Because We're Happy....

One Saturday morning Steven wanted to dance.... and so we did! 

March 2014 Madness

Cracker Jacks softball team party tonight! So @ericamabry and I went out for a sister date night! #gocrackerjacksloveyourpeanuts

Steven started a softball team at Hobgood Park that consists of 16 of our closest friends and family! The girls are consistently the best fans of any team... you can call us the peanut gallery! 

Happy Birthday to this best friend of mine! Cheers to being awesome and going through some of the best times of our lives together! #roomies #bridesmaids #besties Now go on and get that 26 out of here #footswipe I love you so much Sammy G! 

Happy Birthday to this awesome and beautiful cousin of mine! @sarahequandt thank you for all of the years of advice and laughs you have given me! You light up our family events! I wish I had some old pics of us to throw up here cause we sure had some great times growing up! I love you! xoxo

2014 Spartan Finishers right there! #spartanrace #aroo! 

A bunch of us from work conquered the Spartan race! 4.2 (or so) miles and obstacles! I only had to do 60 burpees... only 2 obstacles failed! AROO! 

We are Spartans! #rkfit #aroo #spartanrace #riskonnect

Just a couple of brunettes hanging out! #milkshakes #crockpotspaghetti #psiloveyou #crotcheting #cookies #besties #slumberparty 

Just a little soccer game action this beautiful Saturday morning! Love me some Stanley time! 

Jayci had a soccer game so we went to cheer her on! Of course we stopped at Dunkin Donuts before hand to get the team some donut hole to energize them before the game! 

FaceTime with our Californian Blonde Bestie last night! Distance doesn't stop our girls nights! #laurenstopmovingthephone haha LOVE YALL! 

Went down to see Rachel & Sarah's new house in Brookhaven and we had a slumber party! First Rachel and I walked to Town Brookhaven and started the night off with a milkshake...then Rachel made spaghetti in the crockpot, then we ended it with a good ole chick flick! 

Lunch date with my mom in downtown Roswell! She doesn't think we look alike anymore...

 I beg to differ! 

I went to the dark side! I had to try it out. I had been blonde for 27 years of my life... it was time for a change... don't worry, i'll be back soon! Blondes probably really do have more fun! 

Booti wanted to go the more formal route to church this morning. 

5 pillows made! Thank you rain for making me stay in today! 

Made new pillers for my back porch sittin'! 

Just ordinary humans building with an extraordinary God! #thegrove Psalm 84 - be a sparrow. 

Got to go to The Grove, finally, down at Passion City Church. A gathering put on by women, made for women, and filled with lots of women! KK and I went together and it was awesome! Will be back! 

Booti thought he was gonna get by on his 6th birthday without an Instagram collage...No sirie! He's the best Booti in the world! Happy Birthday to my Bubba! #overthehill

Twining x2 #riskonnect culture #rkfit

Love that I can wear work out clothes to work...everyday if I wanted to! :) 

First day of spring calls for a sit-on-a-patio-at-Bahama-Breeze-with-cold-drink-in-hand-talking-about-life-boys-and-Jesus kind of day with @katenowland

Yup, we did just that! 

I got this sucker through email one day! Made me smile I thought I would share! Love you Kate! 

(Booti was just vacuumed before this pic) Now for his nails to get filed down with sandpaper! Typical day at the Castardi's! 

FaceTime with my Bestie @jesskatenamy I LOVE YOU and so proud of your obedience to our Father. Only 3 more months (hand shake). 

Jessica left Hawaii and headed to Jordan to do mission work! I get to see her in 3 months! 

So proud of these two girls tonight! @claudiagoodwin and @michaela_thomasss told the world tonight that are in need of a savior and they have found one to follow! Although you were both baptized tonight and cleansed of your old ways ready to live with Him, my hope is that you will be covered in dust from this point forward...I pray that you will continue to follow so closely to Jesus that the "dust from his shoes" cover you! Love you both so much - like a proud mama bear! 

@wendifreeman workin like a boss! #top10bestie 

I am so proud of this man right here. The biggest award you can win in his company was awarded to him and then the next day he landed a well deserved promo.... and you would never know because of his humbleness. I strive for his determination. He is passionate with everything he does and truly  has a heart like Paul. Proud to be his best friend, wife, and Noggy! (not to mention his good looks and keen sense of memory making rock my world!) 

Steven not only won the Ace Awards for his company but then got promoted to Manager at his community! I am so proud of him! 

This little guy makes me happy! 

Work besties hanging out!!!! Love you both so much! @wendifreeman @katenowland #springequinox

Kennesaw Mountain Biscuit kind of morning with @thecastardian

Forever Friends. Love them! #picturetakingfun

This is the night that Leslie broke the news that she was pregnant! She had Brandon take a picture of all of us and he said "1, 2, Leslie's Pregnant!" - We all stood there in shock and then started freaking out! haha It was awesome!!!! So happy for them! The rest of the night was baby talk! 

