Whitney Loves

New Post Schedule & Catching Up

2012-01-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all.

Sorry that it seems like I've neglected my little corner in the blog world, I have honestly thought of you and posting but never got around to it!

I know that I said I would be posting a daily photo and scripture,

but from now on instead of posting every day I will be posting once a week. I hate to not stick with my word but I will not have access to internet other than my iPhone starting this week.

I will definitely still be challenging myself to take more pictures and stay in my Word, I just won't be documenting it like it thought.

A little over a year ago I moved from my parents' home and in with my Nana. There was no reason other than I was just being a brat and in a rough time in my life (I made it rough for myself)

Nana only lives 2 streets down from my parents so I didn't go far, but it was the space I 'needed'.

Hopefully you've had a time like that and can understand...

Anyways, my Uncle has been a contracted firefighter in Afghanistan for about 6-7 (I think**) years and is coming home for good next weekend. Since he's been gone so long and only ever came home for about 2-3 weeks at a time every 6 months or so, he doesn't have a home of his own & needs a bed here at Nana's-which means Whitney has to give up her SUPER comfortable bed and move back in with her parents. Other than not having my SUPER comfortable bed and changing my daily routines, I'm totally okay with the move though. My parents and I have really grown closer since I've moved out and especially now that I've grown up a little since the move so I definitely don't expect to have a difficult time living together again!

But the whole reason I'm even saying all of that is because my parents don't have internet so that's the reason I won't be posting every day. :/

Nana will still have internet though so I'll just come over to post.

I do realize I'm a VERY little bitty blog with very few followers (which I love more than you know :)) and it probably sounds silly that I even care-but I do :)

Sadly, I don't really have photos to post for the last three days :/

--On Wednesday I spent lots of cuddle time with Tobi. He is so sweet when you're the only one home to cuddle with :). I also went to our Wednesday night service where Dad shared a great message on understanding God's wrath

Scripture:
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-" Ephesians 2:4-5

--Most of Thursday was spent in my jammies and I applied for a job online, talked to counselors from school about graduation (which is at the end of the month) and a possible interview this week, ordered sample wedding invitations, time with Tobi, and setting up the youth room for our wednesday night services (we're adding worship from a youth led band to the service). Not such an eventful day, sorry again for not having a photo.

Scripture:

(I am absolutely loving going through the book of John! :))
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" John 3:36

--On Friday I had lunch with T, shopped for wedding stuff and ran an errand for T, met with our bible study group in the evening (We had a great time together!), relaxed at home with Mom and Dad then had a late night date night with T. He took me to Taco Bell (at 11:45, lol) & watched "One Day" with me! The movie was pretty good, but honestly I don't think I would have liked it as much if it didn't have Anne Hathaway & Jim Sturgess in it. But it did make me cry. :)

Scripture:

"...and give no opportunity to the Devil" Ephesians 4:27

Hope you guys have had a great first week of January.

{ Photo & Scripture of the Day-- 3/365 }

2012-01-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

Hey guys.

Today wasn't too eventful for me so this will be quite a short post.

I babysat 2 boys today while their parents were at work (they don't go back to school until tomorrow) and the day consisted of cartoons, frozen fish sticks, legos, and rowdiness. I babysat them Tuesday-Friday of last week too. I was glad to have a little side job for the week.

After my 9 1/2 hour day with the boys, T & his friend Jackson & I took a little mini road trip to Brewton, AL (about and hour & a half from here) to look at a drum set they want to purchase for our upcoming youth band. The couple selling the drum was very nice and we have a good feeling that it will be the drum set we purchase.

That leads me to my photo of the day...

The boys talkin' away on our trip to Brewton, AL

When we got home, T & I spent time in our Word. I have really enjoyed this time with him & the Lord these past couple of days. He is such a great spiritual leader already, makes me feel blessed that he's the one the Lord gave me!

Instead of reading together one specific book, we read separate while being together. He is reading Romans and I'm reading John. It's blessed my heart so much already and my scripture for today is one that caught my eye during my reading...

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it" John 1:5

It's simple but so beautiful to me! It's a reminder that God's light could not be seen if there weren't darkness in this world, He created the darkness for His light to be shown and it also gives me hope that Satan will never win!

Hope y'all have had a wonderful day.

xo,

{ Photo & Scripture of the Day-- 2/365 }

2012-01-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all!

Today was filled with lots of family time! I spent most of the beginning of the day cuddling with T & Tobi. Love, love, love cuddle time! And I love it even more when it's unexpected! T was scheduled to work today but they let them go home with pay as soon as they got to work. He was so glad to have the day off and I was glad to have him with me all day! :)

Later in the afternoon we met at my mom & dad's for a New Year's lunch. We had some arguments, watched football, and ate some yummy food-a typical day for us. I love that we can argue and bicker over stupid stuff and still have a great time together.
That happens in all families, right? :)

This evening my mom & I took the time to get down to business and plan for the wedding a little more in depth. We've all been planning with ideas and photos from Pinterest for about 5 months now but it was time to sit down and think out some big details. It was overwhelming, stressful & a lot of fun all at the same time. I can't wait to look back on this time and think how funny it is that I'm stressing myself as much as I am. I'm such a perfectionist and very VERY indecisive so you can only imagine how hard it is for everyone that is helping me in this process. I'm thankful for Mom and Rach though, they know me best and we all make a good team. I know that the wedding will be wonderful, that everything will fall into place, and that it'll be the happiest day for T & I...just can't wait to get there!! :)

If it weren't for the little blog challenge I just started I probably wouldn't be posting a pic from today because it is by far the prettiest picture I've ever taken and it's not even edited, but planning the wedding with Mom was on of the highlights of my day...

