Changes

Hello bloggers! After almost 3 months without access to a computer I'm finally back! And yes, I really just posted a David Bowie video at the beginning of today's blog. As the song (and blog title) might suggest, I've been going through alot of changes these past few months. Some good, some that could probably be considered bad....but overall I feel like each change has been for the better.

The 1st change was deciding to branch out on my own and slowly get a wedding and event planning business started on my own. I still haven't gone through my certifications class yet, but plan to as soon as I can come up with the money. Luckily you don't technically have to be certified to be a planner, it just gives you a "professional edge" as peole call it. After alot of thought and a meeting with my friend Kendra awhile back, I've decided to use the name of my blog for my business as well. I look forward to having Simply Shay Wedding and Events up and open for business hopefully by the beginning of next year (which doesn't give me alot of time!) I also hope to eventually be able to branch out the business (if I can get it off the ground) and eventually hire extra people who are just as passionate about weddings and events as I am. I'd also like to be able to do yearly events for charity:water, amd maybe some kind of Christian event (like a HUGE concert or something) to raise money for Journey and other local churches. If anyone has any ideas or would be willing to lend a helping hand to make these events a success, please let me know. :)

The next change I've been through is deciding to switch volunteer positions at Journey. I love, love, LOVED being a greeter, and miss it greatly. Its only been two weeks, but I miss being one of the 1st people that people see when they walk through the doors, especially our VIP's. But I LOVE my new position just as much if not more (if that's even possible!) I am now a volunteer on our Next Steps team. Next Steps is the station they send new Christians (or people rededicating their lives to Christ) to turn in their information and get bags with info on what it means to accept Christ, a cd on baptism, a postcard from Pastor Matt, and a new Bible. We're there to be their support team, to answer any questions they might have, talk to them about their decision and baptism, and to pray with them if they ask or seem to be overwhelmed. We also talk to people who are interested in signing up to be baptised. Nothing beats November 6th....the day we launched our new campus (and my 1st Sunday on the team!). Between both services we had over 50 people decide to accept Christ. Not all of them came to our Next Steps table, but it was amazing and uplifting to talk to those that did.

As I mentioned in the last paragraph, we launched at our new campus on the 6th. This by far is probably my favorite change! The new building is amazing, and it was an honor and a privledge getting to help get it ready for the launch! I even got to help rip up tiling....anyone who knows me knows I'm a girly-girl to the fullest extent, so doing this made me feel really odd, but in a brilliant way!! I also helped paint and move stuff in, it was a really fun but long week the week we did everything. I can't believe we've been in the new building for almost a month now...its quickly became home to us, and I've almost forgotten what the old building looks like (until I drive by it on the way to the new one that is! ;p)

There are tons of other mini changes I could mention, but I'll save those for another blog. I hope you guys enjoy this one, and look forward to many more to come now that we have a running computer again! :)

~Shay~

Bloody Mary

Hello bloggers!! I promise I'm slowly trying to get back into blogging, but until my computer at home is fixed you'll have to settle for the occasional one whenever I can make it out to the library. With that said, I wanted to make time today to talk about one of my favorite things....Halloween!! :)

This year I'm volunteering in a haunted trail in Rural Hall as the urban legand herself...Bloody Mary!! In case any of you decide to come out and see us I won't give away the secrets to my part as Bloody Mary, but I will say that I have had an amazing time so far and hope to continue to do this for years to come!


I have to admit the actress in me went a little crazy when I was asked to be Bloody Mary. I know its just a haunted trail, but I was determined to "portray" her to the best of my ability. I remember the game we used to play as children growing up, where you would stand in front of a mirror and say "Bloody Mary" 3 times and supposedly Mary's ghost would appear.  I'll also admit I remember doing this several years in a row at Halloween parties....I now realize now how silly we were because if anything would have happened we would probably all be in therepy right now!! Anyway, being curious as to what started the urban legand of Bloody Mary I decided to google it and see what I could find. Here's tthe most interesting stories I came across:


 Example #1:As told on the Internet, Dec. 21, 1997:
Some of my friends, five of us, cramped ourselves into a small bathroom in my friend Cathryn's House. We ended up saying Bloody Mary (more like chanting it) about 20 times or so for anything to appear. When we did finally see something it started out as a green glow then the darkened portrait of a face became more visible, by that time half of us were screaming so we knocked each other down trying to get out of the bathroom and then I flipped on the light. It was a welcome relief.


Example #2:
As told on the Internet, Feb. 16, 1994:
When I was about 9 years old, I went to a friend's for a birthday/slumber party. There were about 10 other girls there. About midnight, we decided to play Mary Worth. Some of us had never heard of this so one of the girls told the story.
Mary Worth lived a long time ago. She was a very beautiful young girl. One day she had a terrible accident that left her face so disfigured that nobody would look at her. She had not been allowed to see her own reflection after this accident for fear that she would lose her mind. Before this, she had spent long hours admiring her beauty in her bedroom mirror.
One night, after everyone had gone to bed, unable to fight the curiousity any longer, she crept into a room that had a mirror. As soon as she saw her face, she broke down into terrible screams and sobs. It was at this moment that she was so heartbroken and wanted her old reflection back, that she walked into the mirror to find it, vowing to disfigure anybody that came looking for her in the mirror.
After hearing this story, which was told very scarily, we decided to turn out all of the lights and try it. We all huddled around the mirror and starting repeating "Mary Worth, Mary Worth, I believe in Mary Worth". About the seventh time we said it one of the girls that was in front of the mirror started screaming and trying to push her way back away from the mirror. She was screaming so loud that my friends mom came running into the room. She quickly turned on the lights and found this girl huddled in the corner screaming. She turned her around to see what the problem and saw these long fingernail scratches running down her right cheek. I will never forget her face as long as I live!!


