Sweet Simplicity: Our 7 Year Vow Renewal

When Hunter and I got married seven years ago, we had already decided that every seven years we would renew our vows. Getting married on 07.07.07 makes "Seven" a {Lucky} number for us. We have always talked about doing each renewal different with a different theme...beach theme, farmhouse theme, cheesy-Vegas theme (ha! Yes, I want to get married by Elvis, just once!). However, I feel like this first one took on a different theme altogether. We did have the sunset waterfront as a beautiful background, but it was made especially memorable because we only had our family present. Just the parents, two close Aunts, our beautiful children and ourselves. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It was moving to not only exchange and renew our devotion to one another, but our family also spoke beautiful words of encouragement and blessing over us.

The whole day was just a sweet reminder of our commitment to one another as well as to our family. Hunter's parents opened up their home for us to have dinner. My parents took pictures. My Aunt Karen wrapped our bouquets, His Aunt Sharon decorated the dinner settings....everything was just beautiful in it's simplicity.

Perhaps it was because we had the HUGE 350 person wedding the first time. I had the big dress with the cascading train. We had a full meal with appetizers and the DJ played all night long. Perhaps it was that we already did the BIG, everything needs to be perfect day. Perhaps it was knowing all the stress that goes into that big wedding that it allowed us to really appreciate what a day like that is really about. Perhaps it is just that that after that one big day, my focus shifted to what really matters, and its all the days that follow. It's the switch from wedding to marriage mentality.

I met a wonderful lady at Publix today. As I was in checkout, she was behind me loading her things on the conveyor belt. She noticed the bouquet of flowers and small bouquet of Baby's Breath that I was picking up. She said how beautiful they were. I told her about what Hunter and I were doing today and the significance behind it. It was such a {Lucky} encounter because it was also her and her husband's 9th anniversary. I guess I didn't notice her tell the cashier that she wanted to pay for my small purchase. The cashier began to ring up her items and I was like "Sorry sir but the cantaloupe isn't mine!" He then told me that she wanted to pay. I was so touched, I just turned around and gave her hug and asked her name. I decided to wait and walk out with her. We continued to talk on our way to the cars. She was older lady and she told me that this was her second marriage. Her husband's first wife and her first husband had both passed away within two days of each other. She and her current husband met shortly after that. She said that "Second-time around' vows are so much different. It made her glad to see young people today renew there commitments after some time. She said she knows from experience that when you have actually been married for awhile, you understand the meaning behind the vows and they seem to "carry more weight." Our chanced encounter really meant a lot to me. One brief five minute conversation with a stranger really summed up how I had been feeling the entire morning.

The vows that I wrote this time around (as opposed to repeating after a minister) meant more because I understand the weight they carried. "For better or for worse" didn't mean as much until I had actually lived in "the better" and "the worse." And "for sickness and in health" means a lot more when you are up night with your husband because he caught a stomach bug, or you husband is cleaning up your vomit during your first trimester of pregnancy. Your vows mean more because your love grows as your relationship grows.

My love for Hunter has grown so exponentially over the last seven years. I can only imagine what it will be in 70 years. And yes, we will make it there! It is one of the things that our families talked about at the renewal. Hunter and I both come from a legacy of loving marriages and close families. We have always said that divorce is never option. It's not even in our vocabulary. Neither of us have ever experienced it, nor do we want our children to. Do we have a perfect marriage? Heck no! We have disagreements and fights just like the best of them. The only difference is we know at the end of the day we are still going to be married so we might as well work through whatever is bothering us.

Oh there have been days....let me tell you, THERE HAVE BEEN DAYS when it all just doesn't seem worth it. But when you take the D word off the table, you remove it from your marriage vocabulary, you are only left with two options. 1.) Stay mad, stay miserable, & stay together, or 2.) Work it out, be happy, and stay together. Both options lead to staying together, so we choose to be together  AND be happy.

In a world where the phrase "Seven-year-itch" is so prevalent to define where some marriages go wrong, I feel so {Lucky} that at our seven year mark it's like we are just getting to the good stuff! Two beautiful girls are walking this earth as a physical representation of our love for one another. When I wake up every morning and my husband pulls me close to snuggle in bed...well there are no words that can express my gratitude to God for this life/path that He has placed before me. I feel so extremely blessed by it.