Hands down the cutest second cousin ever! Ahhhh love me some Carly! #regram from Sarah! #springbreaktoddlerstyle

The Quandt's went to FL from SB and I couldn't resist not reposting this picture! She is the cutest... in picture and in person... in beauty and in personality! 

Our weekly date... check! Work, Aruba reds, life catch up, coconut skrimp, spin dip, chit chat it up, Aruba Red, side salad, Jesus...of course, split AR, full stream race, pit stop at the bar for an h20 to go... then skiddaddle on home! Yup, love my Kate time! 

Porch Rules have been hung! #tistheporchseason Big shoutout to our friends who contributed a rule!

You do not talk about the porch rules  - Steven

Always play a tune - Jessica

Slow down - Rachel

Friends are always family - Blase

Leave your worries at the door - KK

Mardi Gras beads required - Wendi

Sip coffee or beer - Steven

Make something - me

Have a deep convo then laugh until you cry - Lauren

Don't feed stray cats - Erica

No shoes, no panties, no problem - Stepfords

Take a nap or two - me

Breathe it all in - me 

12:44

A co-worker came out of his way to share with me this song. It was recently released and I feel honored that he thought of me and knew that it would not only melt my heart but push my boldness just a little further. What he didn't know is that this song would be our theme song for the weekend. We made room for 12 minutes and 44 seconds throughout the day on Sunday. It was the first thing we listened to in the morning and the 12 minutes it took us to get to J Christophers after that. We even did the stair-master at the gym for exactly 12 minutes and 44 seconds.  I searched and searched for lyrics of what the guy spoke in the middle of the song and couldn't find them so I transcribed them myself. Such a beautiful illustration that I am not comprehensive enough to form myself but exactly how I feel... my words will never be able to describe Him.

FOREVER -By Kari Jobe

"If there are words for Him then, I don't have them.

You see my brain has not reached a point where it could form a thought that could adequately describe the GREATNESS of my God.

And my lungs have not yet developed the ability to release a breath of enough agility to breathe out the greatness of HIS LOVE. 

And my voice, you see, my voice is so inhabited, restrained by human limits, that its hard to even send a praise up.

You see, if there are words for him then, I don't have them. 

And my God, His GRACE is remarkable, MERCIES are innumerable, STRENGTH is impenetrable, HE is honorable, accountable, favorable, He's unsearchable yet KNOWABLE, indefinable yet APPROACHABLE, indescribable yet PERSONAL.

He is BEYOND comprehension, further than imagination, CONSTANT through generations, KING of every nation.

But if there are words for Him, then I don't have them.

You see, my words are few, and to try and capture the one TRUE God, using my vocabulary would never do. But I use words as an expression, an expression of worship to a SAVIOR, a savior who is both WORTHY and DESERVING of my praise, so I use words.

My heart extolls the Lord, blesses His name forever.

He has WON my heart, captured my mind, and has bound them both together. He has defeated me in my rebellion, conquered me in my sin.

He has WELCOMED me into his presence, completing INVITING me in.

He has made himself the object of my sight, FLOODING me with mercies in the morning, DROWNING me with grace in the night.

But if there are words for Him, then I don't have them.

But what I do have is... GOOD NEWS. 

For my God knew that man made words would never do. For words are just tools that we use to point to the TRUTH.

So He sent his son, Jesus Christ, as THE WORD...living proof. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, for by Him all things were created, giving nothingness formation, and by His word he sustains in the POWER of his name.

For He is before all things and over all things he reigns.

HOLY is His name, so PRAISE HIM FOR HIS LIFE... the way He persevered His strife. The humble Son of God becoming the PERFECT sacrifice.

PRAISE HIM FOR HIS DEATH... that He willingly stood in our place, that He loving adored the grave, that He battled our enemy and on the third day rose in VICTORY. He is everything that was promised. 

Praise Him as your risen king, lift your voice and sing, for one day he will return for us, and we will finally be united with our savior for eternity... ETERNITY.

So its not just words that I proclaim, for my words point to THE WORD, and The Word has a name, HOPE has a name, JOY has a name, PEACE has a name, LOVE has a name, and that name is JESUS CHRIST. 

Praise His name forever."

Whoop There It is!

I catch this girl in the weirdest stances... 

I work right next to her. We share a rug... and a "bookshelf". Some think we are married. We finish each other's sentences... most of the time we don't even have to talk because we know what we are thinking. Wherever I lunge... she is 10 lunges behind me. We laugh for no reason... at the same time. We sit on our heels. We turn each other's volumes down. We are THE TAG TEAM. We may not have it all together but together we have it all. 

All of this to say... don't worry friends, I will update this post when I get more pics. She can't hide these weird stances from me! 

February Beauty All Around!