I'm not going to lie...reading some of the stories I came across freaked me out. I'm not quite sure if I believe any of these stories, but they definitely helped inspire me in what to do and say in my part of the trail for the next few weeks!! I hope you guys will come out and see us if you live in or near the Winston-Salem/Rural Hall area! I'd love to see what you think of my "performance"!

Summer-catch up

Hello blogosphere! I realized as I was catching up on all my blogs I follow that it's been a really long time since I've written one myself. Since I love to write I'm not sure why I stopped....life hasn't been too busy, in fact I've had alot of free time on my hands recently. So this morning I decided I'd give everyone a quick update.

My 28th birthday is coming up really fast (Sept 6th)!! This year instead of asking people for presents I'm asking them to donate money to charity:water, a charity that raises money to build wells all around the world and provide people with clean drinking water. Did you know that every 21 seconds a child dies from lack of clean water? Neither did I until a few days ago!! I knew that the statistics were bad, but not that bad!! Since I'll be turning 28, I'm asking people to donate $28. My ultimate goal is to reach a donation amount of $1983 (for my birth year). If we reach this goal 99 lives can be saved! How awesome is that?! If you'd like more info or like to donate you can checkout my page at mycharitywater.org/shannonwatkins.

I'm also gearing up for a work conference in Myrtle Beach thats coming up September 2-4! Anyone who knows me knows I love the beach, so this is going to be epic for me on many different levels! I'm so blessed to work for companies that allow me to travel to such awesome places....even if it's for a conference!

There's one more big thing coming up in my life....I've finally decided to go back to school! (I bet you thought I was going to say we're expecting didn't you?!) My dad has offered to help me get my bridal consulting/event planning certifications. I had such a blast planning my own wedding, and I get excited and emotional everytime I go to a friend's wedding or see pictures from weddings so I think this will be a great career path for me. It also helps that I have alot of contacts that can come in handy while planning a wedding....everything from photographers, djs, bands, caterers , etc. And my mother also has a weddind planning certification so we could eventually go into business together (as long as we don't butt heads on planning skills that is). I'm hoping to be able to start online classes this fall, as soon as I pick a school. My mom went through Ashworth and said they were bad at keeping in touch if you had questions or any problems during your course, so I've decided to see what other options I have. I think Kaplan has a bridal consulting course and I've heard really good things about there online courses. Any suggestions?

My Journey

Not only is Journey the name of an awesome band and something we all tend to go on at least once in our lives; it also happens to be the name of the amazing church I'm now a part of. I decided to delete my last blog because I realized the topic was irrelevant at the end of the day. What happened, may have happened, or didn't happen isn't important...God will work it all out in His way. As hard as it is I'm going to leave the situation(s) in His hands and know that he will fix things. Now I'm going to focus on the "Journey" I feel He wants me to take.  

As I mentioned I am now a member of an awesome church called Journey in Davie County. Journey's amazing Pastor Matt Hudson is a guy I've known since kindergarten....and believe me when I tell you he is very good at preaching the Lord's Word in a way that compels you to not only move towards God, but to want great change for Davie County! 

Currently the church is trying to raise $200,000 for the new building we're moving into. Getting to go to the building during our service last Sunday really moved me. I'm not sure why because right now its just an empty building...but I wanted to do all I could to make it that building of purpose that Matt spoke of. As we prayed over it and then walked through it from room to room I could see the potential the building has...not only for providing more space...but for so much MORE! I was officially "Fired up!" before we left the building that day.


Now the sad part...I have no money to give. :(  The money from my last jewelry show went into my gas tank and for food, and my tax money went towards the wedding pictures and treating both myself and my best friend who has done alot for me over the past few months. As I was leaving the new building my head started spinning because I knew I wanted to do whatever I could to help the church out. Finally idea after idea started popping into my head over the next few days. The first one came to me right as we were leaving the parking lot that day...I could do another mystery hostess show through my Premier business and instead of using the money I make on myself I could donate it to the church! So I'm planning on doing a show sometime before the end of the month. :-)

The next idea came that following Wednesday during the web conference for my second business. One of the topics was of how we could sell the light up lipgloss (an awesome product by the way) and give part of the proceeds to charity. Next thing I know I'm trying to figure out if we could use my grand opening show (which was yesterday) for a fundraiser for the church!! I talked it over with Randy who was the one who got me introduced to the biz and he thought it was a great idea and then he took it to a higher level by saying we could do a grand opening at the church and try to reach even more people so I could make even more money to donate! We're in the process of trying to make that happen now. :-)

No matter what happens....whether these ideas help or not I don't feel as if I would have been moved to try them if it wasn't for God. I really hope we're able to raise at least $100 for the church...that would make me feel like a job well-done. But in all honesty I would be STOKED if me raised $1000's!! I'll keep my blogs updated for the next few weeks strictly about the fundraisers and Journey church. If you'd like to help me raise money by either coming out to one of the events or by making a personal donation yourself please feel free to leave me a comment on here, message me on facebook (Shannon Watkins), or at shannonbruebaker@yahoo.com.
                                                     ~Shay~ 

Those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails have gone.

So yesterday while on Facebook I noticed a friend's status said, "I miss the days where the only thing that made us cry is our Barbie's head popping off." (or something along those lines anyway) That really got me to thinking.