Below are a few pictures of our wonderful day. Hope you enjoy the memories as much as we enjoyed making them.

Till next time,

Katrina

We Exchanged Our Vows

My Sweet Girls, my {Lucky} Clovers!

 

 

 My sweet mother-in-love Cylle and long-time family friend, "Aunt" Sharon decorated the dining room with small mementos from our wedding day seven years ago. We gathered at Hunter's parents house for dinner and dessert. If you have never had Sugar Boogers cupcakes from the local gourmet bakery than I suggest you stop in a grab you one (or 16 like we did!). They are amazing!

Sweet Treats, Sweet Family, Sweet Memories...Sweet Simplicity!



Getting Ready for the 4th

We love us some red, white, and blue! Getting our house ready for July 4th with a little fireworks painting craft. That new pack of 250 straws came in handy!

And we have plenty of canvas' in stock. Deal Alert: JoAnn's has a 10-pack of 10x10 canvas' for $24.99. If you use your 50% coupon you can get the pack for $12.50! That's only $1.25 per canvas! Great to have on hand for whatever little project comes your way!

 

 

 

 

 A good friend of mine painted a flag pallet for us. It was a project that was on my "to do" list. But I didn't get around to it. Her sweet gift looks great at the front door!

 

 

Hope everyone has a great Safe & Happy 4th Holiday Weekend! Go USA!

 

Next Up: Our Lucky Seven Anniversary & Riverbend Vacation!

All Things ...

I'm a big believer in fate {destiny, purpose, luck, blessings...whatever you call it}. My favorite verse has and always will be Romans 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Our household lives by it. As I grow older I find myself saying, "All things work together...all things work together...all things work together" as a mantra over and over again. Sometimes I say it daily, sometimes hour by hour, but it gets said on a regular basis.  I truly believe in the sovereignty and almighty power of our heavenly Father who is constantly and consistently working on our behalf to weave together and make perfect the destiny that He has set out for each and every one of us.

Just last week as we were headed out of town to the Miles Family Reunion, we had to make an unexpected stop at a grocery store parking lot so that I could change a stinky diaper on Evy before we hit the highway. As we got back on the road, we hit some major traffic due to an accident up the road. The truck that we had previously followed (from our house up until our sudden detour) was in a three car accident. It looked like at least two cars were totaled and there were several people hurt. I was sitting in the back seat with the kiddos and I told my husband, "God used poop to keep us safe." We laughed (the statement was comical), but after a few moments both my husband and I agreed that God had definitely detoured us out of harms way, even with something as inconsequential as a stinky diaper.

Some things seem inconsequential to a human time frame. Some things are years and years in the making. Some things are painful and they hurt, but they eventually work together for good. God is like a masterful chess player, taking time to move the correct pieces of each of our lives until he says "Check Mate."

I am always reminded of the story of Joseph. He was the beloved son, doted on by his father. He had everything going for him. He had BIG dreams of his brothers bowing to him. But he had a detour one day. Instead of bowing, his brothers betrayed him, threw him in a pit and sold him off in slavery to Egypt. Joseph literally hit rock bottom in that pit. But God was working things out even then. He was already preparing Joseph's destiny for good, not only for him, but for his family (and even a bigger picture the entire nation of Israel.) Joseph went through several hardships, but eventually made it to the palace in Egypt. He helped prepare the entire land for the famine that was coming. Eventually, his brothers came to Egypt in search for food. They unknowingly bowed down to their brother in request for food for their father and family. Not only were Joseph's BIG dreams fulfilled, but all the evil that had been done to him had been turned around for the good. He became the saving grace for his family.

God is faithful like that. He sees the big picture. He is constantly promoting (or demoting) things for His plans to be fulfilled. Sometimes we have to take a present loss for God to slingshot us into future gains. There are even times when in the middle of a storm, you wonder where God is at all. How can He even make good of this storm when He isn't even present? I've been there...in that place of "God, where are you? How is this thing going to work out?"

My daughter Karabella is constantly yelling "Mom, where are you?" when I am not within her sight. I have never just "left" her somewhere or forgotten about her, but if I leave a room and don't tell her exactly where I am going the "Mom, where are you?" starts. Sorry sweet girl if I forgot to announce that Mommy needed a personal moment to use the restroom. Everyday she will ask me this at least once. At one point I think I became annoyed and so I asked her, "Baby, I have never left you before. Why do you always have to ask Mommy where she is? I am obviously in the house somewhere?" Her reply was all childish innocence. "I could not see you and was afraid you left me."

