31

 

Somehow I'm 31 now, which means I'm actually "in my thirties." That's such a weird feeling. People often tell me that I don't look like I'm 30, and I am happy to take that as a compliment. 

The other day I looked in the mirror and noticed forehead wrinkles. I now understand why people get botox. It just needs to be puffed up a little and that wrinkle would be gone! The wrinkles have weirded me out much more than the gray hairs, but I've been finding the occasional gray hair since high school, so maybe that's why. I really hope when I go gray that I get a streak of gray first instead of random white everywhere.

Ultimately, I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow old. There was a time in my life where I couldn't imagine being 35. When I looked at my future, it was so bleak that I didn't even want to be 35. I hoped I could die a tragic, quick (but painless) young death because that seemed better than continuing life as it was and living to be old. 

Thankfully, God stepped in. He did some very unexpected things in my life and got me turned around. I'm not saying life is perfect, but man am I blessed. He got me out of a bad situation and now I can rejoice because I'm not where I once was. 

I'm learning to celebrate more, because, even if I'm blessed enough to grow old, life is still short. So I called my favorite bakery and ordered my favorite cake (strawberry with cream cheese icing) and text some friends and family to come over to my Gramma's to celebrate with me. 

I only had 12 candles on my cake (even though I wanted 31) because I couldn't make myself buy three packages of candles just so I would have enough. Although in hindsight, maybe it would have been worth the $10. (Probably not--it took two tries just to blow out 12.)

From Besties to Sisters!

This weekend by brother-in-law Caleb (Casey's brother) married Julianne, my bestie since we were 14. So now my bestie is my sister! Their wedding was so beautiful and held in this adorable little chapel in Opelousas, LA. 

But let's get down to the important thing. Julianne MADE her wedding dress. Like, designed it and everything. It is so stunning!!!! Were we still making adjustments to it the morning of the wedding? Yes, yes we were. Did it turn out absolutely perfect? Yes, yes it did. 

Also, she wore a stunning vintage crown that she picked up on Etsy for a grand total of $18. The word I used to describe it is iconic. 

She also wore my wedding veil as her something borrowed, so that was very special. :) 

Okay now, onto photos. Some are mine but most I stole from other people off Facebook and Instagram.

Making Macarons

My sweet friend Kaleigh came over the other day and we made macarons! Since I've been wanting to do more photography with my DSLR, I pulled it out and took a few shots while we worked. The macarons didn't come out perfectly, but they were tasty and the most important part was that we had such fun making them! It's been so amazing to have a baking buddy in Hammond! Who knows what we'll bake next!

A Day in NOLA

A few weeks ago, my bestie Julianne called and asked if I wanted to go to New Orleans with her to deliver some vintage clothes to a few of the vintage shops. Of course I said yes!

Which is how we found ourselves in Century Girl for several hours. Obviously, this is my kind of shop, since the outside is my favorite color--PINK! It's just too cute. It was so fun to sit in on the buying appointment as Julianne pulled out an entire trunk worth full of vintage clothes for the shop owner to look through. Thankfully I'd already pulled out a hot pink loungewear set to keep for myself!

After the appointment, we walked down the block to Grandmother's Button, where I bought a pair of pink sunglasses. "I would have tried to talk her out of them but they were perfect for her," Julianne later told Casey. (Not really sure why we needed to defend my purchase--I only buy cheap sunglasses!) I definitely didn't need them... but I have an affinity to acquire cheap sunglasses and probably have like 12 pairs in my car. You'd think I keep so many because they break or I lose them. Nope! I can keep a pair of sunglasses from Target's dollar bin alive for years. But I really enjoy choosing different colors based on my mood that day.

Then we had some time to waste so we popped into Deville Coffee House and Creperie. I got a hot chocolate (I try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon) and a caramel apple crepe. Oh, the crepe was divine! Now I want to convince Courtyard Cafe to add it to the menu!

After snacks/coffee, Julianne went to another buying appointment and Casey met up with me! He found a New Orleans tour app and led me on a tour of the Garden District. We popped into Garden District Books because I can't resist a book store. It was so cute!

I enjoyed taking photos of the houses along our self-guided walking tour. We both love old houses. (Which is why we love the house we're in now!)

I'm truly blessed to be married to a guy who finds the absolute best restaurants in the entire world. He found this little hole in the wall place that had PIZZA MAC AND CHEESE. Yes, the caps were necessary. It was truly one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my entire life. Man, I want some right now.

After the PIZZA MAC AND CHEESE, we went to Angelo Brocato for dessert, and I got my fave⸺the cream horn. I also sampled the almond pistachio gelato and that's what I'll be getting next time!

We finished off the evening with a game of putt putt in New Orleans City Park. And... I won! (This is the second time I've beaten Casey. Yes, I'm keeping a record.)

Florida Trip Part 2

A month and a half later and, well, here's part two. (And here's part one!) Maybe I'll get part three up in 2019.

On our second day in Florida, we went to our friends' wedding! (Which was the reason we were in Florida in the first place.) And... I have not ONE photo. Of the wedding, of my outfit, nada. But it was a beautiful wedding!

After the wedding, we changed and Casey and I went to play mini golf. I think I've said it before, but Casey LOVES mini golf. We played five games of mini golf over the course of our three-day trip. Not even kidding. And we LOVED IT! We played at one place that let us feed alligators on the course!

After mini golf, we met up with our friends for an evening at the beach and some delicious Cuban food. So enjoy our beach pics with friends!