A few weeks ago I found out via Craigslist that the house my grandparents used to own in Creekwood was going up for rent. It made me think about the 11-12 years I spent in that house. I was practically raised there. My grandma watched both me and my sister there during the week while my parent's worked. There's alot of good memories in that house....eating popcicles on the front steps in the summer with my friends Rebecca and Stacey, dancing in the basement with my friend Liz, playing the Baby-sitter's Club and Boxcar Children in the backyard, slip and sliding trying to stop under the clothespin, and me and Stacey knocking over flowerpots and blaming it on Sarah so she'd get a spanking and have to leave us alone (ok when I look back now that part was wrong, but it was hilarious for us because we always thought Sarah was trying to get on our nerves. I realize now she just wanted to play with us because she looked up to us). There's a few not-so-great memories too like the weekend we had to spend trapped in the den downstairs to survive a tornado and Hurricane Hugo, the summer I got the flu and woke up from a nap with a 105 fever, the fight I got in with my friend Sarah because she wrote me a fake check as a gag, and not to mention the spankings and time-outs I had earned myself by misbehaving. Overall when I look back the memories are epic; I wouldn't change them for anything in the world. What I wouldn't give to be the one who was renting this house!! I told Jamie the moment I realized it was my grandparents house that I wished we could get it. It's an amazing house in an amazing neighborhood. Sadly the people looking to rent it out are asking for almost $1000 a month. Even if I were to find a fulltime job tomorrow, Jamie and I wouldn't be able to afford rent AND amenities.

This made me start to think about how much simpler we had it as kids. My friend Mandi hit the nail on the head with her status yesterday! Growing up there wasn't much I worried about except not getting in trouble and hoping my friends truly liked me for me. The only things that made me cry were scraped knees, kids calling me names, spilled milk, and getting in trouble at school or at home. Nowadays there's tons of things that can stress me out and make me cry, bills, family problems, relationship problems, not being able to spend as much time with Jamie as I want, and now knowing we won't be able to rent out my grandparents old home. :(

I decided today I'd e-mail the person and try to talk to them. I told them my name, and that this might be random but that I thought the house in their post was my grandparents old home. I told them I basically grew up in that house and would love to talk to them if it was indeed the home (I failed to mention I KNEW it was since I've driven by there at least 10 times since seeing the post. I didn't want to seem insane). I'm hoping they'll offer to let me come and view the house. As of right this moment I haven't heard anything, but I only sent that message an hour ago. I know its a longshot but I'm thinking of asking them if they'd lower the price if Jamie and I were willing to do a rent-to-own. The only problem is even if they are extremely nice and were to say yes, I doubt we could afford it unless they could lower it to $400-$500 a month. With it being a 2-story house with garage, fenced in backyard with storage units, and probably a few acres of land I highly doubt they would be willing to drop the rent by about $500!

Still its nice to dream...

                                        ~Shay~   

The making of a fairytale wedding

So as most of you know I just got married last weekend. If any of you were wondering why I seemed to disappear outta the blogging scene, that is the main reason. The last month or so before the wedding took alot out of us....it takes alot more to create a wedding then I had ever imagined! We hit alot of bumps along the way, but in the end I'm very happy with how our big day turned out. Since I'm still coming down from the high of becoming a Mrs. I figured I would share my story with you of everything we went through to make this wedding day possible. It was a long and complicated process to say the least, but in the end I wouldn't change it for anything!

Jamie and I got engaged on my birthday September 6th, 2009. After we first got engaged we had decided to get married on December 18th, 2010. For some reason I had decided I wanted a December wedding and that it should be somewhat close to Christmas. Seeing how I wanted our colors to be red and silver this idea seemed perfect! Well after being engaged for a few months we realized that a December wedding wasn't going to be possible....not unless we wanted to wait until December of 2011 that is. Well I didn't want to wait that long so we started thinking of other options. One night while I was at dinner at my friend Melissa's she asked what our dating anniversary was. I told her February 26th. Next thing I know she tells me that feb 26th falls on a Saturday in 2011 and that we should make it our date so our anniversary would never change. *Lightbulb* Why didn't I think of that??? As soon as Jamie called that night I passed along the idea to him and he seemed to like it too. So February 26th, 2011 it became!

Next came the issue of where to get married. We really liked the ballroom at the Conference center and Inn in Clemmons, but decided against it because of its price and the fact you HAD to use their caterers. Our search went on for months before I decided to talk to my grandma's church and see if we could have the ceremony there since my church was too small. Luckily her pastor said yes and it couldn't have been a more beautiful location! We went with the tanglewood barn for the reception, also a beautiful choice.After that things seemed to start falling into place.

My mom came on as our "planner" (she has a degree in wedding coordinating), and she helped us make alot of the decorations (she's also very crafty). If it wouldn't have been for her being so crafty and us being bargain hunters we'd probably have gone broke on decorations alone. My family also decided to do their own catering to save money....we all worked our butts off the week before preparing food and putting decorations together. My friends also helped with this and if it wasn't for them I probably would have lost my head during the end!!

I also had alot of luck in the "wedding sweepstakes" that I kept getting entered into from all the bridal shows we went to. First I won a free honeymoon package for a 3 day/3 night stay at a Wyndham resort. Sadly I never got the chance to claim it because both Jamie and I needed to sit in on a bridal show registry party...we never had the time to do so. As much as a free honeymoon would've been awesome I don't look at it as much of a loss because we'd been throwing around the idea of going on a Carribbean cruise. Then I won a $250 gift certificate from Windsor jewelers from Skirt! magazine. This one I was able to claim and used to get Jamie his wedding band!