Our earthly children act no different than we do as God's spiritual children. If we can't see God working in our current situation, we think He has left us and we become afraid. Just because we don't see God in our present situation, doesn't mean He is not already working on our behalf. I love a quote from John Piper. He said "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them."

No matter the thing you are going through, God is faithful. He knows how it turns out, and is arranging your situations so that it turns out well!

Until Next Time,

Katrina

Miles Family Reunion

Every year around the third Saturday of June, the Miles' gather together in reunion. This year we met at Blue Springs in Jackson County. Beautiful place, but let me you tell you it was freezing cold (and that's saying something from this Bear Creek raised girl!). Kara swam for about 2.5 minutes than decided she would rather play outside of the water. Evy's toes hit the water and she started pulling those little feet up closer and closer.

As always there was a plethora of great home cooking. Home grown veggies cooked to country perfection and the best homemade banana pudding in the panhandle.

I've always been proud to have been born into such a great family. We Miles' stick together, through thick and thin. That red dirt road upbringing runs deep. Even as we get older, marry, and many us move into the "city", you can't cut those country roots.

Below are a few pictures of the wonderful day we had.

 

 

The Miles Generations

Grandchildren of Albert Joseph Miles (Generation 3)

Generation 4

Generation 5

Father's Day Projects

Father's Day Projects

We had a great time creating a Father's day projects for all the great men in our life.  It's been two weeks since that Sunday, but I have been so busy getting  Kara registered for VPK in August and getting little Evy set up for her tongue tie surgery, that I haven't had time to edit and post all the cuteness these two sweet girls did for Daddy's Day.

My little {Lucky} clovers got to add their personal touches for their homemade gifts for their Daddy, PawPaw, and GR. I finally pulled off making my mother-in-law's breakfast casserole for the Hubbs this year. He secretly (wink wink) confessed that he liked mine better!

Our "DAD" Photo-shoot was harder to pull off than expected. Evy was trying to eat everything in sight, whether it was the letter, the grass, or her sister's hair. Plus, the mosquitos and yellow flies have become like an 11th plague in Florida this year so we had to make it quickly. In the end I just decided that even with Evy going nom nom nom on the Letter A it made for a cute, albeit quick, photo-shoot just for daddy.

We got even more "artsy" for the grandfathers with a little "Hooked On" paint fun. Kara's hand became the fish and she helped with the water and grass. Evy got her foot painted to become a fishing pole. She had us all laughing as she wiggled those piggies with paint all over them.

Now Daddy and Mommy both have art made with love proudly on display in our home.

Check That!

I'm a "list maker." I love to create list for the simple pleasure of being able to check items off of lists. For me, lists have a two-fold purpose. One, it helps me stay organized enough to remember what needs to be done and two, it's instant gratification to be able to mark through an item that has been completed. When I worked outside the home, the first order of my day was to create a new list of everything I wanted to accomplish that day. I would often look at the previous day's list and bring forward everything that I didn't accomplish previously then add new items.

I still make list at the beginning of my work week. My full time job of maintaining our {Lucky} household has a fairly normal routine, but the "Lister" in me still wants that instant gratification from the "scratch off."

However, my list making tendencies are in place to mask over one of my major flaws....I am a procrastinator by nature. Don't get me wrong, I can finish tasks, chores, and projects in record breaking fashion....but getting started on all those things sometimes takes a lifetime. It's quite comical that my husband is the complete opposite of me. When he gets something on his mind to do he starts it immediately. However his flaw is in the finishing portion of a project.

He started our master bathroom remodel when I was pregnant with Kara (yeah, do the math on that one). I just heard him on the phone the other day looking for a contractor to finish up that remodel. I on the other hand  have a list of things that I have wanted to do once I started staying at home. A list that was started February of this year and I am just now starting on some of those items. That list included re-starting this blog (just started it the beginning of this month and launched it last week. It also included planting a raised garden, which got started in March only due to the fact that my husband helped me start it (it was his birthday gift to me). I had full intention of canning a lot of the veggies it grew out, but haven't started yet. I also wanted to try my hand in homemade baby food for Evy, even got a food processor as a gift for Christmas....haven't used it once! I have a spare computer that I need to save all my data from because I told a friend she could have it....haven't sat down next to that computer in months to just start and finish a task that would take me an hour tops. I have a list of photography ideas I want to try with my sweet girls, but never seem to find the time or a good day. On Pinterest we label lists as boards and items that we want to have, want to do, need to complete, or need to start. And just a side note my husband and my father both say that Pinterest is just one big honey-do-list created by Satan himself to annoy husbands.