#mylife14 #powerpoint

MyLife is a high school retreat where we stay in town and carpool back and forth between NorthPoint and our host home (shout out to the Shugarts for having us every year and making us awesome food when we get home like cheese fondue!). It's basically a weekend slumber party with 5 hours of freetime on Saturday and praising God inbetween! Good times! For freetime this year we painted canvas which we took pictures of and sent to Jess in a book and also cardboard testimonies with what Jess has taught us over the years. Then we sent them all to Jess in Hawaii. She bawled when she got the package needless to say! 

Love her. Love our InsideOut reunions!!!! Love love love #mylife14

My beautiful friend, Brooke, has a group of senior girls from NorthPoint so we get to meet up at every retreat... it's pretty awesome! I love her and her sweetness! 

#mylife14 I'M IN. 

This was the overall message from MyLife this year. God sees it all, He knows what's best for us... are we trusting him? If so then go with what He says. Obey Him. 

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, loving, bestie of mine! She is one of the best friends a girl could ask for and is about to make one of the best moms too!! Hope you have a wonderful day filled with laughter, love, gifts, and rest...cause you can and deserve it! I love you Jim! xoxo (ps- I was going to post all Christmas pics just for you cause I had enough but thought I would spare everyone else!) Love you my little Christmas elf! 

Happy Birthday to my sister who is absolutely beautful inside and out!! Over the years she has taught me what it means to really love... and I love her more than she knows! Who knew this little brat could grow up to be such an amazing person! I never thought we would be friends let alone best friends! I am truly blessed by her! Can't wait to celebrate tonight! #caniseeyourlicenseplease love you Erica

My little sister is 21!! Ahhhhh!!! Let the good times roll! #memorieshavebeenmade Erica - love you! Thanks for letting me do your makeup tonight...finally after like 13 years! 

So we started the night off at our go-to for birthday's... Provino's! Then we surprised Erica with a mini party back at our house! We made sure she played every game each 21 should play! We ate delicious homemade cake and had a blast watching her open her gifts! She is hilarious! Loved her extra tonight! 

KSU Signing Day! Feb 5. Met Sturgis, Coach Bohannon, and Coach Dooley! #goodday #signingday @ksu_football @kennesawstateowls #letsgoowls

This was an awesome event I got to attend! The first recruits signed their contracts and we celebrated them that night. We watched their high school highlights, and heard from all the coaches! Oh and I got to meet Sturgis... what a beautiful animal! So cool to see the KSU Football offices and so excited to be a part of this organization from the beginning! 

Steven had a dinner date with some of his boys tonight so I had a date with Ariel. 

It was on TV... I couldn't resist! :) 

On our way to Snowshoe with the Sorensons!! What a great time... even if Steven did get his first speeding ticket ever. Many memories were made and great relationships were strengthened! 

The Peeps! #snowshoe14

Here are some pics of us during our trip! So cold...  we were in snowgear 24/7! 

The snow. #snowshoe14

SO MUCH SNOW!! We got 14 inches while we were up there! We got to stay an extra day because there was no way anyone was coming or going from that mountain! It was awesome! I had never seen that much snow in real life.... so I got out there as much as possible! 

The fun times. #snowshoe14

What's a trip without fun times and memories we will cherish forever? Hurt leg. Old time movies. Spicy Uno. Blizzard in our faces. Lots of laughs. Deep convos. :) 

Partying is our business...No really. It is! #yaypym

Wendi and I attended a PYM event and during the "speed date the vendors" section, a guy pulled out these koozies and said I have the perfect thing for you two! haha He knew us well! I have such great times with Wendi! She rocks my socks off! Never a dull moment. 

Cheers to 6 miles at Kennesaw Mountain! Steven and Blase we did it! 

#conqueringmountains = slushie time! 

Blase, Steven and I decided to take a nice stroll up KMt until it turned into "well lets just go a little further and a little further" and then we listened to Blase when he said "lets go this route and then back around the base." Steven was not happy when he found out we were on the other side of the mountain and had to run all the way back... totaling 6 or so miles. It sure did make for good times, long talks and laughs! He felt better after getting a mountain dew slushie in hand.

What is your walk saying? 

This was a phrase that Joe used during his session at InsideOut. So true. Walk the walk. 

Ahh. Coffee in this mug. #goodmorningtome

Got this baby in snowshoe (obvs!). Makes me happy just looking at it! 

Met Baby Maddox Grey tonight! Born Feb 26th! 9lbs 6oz. Congrats to our friends Lindsey and Roger on being parents to this precious little one! We love you! #familyof3

Went to the hospital with Caleb & Heather to meet Baby Maddox just a day or so after he was born! It was cool to see him in that setting with just Rog & Lindsey there to take care of him. Made it all surreal. Steven was worried that as we were walking down the halls he would hear a woman cry out in labor pains. I laughed. Then reassured him that we weren't in that wing of the hospital! haha gotta love him! (sidenote* the first baby blanket I ever made went to this little guy right here!)