Beckles, friends since 2005 (otherwise known as the year Cody and I started dating). Our, now husbands, then boyfriends are best friends, so how could we not be friends?! It seems we are the final ‘better halves’ of 333 Stafford! We have had such a great time being “house moms” to our boys! You and Cedric are Cody and I’s only hope of getting some color in our family tree, so we’re praying your gorgeous daughter will have a thing for our pale red-headed son! J Thank you for being there for everything and keeping us all together (especially our Sunday Family Dinners). It’s been such an incredible joy to see how God has worked in your life and seeing your immense growth! You’re probably the only girl I know who would hop a plane to change her entire wedding to the Bahamas, just for her man. You have incredible strength and determination…not to mention a fabulous ability to make the perfect sweet tea!! Thanks for all the yummy recipes and scrapbooking tips! Love you, Jess!

Danielle Rae McCarthy Ware, friends since my first day at Liberty University! My goodness, we’ve been through it all! You were there the night I came home from my first date with Cody and listened to me cry when we broke up (EACH time!) You are the most compassionate woman I have known and I love you dearly! We have had some insane times together…even as most recent as our tornado scares! Dani, we are such opposites, but God drew us together and we complement one another so well! You and I could, seriously, talk for days! I’ll never forget that first night at Liberty! God used you to reassure me that I was exactly where He wanted me to be, that night! You have challenged me and God has used you to sharpen me, “as iron sharpens iron”. You are my favorite little Italian Mexican! J You know what’s so ironic, that phrase from Forever 21 basically fits everything we’ve gone through “umm, did that seriously just happen?” Tell Alexi I’m sorry for being a horrible influence with his credit card J I think it goes without saying that Liberty would not have been the same without you! We thought we owned that place; we were so crazy! You are such a beauty and I’m grateful God knew to put you in my life J Love you, Dani!

Brooke Maclarion Lee, friends since my brother brought her to meet the family! My sister in law! Brooke, you have been a wonderful addition to our family. God knew exactly who could keep up with my brother! The strength you have is incredible, you are a strong woman! I’m so proud of you and I’m so grateful for your determination in your marriage. You are truly a beautiful example of grace! Thank you for being a part of our special day and always supporting Cody and I! I wish we lived closer! Until then, we’ll have to just enjoy our crazy family vacations (ours might be the only family to go to and actually ENJOY a woolie worm festival) Our family is crazy and I’m glad you can keep up with us J Thank you for giving me a beautiful niece! You’re a great momma! I Love you, Brooke

Girls, with 9 of you, it was hard to get you as wonderful a gift as I wanted to buy each of you! I hope you knew (2 years ago) and still know today how much I love you and cherish your friendship! Thank you for everything! LOVE YOU!!

And p.s. I had the most gorgeous group of ladies stand by me!!

Just to catch up...

Ok, so to catch you up--the garage sale went pretty great! We sold a ton of things and later that afternoon we took all the rest to goodwill...it felt great to get rid of all that stuff!! Hopefully someone will love the things I loved :)

The same weekend as the garage sale, was the weekend of Memorial Day! Cody and I didn't have any plans, so on Saturday morning (as we sat in front of our house selling our junk), we thought we'd have a Memorial Day BBQ on Monday. We had a great time and just invited a few friends over who hadn't been to the house yet, for dinner.

We, also, purchased a new patio set (see picture below)..it's so cute and has a great big green umbrella :)

Later that week, Cody and I headed out of town. I was heading towards Chicago for a wedding and he was heading to Columbus to help with his brother, Travis', church launch service on Sunday. So, that's 1 wedding down and 5 to go!! I'll write another post about the wedding and that entire weekend...it was CRAZY!!!

Well, until then, have an amazing day!! Love ya!