So what's my point in all this? It's not to point out my flaws I can assure you. It's just a gentle reminder that even though each of us bear flaws, whether it be to never start or to never finish, we serve a God who is without flaw. The "author and finisher" of our faith, "who started a work, will be able to complete it" within us (Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2).

I love how The Message Bible phrases this:

"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" Hebrews 12:1-3.

He never lost sight of where he was headed! He started, He finished. Go over that story again and again, item by item....If that's not a list, I don't know what is!

Life is just one big, long list, and each individual has their own pen and paper. I have lists galore. Chore list, project list, bills to pay list, a bucket list...even a "Things to do better" list. Some are on paper, some are in my heart. I think it's safe to say that most everyone has some list that's sitting somewhere gathering dust because it was never started or never finished. But in the end, they only list that matters is if you are listed with the names of other believers to have finished your race, that you fought the good fight, and you are marked in the Lamb's Book of Life. What a great relief it is to know that no matter by flaws,  no matter how many projects I put off starting, that as long as I can be checked on That List, then I started and finished the One Big Project that I was put on this earth to do.

I have been saved by the One who  is faithful to complete the work He started within me. No matter how often I fail or fall short, praise be to God who is the author (the starter) and finisher of my faith.

Till next time,

Katrina

 

 

"Life's not perfect, but Life can be blessed.

And for me I feel pretty {Lucky} in

the hand I have been dealt."

-Katrina Rowell 

Our Lucky Seven Life

So today is a start for something new for this Rowell family. In actuality, this blog was created about two years ago. However being new to the  "blogosphere" I had completed my first entry, set up the blog layout, clicked post, and in true {lucky} fashion the entire post was deleted. At the time I took it as a sign from the heavens that the start of my blogging career had past GO and immediately crossed the finish line.

Looking back, I can see how the timing was off. Our life was more hectic than {lucky}. Now, as we approach our 7th wedding anniversary, it just seems fitting to bring new life to Lucky Sevens. Now, more than ever I need the creative outlet that an unfiltered thought process of pen to paper (or type to page in this case) can give this stay at home mom and wife.

So here we go....Introductions....This is The ROWELL family.

My name is Katrina and my husband, Hunter, and I met in middle school. We were friends all through high school and then started dating in college. That entire relationship transition will take an entire separate blog entry, so I will keep that on the back burner for now. But in summary we dated for two years, were engaged for one year and married with thousands of other happy couples on the very blessed date of July 7, 2007, or 7-7-7 {Lucky Sevens}.

Three years later we were blessed with our first addition, Miss Karabella (Kara, Karebear, Punky). Add another three years and the lovely Miss Evelynn (Evy, Evy GG, Sissy) was added to our {Lucky} brood. Our two rat terrier doggies, Missy and Dakota, round off this family. The hubby is swimming in a sea of estrogen around this house, claiming he needs to trade in the pets for one big MALE dog to even out the playing field. So far it hasn't happened. Maybe we'll get {Lucky} when we try for Rowell baby number three ;)

And now what? What does one write about on a blog? I had to remind myself that this is not the journaling of my former adolescent, where with each new book I need to write out my entire life story in summary on the first few pages to keep its' readers (like there was anyone but me?) up to date with the current on goings of said adolescent. I think I have covered the basics in this first entry: love, family, pets, job.

As for this blog, Lucky Sevens, it will only be a reflection of the thoughts of it's writer. It will not always be inspiring. It will not always be funny. It will not always be correct. There are days where I can praise Jesus all day 'cause it's Sunday, and others where I curse to myself all day 'cause it's only Wednesday. Aiming for perfection has never been a goal of mine. I typically find the most happiness in the flawed imperfections of life. Hopefully, the readers of this blog can find happiness in some of the same imperfections.

Life's not perfect, but Life can be blessed. And for me I feel pretty {Lucky} in the hand I have been dealt.

Till next time...
  
 Katrina