We booked a band whom I've become friends with over the past few years to play at the reception. They're called the Lloyd Dobbler Effect, and if you haven't heard of them you should look them up because they're awesome! Alot of my friends fell in love with them last weekend and I wouldn't be surprised if people ask me for their name and info in the future for parties and weddings. :)

Now here's where the complications start. Before the wedding I think we had to change the bridal party about 4 times! Two of the girls who were originally supposed to be bridesmaids got pregnant and had to drop out because of their due dates. Or let me rephrase that, one of them was nice enough to tell me she wouldn't be able to because of timing and financings, the other one seemed to fall off the face of the Earth! The only time I've heard from her in the past year was her saying congrats on my Facebook wall the day of my wedding. Another friend dropped out because she moved and didn't think she'd be able to still afford the dress. Funny thing is the night before the wedding she was pulled back in as an emergency replacement for my sister who had to step out because of illness! Only now can I sit back and laugh about that entire situation (though it still hurts my sister missed my wedding day)! We also struggled with how to have 4 people on Jamie's side and finally decided a month before the wedding to add his youngest brother as a junior groomsmen alongside my brother Sam even though all the girls on my side were grownups.

Everyone in both our families seemed to get sick the week of the wedding. My mom had a respitory infection and everyone else in both families seemed to have the flu. Luckily everyone was healthy (enough) on the wedding day. Sadly I'm now sick the week after with a sinus infection and stomach bug, but I'm grateful that we weren't going on our real honeymoon this week or things would be alot worse!

Now for the worst part....THREE days before the wedding the pastor who was supposed to marry us backed out!! Now this man is supposed to be not only a man of the Lord, but also a good friend of mine. How many servants of God OR friends do you know who would leave someone hanging 3 days before their wedding??? It almost sent me into a spiral of depression when I got his e-mail on Facebook (yes he used Facebook of all things to let us down). I remember crying, cussing, then feeling guilty that I was cussing a minister. A big part of me wants to hate him no matter how wrong hate is, but the better part knows I shouldn't. His "reasoning" was beyond a load of bull, and it really left everyone involved in our wedding day in a bind. So my mom hopped online and within an hour found a replacement who I've learned to call RevG. RevG is a true Godsend and saved us!! I cannot be grateful enough to him for pulling together a ceremony in 2 1/2 days....even if it cost us quite a bit! On a sadder note I found out some pretty bad things about the pastor I called my friend yesterday, and therefore i'm glad things happened the way they did. Having him marry us could have tainted our marriage! :/ I will be praying for him and the people who have been wronged by him. Thats really all I feel comfortable in saying at this moment.

So now for the day of the wedding! If it wouldn't have been for my entire family, and the entire bridal party we never would've gotten things pulled off in time! Stupid me forgot to print out the programs so my dear friend Randy took a rough draft copy that my maid of honor Katy made that morning to Staples and got them printed out a few hours before the wedding. My friend Meghan and her mom came to the barn early and did a BEAUTIFUL job setting up our candy buffet. My bridesmaids, Randy, grandma, and mom and I all setup the decorations at the barn, and mom helped her friend Kay fix the food until it was time to go. When I got to the church at 2:15 I found out we were locked out! I almost had an anxiety attack, and my grandma's pastor was close to an hour late getting there to let us in! As soon as we were in i had to run to the parlor to make sure I was hidden when Jamie and his family arrived! My friend Meridith who was our usherette started doing my hair for me while Heather (another bridesmaid) did my makeup. Literally 15 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start I was rushing to get in my dress, get laced up, and get my monsterous heels on (which is almost a 3 person job)! When I heard Silent Lucididy start to play I was like, "Oh my gosh is it really time??" I've never wanted to pass out more! lol

But it did start and a big chunk of that day is still a blur! Luckily we'll have a video soon so we can actually sit back and enjoy it all. Even though we may have struggled financially, we somehow managed to pull of this beautiful fairytale of a wedding! I didn't get to use a caterer like I wanted (but man the food was amazing anyway...my family knows how to cook!), or get to use the photographer I wanted (I'm really sorry!), and tons of other things came up that I can't even remember right now it was still the best night of my life. Thus proving that money isn't what makes the world go round.....its LOVE! If it wasn't for my love for Jamie I think I would have let my mood been ruined on the wedding day by remembering the fact that we didn't have everything I had wanted when I first started planning. I wanted to have 3-4 photographers to make sure I didn't miss ANYthing that night. I wanted a photobooth so I could take silly pictures with Jamie and my friends then make an awesome scrapbook with the photos. I had also wanted to incoporate karaoke somehow at the reception because i love to sing (I got to sing with the band at the end of the night though and that was pretty wicked!). The point is....there was so much more I had wanted to make our big day "perfect". And it took me walking down the aisle towards the man I love to realize thats all I ever needed for the day to be perfect....Him and his love. Luckily those are two things that are now mine forever til death do us part! :)
                 ~Shay Watkins~
p.s: Sorry just HAD to use my new last name!! ;)

So after stopping and talking to my dear friend yesterday I wanted to come back an add a small paragraph to this blog...

I'd like to personally apologize to two very important people who helped us during our wedding journey, Misty and Tammy.  They deserve a fair mention and I can't believe I didn't give them one at all! These two ladies are both beautiful inside and out, they are both BEYOND talented, and they have made me a very happy bride! The bridal portraits they did for me were gorgeous, and the one they framed for me as a gift makes me tear up everytime I look at it. The pictures they have taken for me will provide me with a lifetime of memories and the ones I've been fortunate enough to see so far make me smile and giggle with joy. I cannot wait to see the overall package that they have created for us, I know each picture will be awesome! If you ever need a photographer whether its for bridal portraits, weddings, engagements, or something else I highly recommend you look them up!

