ready to be home

we are heading home today…brings new meaning to “the honeymoon is over” cause today it really is. we are sitting in the LaGuardia airport waiting on our 10:05 flight. We were supposed to fly out at 4:41 to Cincinnati and then get a connection to Birmingham and be home around 8….but when we got here our first flight was delayed…and we were going to miss our connection…so Delta booked us onto a 10:05 direct flight to Birmingham…so we have 4 more hours to wait at the airport….

our terminal has all we need….starbucks, chillis. i have a wireless card and we have each other ;). what more could we ask for?

oh….and i get to blog now….Chad said so.

here is how it went down

Hey! I am Lynse Stevens (not legally yet, but close enough :)).

As many of you know i got married on April 5th. I had the honour of Anne Jackson coming to the wedding and she agreed to twitter the events of the evening. They are kind of laid out weird…start at the bottom and work up.

So that is a quick run down of the wedding. It was such a great day for me! I was pretty relaxed until the cake lady….which turned out to be totally fine and amazing!

I am so glad that 4 months of planning paid off…it was great and an amazing day!

As people were arriving i started to get nervous….not cause i was getting married, cause i was/am really happy about that, but because i dont like being the center of attention and i was about to walk down the isle in front of nearly 300 people. Oh Lord!! But i did that and it ended up being really special.

Chad had this idea when we were not even planning “our wedding” but an “event.” That the significant women in my life who helped make me who i am and have poured into my life up until now would meet me mid isle and each hand me a flower that they chose to make my bouquet. It was so so special to me.

I had my bridesmaids
mom(s) (mine and Chads)
a friend through email and blogging who has been there through some times and prompted some conversations that needed to take place, Anne Jackson,
my mom in birmingham, Gina
my good (and newest friend), Mandy
my friend and “older sister”, Emily Cayne Rowe
my councelor and friend, Sommer
my prayer warrior, Maria
and my amazing friend, and an amazing listener Karol.

It was so meaningful….and i have an awesome bouquet.

It was so fun! It was a lot of work and we changed locations the Friday before and then the night before changed the ceremony to the same place as the reception….a HUGE warehouse.

Our awesome photographers, Zach and Jody Gray posted some of the pics, they are in a sideshow and if you would like to see them

click here.
Then on the left click on “portfolio” and then “latest” and we should be the first one that pops up…there is about 50 pictures or so.

Enjoy! More about our NYC trip soon.

down to the wire

Ok people, we are getting down to crunch time….and i am loving this! It is so fun. I am stressed, yes, but i seem to work well under stress…i wanted to take a minute and brag on my photographers.

They are a super cute couple from the Nashville area….Zach and Jody Gray. They are probably the most organized “artists” that i have met. They are so on the ball which is allowing me to not stress. I get friendly reminders of the info that they need.

All i am saying is that if you are needing a photographer i would highly recommend them. Just for the sheer fact that they are very professional.

Enjoying crunch time!

OH LORD…please help

Who would have thought that so much goes into a wedding….this is a picture of my next week…i realize that it is mostly in pencil, so you probably cant read it….but Lord, please help! And among all of those little things i have to do….i also have to work. But Saturday night i will be a married woman…and the happiest woman on earth! I wouldnt trade it for the world.

ummm….so…..ya

people!!  Can we talk about the fact that I am getting married on Saturday!  This coming Saturday, April 5th.

OK, so that is…

MONDAY…..TUESDAY……WEDNESDAY……THURSDAY……FRIDAY……GET MARRIED DAY!!!

I am so very excited and nervous.  There are so many emotions running around in my head right now.

Going through my schedule this morning in church (i know, i know) i realized i dont have time to blog, think or even sleep.   So if you are in Birmingham or have time and would like to come help me…i would love it.

I cant wait to show you all pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.

a mothers love

“I wish we would have gotten to know each other better.”

This is a statement that has been echoing through my mind for the last few days. It is something that was said to me the other night that i will probably never forget.

I was having a text conversation with my mom as i was drifting off to sleep and this is what it ended on. “I wish we would have gotten to know each other better.”

My mom and my relationship is not bad…it is not something that i would like to block out of my memory. it was just never very strong. I never confided in her. I never went to her with problems, or asked her advice. I hid things from her and from others. So our relationship was never able to grow. I kept her out of my world.

While i was growing up i didn’t want to get advice from her. You think you know everything and your parents are just from “another time” and dont know what they are talking about. So when I left home at 18… i still thought i knew everything.

through the time of being here the void of not having my mother in my city i found women around me to be that kind of person in my life. These people poured so much into me. They were wise and taught me so much.

But now that i am older (stop laughing…i said older not old) i am realizing how wise my mom really is.

But now, I also wish that we could have gotten to know each other better. There is a missing part in my life….one that only my mom can fill. I have regret for the years that i shut her out. Those are years that i can not get back.

This is hi-lighted in my mind right now in the process of getting married. I want her here. I want her help. I want my mom. I want to get to know her better. She has wisdom on how to be a wife. She knows me better than i think she does.

But from now on I am going to work on making sure we get to know each other better.

Is there someone in you life that you wish you knew better?

8 days…or so

Easter was great!! our services went off without any problems…we hit all of our transitions and we had 11000 people or so. it was cool.

as i am sure you have noticed my posts have been few and far between. i am not going to apologize, but i will explain.

easter is always a big deal…it is the extra hours, the late nights…one of those times in ministry that takes a lot out of you. Easter ended and i had this epiphany that i am getting married very very soon. i think it is 8 days from now. that is a crazy thought.

in 8 days….i am so excited. it is going to be great. but after easter wasnt the only thing on my radar i freaked out. i feel like i have nothing done…Chad reassures me that i have a lot done and could get married this weekend….but i beg to differ.