Florida Trip Part 1

Casey and I went to Florida last month for a wedding and I wanted to share photos from our trip! I brought the DSLR and made a purpose of pulling it out and using it as much as I could. As much as I love the convenience of my iPhone, there is nothing like beautiful, high quality photos! (Though I'm sharing a mix of both here.) Plus I enjoy taking them. The editing, however, I don't enjoy as much, which is why I'm the worst at sharing photos when I DO take them!

I have lots of photos so I'll share them over a few posts.

We woke up really early on Friday morning and left Louisiana with the goal of making it to the beach so we could watch the sun set. It was totally, absolutely worth it. And there was also a rainbow!

Once it got dark, we made our way to a restaurant on the beach where I had the best coconut shrimp of my life. Seriously. All coconut shrimp from now on won't be able to compare, I'm afraid.

After dinner, we of course had to get dessert. We saw a super cute ice cream shop called The Mint Fox when we were walking to dinner, and I told Casey we had to go back. We got yummy ice cream made in-house and also a big cookie!

After dessert, we went to our AirBNB, which we shared with some of our friends. Paige (check out her blog!) bought the stuff to make key lime pie, and then we learned that our definition of "completely stocked kitchen" is not the same as other people's version. I mean, WE would like to think that a fully stocked kitchen came with a KitchenAid mixer (alas, we knew not to hope for such), but we thought there would at least be measuring cups and a whisk. No such luck.

We had to get super creative. Like, REALLY creative. See that gorgeous meringue? We made that WITH A FORK. Let me say that again in case you didn't get it the first time.

WITH.

A.

FORK.

It took us about an hour taking turns whisking furiously. 

It was so worth it.

Surround Yourself

photographer: Aaron Cox

One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom. Proverbs 18:1

I’m an introvert. A lot of people don’t believe me when I say that (apparently I talk a lot??), but that’s because a lot of people think that introvert = shy and extrovert = not shy. But that’s not the case. Rather, an introvert gets energy from being alone (and can find it draining to be around people) and an extrovert gets energy from being around people.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being around people! But that was not always the case. Years ago, I had some tough stuff happen and I found myself keeping completely to myself. “That’s okay,” I thought. “I’m an introvert. Being alone is good for me.” And I truly believed it. But the reality was that it wasn’t. Unfortunately I couldn’t see that at the time.

As I came out of those trying times and began to once again connect with my old friends, I realized how dark my life had been.

Today’s verse says that a person who isolates himself pursues selfish desires. I can totally see where I did that. My wanting to be alone was completely selfish! I thought MY life was better that way and I literally didn’t care about other people. I abandoned my friends. I purposely tried to avoid people in public. And I blamed it all on the fact that “I’m an introvert.”

The verse also says that a person who isolates himself “rebels against all sound wisdom.” How about this biblical sound wisdom:

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

You see, the Bible is adamant that we surround ourselves with godly people!

My life truly blossomed once I surrounded myself with godly friends. There was more laughter, more love, more joy. But it wasn’t easy to break away from my old ways. It literally took years of baby steps. I started spending more time with friends. I’d force myself to say hi to every person on the elevator. I started going to the cashier instead of the self checkout.

All these small changes helped me to break out of my isolation. I first surrounded myself with my godly friends who helped get me out of my funk. They loved on me and showed me how to love. Then I took that love and began sharing it with everyone I come in contact with, which is what we are called to do!

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11

This purpose of this post is to encourage you to not isolate yourself, but rather find ways to connect with godly people. Surround yourself with those people and allow their light to shine in your life, and you will find yourself shining a light into others!

If you feel like you have no godly friends, pray and ask God to send you someone. I promise He will. He’s done this for me before and for my friends as well. He wants you to have godly company and will make a way for you!

Waco Weekend

I had a whole post typed up about our weekend in Waco and then my computer froze! So I lost my words but have lots of photos! Besides, Rachel did a great recap here!

The girls and I had a blast celebrating Rachel with a weekend getaway. Julianne and Sarah managed to convert our drab hotel room into a cozy getaway in the few minutes it took Rachel and me to park the car and get the rest of the bags inside. When your friends are extra...

On Saturday we went to the farmers' market, the Silos (we got cupcakes from their food truck and they were super yummy!), and Heritage Homestead. We made new friends and met up with an old one for dinner. Then we ended the evening with face masks and Coco. There's nothing better than having friends you can talk to for hours on end about anything. We can have fun doing anything or nothing! We make a sensational team.

Also, we made a besties instagram hashtag: #LagniappeLadiesWander. Click to see more pics from the weekend! OR you can go check out my saved stories on Instagram! Find me: @thefamousJB.

My besties are the best. These ladies mean the world to me. They’ve been there for me from the very beginning—when we first realized we all loved spy books and sang High School Musical songs in the racquetball room at church. They’ve helped me through many a bad day with encouraging words, sleepovers that involved very little sleep, flowers to brighten up my home, and during a particularly bad time, they showed up with bags of groceries and made me some delicious meals. They’ve shown me the love of Christ when I felt unloved. They’ve made me laugh until I cried. They helped me find my way when I was lost. They’ve encouraged and supported my dreams. I treasure their friendship so much and I will never ever take it for granted. Love y’all! 💗 #LagniappeLadiesWander #SistersOfGillian

A post shared by JB (@thefamousjb) on Mar 16, 2018 at 11:54am PDT