My journey as a Christian

One of the very first things that most of my friends learned about me when we were first becoming friends is this....I am a Christian. I've realized as I've gotten older that people tend to take Christianity in many ways....some believe its wonderful because they are believers and followers of Christ themselves, some think its awful because they either don't believe at all or they refuse to believe in a "being" that rules over the fate of their lives. There are also people who call Christianity nothing but a cult. That we Christians have surely been brainwashed by someone to believe what the Bible says. I feel truly sorry for those people, and I feel sorry for the athiests and those who choose to worship a false God just for the sake of "freedom". I don't know what your background is as a follower of my blog, and I'm not writing this particular blog to offend or upset anyone. I'm writing it so that you can hear my story and that in the hopes that you might be a Christian as well and might share yours in return. One thing that I've learned from my Mission group is that it can be life changing and uplifting to hear someone's story. How they were led to Christ and how their life has changed since accepting Christ. With all that said this is my story:

I grew up attending Green Meadows Baptist church with my grandparents. I went to Sunday school every Sunday morning while they were in the morning service. I joined the children's choir, and when I was older I joined the youth group. Every summer we went on various day trips, hiking, trips to the park to swim, we even went camping one year! I loved that church and I learned to love Jesus! I loved all the "Bible stories" we were taught on Sundays and all I knew was I wanted to accept Jesus.....whatever that meant. So every year when that time rolled around again in the youth, I would raise my hand as one of the one's who wanted to let Jesus into their heart. I think I probably "accepted Christ into my heart" at least 20 times from the age of 7 to about 13 or 14. This isn't nessacarily a bad thing, but looking back I know I didn't see the whole picture. I loved because I was taught to love through songs of worship....not because I knew how great God really was.

In middle school I stopped going to church because my grandparents moved and were searching for a new church. I still went to vacation Bible school in the summer at Green Meadows and I adored the youth minister because he was "totally cool", but sadly I still didn't get it.

The same can be said about my high school years. I rarely went to church unless it was with a friend who's house I had spent the night at over the weekends. I still prayed but that was it. Then during my senior year I heard a friend talking about a youth group called DCYC. It was a HUGE youth group made up of high school students (and some people in college) from 13 different churches in Davie County. I went to one of the rehearsals that following Sunday and fell in love with the group. I'm not sure if it was the fact that we got to travel for a week during the summer or if it was because of Jesus but I stayed in DCYC for 3 years and they were some of the greatest years of my life! God blessed me with some amazing friends during those years, and I'm grateful for the ones that I still have today! It also felt amazing going to different schools, retirement homes, and other churches in different states and sharing the Word with others. It made me happy one year when we went to a school and performed for a bunch of children who didn't know much about Jesus. When we finished our play they got up and ran to us wanting to know more. I left that place with tears of joy! For awhile I started attending the church we were based out of, but after a year I left because I felt the pastor cared more about what he wanted outta life instead of where God was leading him. Out of respect I won't name that church.

I didn't start going to church again until I was between the ages of 20-22. My mom had started attending Calvary Assemblies of God in Greensboro with the guy she was dating at the time. Even though this church was alot bigger than most of the churches I'd been to in the past, I grew passionate about it after one service. I loved the way the pastors preached, and I loved that they filled me with the passion I was starting to lack. I started to remember why I loved the Lord and I started doing independent Bible studies as well as joining their young adult Bible studies. My mom and I got baptised together at an evening service one night and even though I had some strange things happen to me that night I had never felt better! Right before the service that night I lost partial hearing in both my ears. All of a sudden during the beginning of our worship (while we were singing no less) I noticed the music suddenly sounded distant, as well as the voices around me. It seemed as if everyone had started whispering and the music faded away. But then all I could hear was a high pitched ringing....I tried popping my ears and sticking my fingers in them and it wouldn't go away. Then right before the baptisms were to begin, I was standing in line with everyone else when I felt a sharp pain in my finger. I looked down and realized my finger was gushing blood from a cut.....strange thing is there was nothing around for me to cut my finger on. I hate to admit I was terrified, but yet I was determined to not let anything come between me getting baptised. So I did it!! An hour after the service my hearing came back and the buzzing went away. A week or two later one of the head pastor's daughters decided to share her story with us, and she mentioned how all these bad things happened to her after she accepted Christ. Her story finally put my mind at ease  because it reminded me of this....

Whenever you give your life to Christ; Satan will try to do anything he can to stop you from following Christ and turning back to sin. He will try to scare you, manipulate you, and even cause bad things to happen in your life to lead you away from God. This is something I would deal with more several years down the road.

Sadly a year or so after getting baptised I stopped going to Calvary. I still loved that church, but the drive to Greensboro became a hassle. Then I got my job at Carowinds and started dating a guy who turned out to be an athiest. Instead of leaving him upon finding that out I fell madly in love with him and turned to a life of sin with him. The whole total of 18 mths we were together I never went to church. I prayed and sometimes read the Word, but my main focus in life was that boyfriend. When it came time to breakup for the 2nd time he tried to force me into breaking up with him by posting "Who in the f*** is this God guy" on his religion status on Facebook. That should have been all I needed to dump him for good but I still held on until he called it off in a nasty e-mail. Even though this was probably 4 years ago or so, I never forgave myself for not standing up better for God.

