What a Blessed Weekend!!

This weekend was definitely one of the best weekends of my life thus far, for many reasons.  This was definitely a weekend that God showed me how well He knows my heart and what makes me happy. It was like a spiritual retreat filled with some of the best moments I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

To begin, the foundation of my great weekend was the fact that my mom, dad, and brother were here the entire week. I always have so much fun with them. Conner and I stayed up too late playing one of our favorite games on our iPhones, coupled with lots of laughs and great conversation. My brother really is the coolest kid I’ve ever met. He’s so funny and has such a sweet heart. I cherish every moment I get to spend with him. My mom worked so hard on our house all week. From watering the yard, to cleaning the house, to wrangling the dogs at dinner time, my mom was constantly working, trying to make our house even better than she found it. She loves to spoil us like that. My dad had to work out of town a couple of the days, so when he got back in town, it was great to spend time with him. He always works so hard, so I hope our house is like a vacation for him, where he can relax and rejuvenate his spirits and mind.

Friday night, Luke came to town almost spontaneously to celebrate our 5 year anniversary together. We went to dinner on Friday night (although our anniversary was on Saturday—but more details on the reason for the early celebration later!) at a really fancy Italian place that we go to for special occasions. Then we just drove around town, reminiscing about the past, and talking about how exciting our future is. Then we came back and enjoyed visiting with my family before everyone went to sleep.

I should also add that Friday during lunch, we were at the same restaurant with the new men’s head basketball coach, then after dinner we saw Dat Nguyen, a coach for the football team. It’s always fun seeing local celebrities (or in Dat Nguyen’s case, a former professional football player) around town. It’s just another reason why I’m so blessed to live here.

On Saturday, my family went back home and Luke went back to Dallas. But my sister and I didn’t stay in town for long because we were on our way to Houston to see the New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boy’s concert (or NKOTBSB as I affectionately refer to them). Seeing BSB in concert has literally been a dream of mine since I was in 3^rd grade. I used to pretend I was their best friend and I’d go on tour with them one week and N’Sync the next week. I always used to dance and sing their songs in my room and in our basement, learning every single dance that I could. So seeing BSB was literally a dream come true for me. I knew I would be hysterical when I saw them perform, but ultimately I think I held it together well (except when they started singing “Everybody”- then I went absolutely crazy). Going to the concert with my sister was really great too because she is the only person that I feel like I can be completely crazy around (especially when it comes to the Backstreet Boys—or just boys in general for that matter). I can be completely myself and I know that she’ll just laugh along with me. So she played a big role in my dream coming true. The whole trip there and back was such great bonding time that I’ll really miss when I move to Dallas after I get married.

Saturday night after the concert, we stayed at Meredith’s friend’s parent’s house so we didn’t have to drive all the way back home really late at night. I literally felt like I was home at their house. They spoiled us with a clean house and breakfast and great conversation the next morning.

Sunday, since we were still in Houston, my sister and I, along with her friend Meagan, went to Alfred Angelo to try on bridesmaids dresses. The trip was so smooth and so successful! The dress was even more beautiful than what I had anticipated and it was a lot cheaper than what I had planned.

I felt so blessed because the weekend felt so long! Normally great weekends seem to go by quickly, but I have no doubt that it was nothing short of God’s love that elongated the weekend for me to enjoy every single moment. From spending time with my family, to celebrating 5 wonderful years with my future husband, to one of my longest dreams coming true and celebrating with my sister, I was so blessed this weekend.

I know every weekend, and every day for that matter, are blessings, but God knew exactly what I needed in my life. I’ve been trying to strengthen my relationship with Christ recently, specifically since I started reading Brie’s blog, and this weekend, God really showed me how much He loves me by giving me such joyous and special occasions with my family.

I hope that I’ll learn to see each day as much as a blessing as I felt this weekend. My mind, body, and spirit all felt renewed because of the way God showed me how much He loved me.

Kristen

“Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4