So if anyone on here has gotten married and can remember what some of the last minute things that you almost forgot were please let me know so i can make sure that i have done them.

ps - I have about 5 posts brewing and cant seem to finish them. i am trying…and will continue to.

the difference in a day

Cities feel different when people leave. I am not a fan of change, it actually sends me on a tailspin. I am a routine type person. I like my days to look the same…and i like the people around me to stay consistent. But when you are dealing with people you cant guarantee that people will stay consistent. they all have lives and other people in their life that they are looking out for.

All of this to say today is the day that my boss and his family left. They are headed back to Colorado Springs. So this morning when i woke up Birmingham felt different. there was a little void in my little world.

Tomorrow when i go to work i will be reminded of the void. I will get there and there will be a personality missing. There will be stories missing. There will be a smile missing.

Don’t get me wrong, i am glad that they are getting to be with their family and back to where they call home. But doesn’t mean i like them to be gone. I would have loved for them to stay. For me to get to see their kids grow up and have southern accents.

But they will love their home again. So i am happy to see them find their home and community. Or as Anne Jackson so often and puts it very well “their tribe.”

So if you read this today pray for their cross country drive and their transition back into their lives in Colorado.

letting Jesus out of the tomb

I am sitting in the 3rd of 5 services….I know it is shady that I am blogging in church, but I know I would forget or put it off if I don’t do it now.

This morning I woke up thinking about Jesus. It is clear that He is risen. And today feels different.

Today is a reminder that I am free. A reminder that he rose from the grave which has set me free.

But as I sit here and think about today feeling different…the lord reminded me that it is not only Easter Sunday that he is risen.

For me I seem to put Jesus back in the tomb the rest if the year. Easter I know and experience the power of the risen one, but the other 364 (365 this year) I put Jesus back in the tomb.

I am challenged to keep him out of the tomb….the whole year. Live in His power, and believe totally in the risen one.

Any thoughts?

nighty night

It is 12:01 on easter sunday. I am driving home from the church. Someone once told me “put off today what can be done tomorrow” and I am beginning to think it is not a wise person. Last night at around 630 I decided to drive to nashville.

I needed a break. I needed to get out of birmingham.

So now it is 12:01 am and I am just getting to bed.

Learn lynse learn.

Sleep is important!

undying passion

The other night i went to a concert. I dont go to many lately….but when i do it is an artist that i enjoy. I went to see Ani Difranco.

She is an amazing musician and entertainer. I love watching people who love music…because it shows. Her passion for music was so encouraging….it makes me want to pick my guitar back up.

As i was watching her i was thinking about passion. raw passion for something that you enjoy. I dont know that i have that “thing” the “thing” that i am so passionate that i couldnt live without. I was thinking it was blogging…but i can go a day without blogging…as i seem to have been quite frequently in the last few weeks.

So for today as i did some pampering things like a massage, tanning and getting my nails put back on i spent the day thinking about passion. a love for what i do…so i find myself on this journey.

I am not trying to “find” myself, but i would love to love something so much that it becomes who i am…or the thing that people relate with me.

If you have something, what is the ONE thing that you are so passionate about?

merge

These past few weeks have been insane! And i dont see a reprieve anytime in the near future.

Easter is about a week and a half away and then the biggest event in my whole life (up until this point) is happening on April 5th. Yep! I am getting married and will become Lynse Leanne Stevens…i am so pumped about the whole thing.

kind of…

I have been thinking a lot about the “merging” of lives. It is not easy. It hasnt been horrible…but you start talking about things like breakfast. Like Cap’n Crunch with or with out Crunch Berries. Which i will not eat them if they have them, and Chad will not eat them if they dont.

Hmmmm….those little things.

they are little but through this i am learning that there are random things that you do differently and you like or don’t.

We are in the process of “2 becoming 1″ and it is hard.

taking the things that i do in the morning and realizing that in 23 days they will have to merge with Chads. Does he shower in the morning or the night…cause i am a night showerer so my hair will dry and i can straighten it in the morning. What if our times collide? (say nothing)

As you can tell i think about this a lot. but it is because i do not like change. i like stability and in cause you wondered getting married is a big change….at least for me. it is a great change and i am so excited about it…but it is change nonetheless.

So if you all have any thoughts, advice or just want to tell me you are praying for me it would be a HUGE blessing!

busy…

I have been so out of routine lately…my mom has been in town and i am getting married in 25 days….so please excuse the lack of blogging.

I apologize and will work on it…

morning read

On my morning trip through blog reading, catching up on twitter and the Drudge Report this article peaked my attention. 

A Kentucky Lawmaker wants to make anonymous posting online illegal….an interesting thought. 

Thoughts?

who knows where it is?

My mom flew in this weekend for 2 showers that we are having.  we had one last night at it was amazing.  it was all of my people who i love.  it was so great.

but my poor mom…she was supposed to fly in thursday night and hang out…but she got stuck in Dallas for the snow. She spent 28 hours in the Dallas airport.  when she finally got here they lost her baggage…and it is still no where to be found. 24 hours later and it is still missing.  Her clothes for the bridal tea are in there….her mothers pearls that i am going to wear at my wedding are in there…and it is lost somewhere.

I am super irritated with her airline as they have been no help to us.  they have done nothing to help the process or have not even filed the report that we filled out to notify them of a “lost bag.”  So please please be praying for her and for us…that her bag gets here.

I almost lost my salvation talking to the people at the lost baggage.  i went in so nice and the lady was so rude that it made me want to be rude back.  but instead i just walked away and vented to Chad.  If you dont enjoy doing your job and me requesting you to do what you are being paid for really ticks you off then maybe a new job might be in your and my best interest.

What are your nightmare travel stories?