After that breakup I still didn't go to church but I dove back into independent Bible studies and prayer. Then one night a few years ago something happened to shake up my entire world. One night during the summer I was at home with my dad and brother. I had rented Sweeney Todd and was watching it. Halfway through the movie it started lightning off in the distance from our house. It was freaky but I thought it was cool because it suited the darkness of the movie. Then I started hearing a pinging noise. I turned on our porch light and started to look out our living room window. I saw hail flying horizontally across the sky and then everything went black. Our power went out and I felt something scratch me across my face. I stumbled blindly through our trailer hoping and praying things would be all over soon. I made it to my dad's room as he confirmed my biggest fear...we were hit by a tornado! Luckily we were all ok and our place though damaged was still ok to be lived in. One night a few weeks later my brother and I were on Facebook and I felt the desperate need to get in touch with an old friend from the youth group. So I messaged my friend Meghan. I met Meghan my last year of DCYC. I told her about everything going on and how the tornado made me want to reconnect with strong Christian friends. I met up with her and our friend Meridith a few days later. We sat at a McDonalds and talked for HOURS. Before we went our own ways that afternoon they invited me to go to church with them that Sunday. I said yes and thats how I was introduced to the church I attend now, 121.

121 is a non-denominational church. We believe religion is dead, but Jesus is not. Since I know blog is already well on its way to becoming a short novel I won't explain that now. Just know that it means our services and everything else we do within our church is based on the Word alone. After just one service I knew in my heart this was the type of church I'd been searching for....the church I need. We have 3 awesome pastors, and several Mission groups. I love my mission group because they have taught me alot over the past few years. They are an inspiration to me and I hope they all know it! Sadly my journey with 121 hasn't always been sunshine and lollipops. The 1st year I joined 121 I wanted to learn everything I could and join everything I could. I wanted to be part of the church's body because I loved watching this church seedling starting to grow into a plant. After some prayer and advice from close friends I decided I wanted to become a partner. I still to this day don't know if God was leading me to it, or if I wanted to do it out of my own selfish needs. Either way things were going well until I tried to figure out what my spiritual gift(s) was. I guess Satan realized I was really getting ready to take my faith to the next level because he hit me HARD! Once again I won't go into details since this blog is already super long, but if you'd ever like to hear that part of the story feel free to e-mail me....I have nothing to hide. Not only did he come up on me fast, but he hit me from every angle possible. He filled my head with thoughts of worry and doubt, he tried to tear me away from my family and friends, worst of all he came between me and the church. I haven't really shared this story with many people from my church because I tend to cry when I talk about it. I'm not scared to type it out because if I cry no one has to see.

Anyway I stopped attending church weekly because he really tried to steal my focus when I'd attend a service. It got hard for awhile to hear the gospel because he would scream evil words into my head during the service. It got to the point where after about 6 months I got tired of it and screamed out "Satan your words won't stop me from loving God anymore! I will worship him until I die!" After that I felt relief rush over me but part of me was still scared. Lucklily God put an amazing man by my side to take care of me. He's one of the only ones who knows the entire dark side of my journey as a Christian. There were nights I honestly thought I was going mad and he still stood by me. That tells me he's strong in his faith too and I should be honored to call him my future husband.

Things have gotten alot better over the past few months. After talking to a few close friends I realized Satan will always be there trying to surround us with fears and doubt. And what Pastor Blackwood's daughter said seems to be beyond true.....the further along you are in your walk with God, the harder he'll try and make you fall. When I think of that and everything that has happened to me in the past 2 years I can't help but smile because that tells me I must have been on the right path if Satan needed to attack me that strongly! I'm still not a partner, and I still miss church on occasion, but nowadays its normally because of traveling issues or illness. I know I don't read my Bible daily the way I should, and I probably don't pray as much as I should, but I've come to realize alot of Christians share that same problem. I'm human and sometimes its my nature to be lazy and not do the things I know I should and would enjoy if I did. Luckily Jesus is better than I am, and he wll makes up for the things I lack! The only fears I have nowadays are personal. I worry that I won't live up to God's expectations when it comes to my role of being a wife to Jamie. We want a biblical based marriage and I worry my stubborness will pull away from being a Godly woman. I guess only time will tell, but luckily Jesus will always be there whenever I'm not strong enough to do the right thing.

So far thats my story. I'm hoping the next time I update my story from a Christian's standpoint it will be even better. :) Until then God Bless each and everyone of you who actually took the time to read this entire blog! I hope my story inspires you for the better, and I'd love hearing thoughts and other people's stories if you're willing to share.
                          ~Shay~

Boredom sets in

So today is day two of our latest winter weather advisery. Supposedly we were supposed to keep getting snow into late this evening, luckily I think we are done with it in Davie County. Schools will be closed yet again tomorrow, but unfortunatly for me Katy (my roomate and best friend) will still have to work which means I still have to watch her kids. Normally this isn't a bad thing persay, but I've been dealing with swelling and bad pains in my right leg for going on two weeks now. I went to the hospital last week and the doctor put me on pain pills. Problem is, they don't reduce the pain. In fact the only thing they're good for is knocking me out cold.....this isn't a good thing when I'm supposed to be taking care of two small children.

Point is.....I'm sick of the snow. I'm ready for weather in the 70's, flowers starting to bloom, and birds waking me up with their spring songs in the morning. I absolutely LOVE the spring....hands down it's probably my favorite season of all. Its the season that makes me constantly stop and take time out daily to admire everything God has given us. What could be better than going on a road trip with some family members or friends and just enjoying the blue skies, green grass and trees, and the crisp warm air that blows your hair when you put your windows down? For me.....NOTHING!!! I love it!! Picnics in the park, hiking through the mountains, frolicing through the fields....call me a giant kid but I long for these things and I can't help but giggle like a giddy school girl when I think about doing them in a few months. It also makes me giddy to think that this year when I do all these things it will be as a "Mrs.", and I'll more than likely be doing them with my hubby! How fun is that?! It might just be the pain pills talking now, but this makes me beyond happy! Jamie is more of a homebody compared to me, but I'm hoping this year we'll spend more time out in the world together. Our Disney trip was a milestone for him....it was his first real vacation, his first time going to an amusement park other than Carowinds, the longest road trip he'd ever been on, and obviously his first time to Flordia. We have GOT to get this boy out more!! He always asks me how I can enjoy going out so much, and why I don't like staying at home. The only answer I can ever think of is this....boredom. I get bored way too easily staying at home. I'm sure there are a million things I could do in all the down time....I could pick up a book I've never read (or start reading the Bible daily), I could get out my pictures and start my scrapbook, I could cook (I love cooking), I could (and should) clean, or I could even turn on the radio and just dance.....I used to love turning on the radio and just dancing around like a fool. The problem is....I hardly ever think to do any of these things. And if they do happen to cross my mind I push them out because I don't "feel" like doing them. Its funny because Sunday morning at church this very problem was brought up by one of our Pastors. He was telling us about how he was trying to watch the football game the night before but couldn't focus on it because he kept thinking about the church. In some ways it made me feel better knowing that I'm not the only person with this problem. Then again I also felt major guilt because while my Pastor was willing to admit that sometimes he puts his focus on the wrong things at the wrong time, I have a HUGE problem admitting it. I have no problem admitting that I get bored easily and that I have a problem focusing at times, but I refuse to see it as a major problem. At times it is. Its a problem when I should be paying attention to the sermon on Sunday but instead I have songs from Rent playing in my head (or when I start to wonder if anyone wil want to grab brunch when the service is over). Its also a problem when I'm trying to work on wedding stuff with my mom but all I can think about is how I want to be with my future hubby. Or when I'm actually with him and we're snuggling together watching a movie and I start wondering if my dog is ok at home. I could go on and on with examples, but I'm sure most of you get the point by now. That point is....there's a time and place for everything. And alot of times most of us get it wrong. We put our energies into things we don't need to, and if you're like me its the worst when its caused by boredom. Like right now, there are a million things that I could (and should) be doing. I could be using this down time to do a devotion, or I could have cooked my own dinner instead of having my dad get me something from Wendy's. But I let the fact that my leg hurts give me an excuse to be lazy and let me spend hours on Facebook instead.

Does this make me a bad person? No. Does it give me a guilty conscience? Totally! Because I know as soon as I post this blog I'll hop right back on Facebook in hopes of finding a friend to chat with because I don't feel like reading tonight. I'm grateful at least that tonight I had the nerves to admit I'm a lazy slacker to myself (and all my followers). Hopefully this means I'll also be willing to take the next step soon....getting off my butt and doing something productive!

Until then...God Bless and have a safe night!
                                                                        ~Shay~

Pretty in Premier

As most of my family and friends know, I'm an independent Jeweler for Premier Designs. Premier is a Christian based company (meaning we follow Christian based principles within our job). We were started out in 1985 by a couple named Andy & Joan Horner. Sadly Joan passed away at the end of last year so I never got the chance to meet her in person. But I have a feeling I would've adored her if I did! R.I.P Joan...this blog's for you!!

Until last year I had never heard of Premier Designs. I had a friend who's best friend was a jeweler, and she invited me to the party she was hosting for her. At the time I was only interested in going to possibly get some cheap jewelry to add to my collection (I have 5 jewelry boxes full of every type of jewelry you can think of, none of which was Premier). I was back and forth on deciding if I really wanted to attend or not, I was afraid it would be like attending a Mary Kay party. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE Mary Kay and Mary Kay parties, but I always feel guilty when I can't afford to buy anything. My grandfather ended up passing away that week before the party, and his wake ended up being on the same day. I decided it might be good for me to go to the party and surround myself with girlfriends....boy am I glad I did!!

First off....it was EXACTLY like a Mary Kay party....but BETTER!! Before attending this party I had never heard of a company that not only based themselves on Christian principles, but they always put their clients needs over making a profit! What kind of company can succeed when they put other people's needs ahead of their own?! While this confused me it also made me fall in love with the company. Unfortunatly I'm like most people in America right now.....completely broke. I knew once her friend started telling us about how we could become jewelers ourselves that it would take money coming out of my pocket in order to make a profit.....just like Mary Kay and Avon. I sighed because I knew I couldn't afford to become a jeweler at that time. I looked through a catalog, found something I wanted, ordered it and left. I put Premier out of my mind after that until my Devotion ring came in. When I got it that feeling washed over me all over again....I wanted to be a part of Premier SOOOOO bad....but at that time I didn't see it happening.

Several months later I got an event invite on Facebook for a Premier party. It turns out my friend Molly Harris had become a jeweler and was hosting her training show. The feeling washed over me all over again so I R.S.V.P'd and went. This time when Molly asked us if anyone was interested in becoming a jeweler I shot my hand up and "YES!" After everyone else left she and her sponsor Reginia got me all the paperwork I needed to start out. As luck would have it I was able to apply for a Premier credit card that would pay for my starter's kit. So I filled out all the nessacary forms and Molly mailed them in. Sadly a few days later she got the response back that I was denied for the credit card (it stinks not having credit!). I was ready to give up but Molly wouldn't let me. She gave me several options on what I could do so I got started. About a month later we tried to use my grandma as a co-signer, sadly that got denied too. And yet Molly still wouldn't let me lose the faith. She taught me the phrase she learned at national rallies, "No Stinkin' Thinkin!" So once again we weighed my options.

Turns out Premier had a contest for up and coming Jewelers. If I got on before the end of September I would qualify for a quickstart program that would earn me free jewelry for my kit. With lots of prayer, hope, and the help of Molly and a beyond gracious grandmother I became a Jeweler at the end of September! :)

So far I've had some tough breaks, but Premier is the greatest job a girl could ask for. I love that it combines two things I adore (in the words of Molly)...jewelry and Jesus! Our items are beyond beautiful, and our hostess benefits can't be beat! Nothing makes me smile more than going into the home of a girl who loves jewelry as much as I do, and being able to give her anywhere from $25- several $100s worth of free jewelry just for allowing me to come tell her and her friends about Premier. I mean seriously.....how cool is that?! I just hosted my first Mystery hostess show today....it was amazing! Not only did I get 3 out of the 4 guest to books shows, but I got to award my sister Sarah almost $60 worth of free jewelry because her name was drawn as the mystery hostess!

As I wrap up today's blog I want to leave you with some words from our founder Andy. While going through my starter kit this morning, I came across a book written by Andy that I had forgotten they'd sent. It's titled: "By Design the Continuing Story of Premier Designs". I hate to admit that I have yet to crack it open, but just from reading the back cover I can tell it will be uplifting. Here's the part that makes me smile:

Contrary to the conventional wisdom and the business practice of most companies, Andy and Joan Horner have led Premier Designs to become a multi-million-dollar corporation- and one of the most successful direct sales companies in the world-by putting people's needs before profits. They founded the company more than 18 years ago, determined to conduct business based on biblical principles of honesty, integrity, and service to others. Andy and Joan refer to Premier Designs not as a direct sales company, but rather as a Direct Service company. They measure success by the number of lives enriched, not by the enrichment of their bank account.

Amazing right?! I think so!
                                          ~Shay~

Its a love story

So as I stated in my first blog, I'm getting married next month. 50 days to be exact (at least thats what Weddingbuzz told me this morning), its kinda hard to keep track! James and I have been engaged since September 6th, 2009. For those of you who don't know me that happens to be my birthday which makes the date twice as special!

From the beginning I knew James and I were meant to be. Call it fate or whatever you want....he's my soulmate! Before we were even an "official" couple I had programmed "Love Story" by Taylor Swift into my phone for his ringtone. Now get this.....everytime something BIG happens in our life that song starts to play. Call me a lovestruck fool but its like magic or something. The first time Jamie decided to kiss me it came on in my car. We had just pulled up in front of his house, and we had started talking. After we said our goodbyes he leaned in for a kiss and all of a sudden the song comes on! I started tearing up and had to explain to him why. He thought I had put the cd in and had it cued to that song, but I don't own that cd!

The 2nd time the song popped up was the day he took me to look at engagement rings. We were in Kay jewelers and all of a sudden it comes on the loudspeakers....coincidence? I think not!! Needless to say there have been several other special occasions involving the song, but I'm sure most of you would be ready to throw up from all the "super sweet ickiness"! lol

Anyway back to our fairytale and where its led us. James and I went to Disneyworld the week of my birthday in 09'. He made sure I got the dream proposal I'd always wanted. On my birthday we went to the Magic Kingdom and about an hour after the park opened he took me back to the castle, found a photographer and popped the question! Even though I knew to expect it; it was soooo magical that I couldn't help but to burst in tears and scream "YES!!!!" before hugging him! Now lets fastforward to January 7th, 2011.

James is still amazing and I love him more than ever. But if I knew exactly how much goes into a wedding I would've started planning that day!! Its so much more than finding a dress, picking the location, and bridal party.....its truly enough to make you go insane! There's picking the theme, getting decorations, all kinds of photshoots and parties, buying gifts for your bridal party, booking your honeymoon, getting the marriage liscense, the list goes on and on. With a little over a month away we still have to get engagement pictures done, get food for the rehearsal dinner and reception, pay the photographers, videographer, and band, buy some more decorations.....once again the list goes on and on. And for what......a day that will probably go by so fast you wouldn't remember it without video proof! At the end of that big day will I really remember what I ate, all the songs we danced to, who caught the bouquet and garter, and who all attended? Probably not. But can I let you in on a little secret.....I wouldn't want it any other way. ;)
                                                                                                                  ~Shay~

Simply Shay

So I guess this is the part where I tell the blogging world a little bit about myself....for starters my name is Shannon. I used to blog all the time through Myspace, but it got old quick because people on Myspace seem to love creating drama. I love life and every aspect of it! I'm a Christian and God is wonderful....just look around us! I get excited everyday just looking around and seeing all the things he's given us...this Earth, the land, the seas, the mountains, the animals, the people we call family and friends.....my gosh it makes me happy! I'm getting married in 50 days and the last year and a half has been a crazy roller coaster trying to plan our big day! I hope to live up to God's standards through my marriage and to set a good example for Christian woman everywhere by not caving in to soceity's image of "the perfect woman" (aka a hoochie mama with no brain). I have morals and opinions and I'm not scared to express them, even if that makes me uncool.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of blogs I'll be writing yet, but since there's hardly ever a dull moment in my life I'm sure they'll be interesting! I hope you guys enjoy reading them as much as I know I'll enjoy writing them!
           ~Shay~