"Organized" Wedding Planning

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My scripture for today is one that Thaddeus and I read together before this blog post.

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you-that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine" Romans 1:11-12

This verse spoke to us in a way that could possibly be different than it speaks to you, but it stuck out to us because that is something that we strive for in our relationship together.
We pray that our spiritual gifts are used to to strengthen each other & that our personal relationships with Christ encourage each other.
We know that without the Lord we would be nothing-both individually and together.

I hope you all have had a wonderful day!

{ Photo & Scripture of the Day-- 1/365 }

2012-01-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I am looking forward to what this year will bring!

This year...

T & I will turn 20 (yay for not being a 'teen'!)

& WE WILL BE GETTING MARRIED!!!

Do y'all have any big plans for this upcoming year?

As a way to ring in 2012 I will be trying something new for my little blog.

It will help me to actually blog more as well as

help me to photograph special memories of this year & keep me accountable in my Word.

I will be posting a photo and scripture each day. The photo I post will be one that I take that day & the scripture will either be something that the Lord is teaching me at that particular time

or just something special to my heart.

I hope you guys enjoy hearing from me each day!

T & I at lunch with my family :)

We started the day in the Lord's house & man, was it refreshing! We had a great time of worship and Daddy preached an awesome message encouraging us all to rise up and resolve to live for Christ! After the service we met at my aunt & uncle's house for some yummy traditional New Year's Day food! I'm so thankful to have family that can cook such yummy food! :)

When we left there we met T's uncle to see his family's new home they're renovating. They are missionaries in Thailand and we're so excited for them to have a house of their own here in the states! We had a few hours after that before we needed to be at the church to prepare for the evening service so we took a much needed nap! Sunday naps are the BEST, and a perfect little break on our busy Sundays. We finished the evening by going to dinner at Cracker Barrel with our good friend Jackson & after this post is published we'll be reading our daily scripture together.

Such a great first day of the year!!!

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I am so unworthy of His grace & His mercy!

Love this scripture because it reminds me that I do not deserve

Him saving my soul but I am so thankful He did!!

Hope you all had a great first day of 2012!

My 2011

2011-12-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! With 2012 quickly approaching and 2011 being over soon I've been reliving some of the memories and pictures and wanted to share a few.

First...just a few BIG moments and extra special memories from this year:

-Thaddeus proposed and we began planning our April wedding

-Traveled to Ecuador for a mission trip with our church.

We lived in the jungle in straw huts & bathed in the river for a week

and shared the love of Jesus with the people there.

It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to go back! :)

-Graduated from Dental Assisting school

-Met Casting Crowns and attended their concert!

VERY exciting for Thaddeus & I because they're our favorite worship band!

-Thaddeus started leading worship

& officially became the worship pastor on staff

-My last Christmas 'at home'.

This may not be a big deal to most people,

but knowing that next year I won't be waking up with Jordan

at 5am & spending Christmas morning with my family is kinda scary.

Can't wait for Thaddeus and I to start our own Christmas traditions though

-----------------------------

And now for the pictures...it's quite a load.

They aren't in any particular order

Enjoy :)

Hands-on at school

Hands-on learning x-ray techniques at school

19th Birthday

Rach and I at a church block party

Family at Easter

Brother/Sister time

T and I on Easter

Mama & her babies on Mother's Day

All of us at school

Pool Time

T and his buddies leading in song

One of the only recent pictures I have of Nana

J and I with some of the beautiful kids in Ecuador

Ladies' hut
(which we shared with rats and bats)

Worship time in Ecuador

Mom & Dad sharing the Word to kids at school

Loving on kids in Ecuador

Sweet girls in Ecuador

T & Jackson with their buddies in Ecuador

BFF time

Celebrating Mom's birthday

Bangs! :)

Seminar completed & externship bound

Tobi enjoying some sun
Do any of your pups do this?

After his Upper GI...isn't he precious!?

The proposal
Sorry for the bad quality...
wish the picture could show how beautiful it really as

Recently engaged

During our engagement session right after the proposal
I don't think you could've wiped the smiles off our faces if you tried! :)

Mrs. Brown is the grandmother to the dentist I worked for on my externship.
We celebrated her 101st Birthday with her! It was such an honor to be there!

First day of Fall with the family
Gotta love Florida weather :)

Seashell pickin' with the family on the first day of Fall

Feedin' the birds on the first day of Fall
(excuse the half-nakedness)

Snuggle time with T

One of the many date nights with my guy

Beautiful sky in Cantonment, FL

Blue Angels Homecoming Show with Mom & J

Casting Crowns

Casting Crowns
Acoustic Session

Meeting Casting Crowns
Ahhhh :)

Babysitting these precious babies has been so fun for Rach and I

Scanning for our bridal registry :)

One of our many 'lesbian' date nights.
Every time we go to dinner we're always at a table with couples
& joke that we're on a date too! ;)

Family Christmas Picture
Last one without T :)

Newest addition to the Jones family...Sweet baby Ayden

T put the star on our tree this year
We'll break him from being a Scrooge soon enough :)

Dinner party with Rach

Bonfire and worship with the youth

One of my favorite Christmas presents
Can't wait to use it!

(sorry for the random order)

Hope you enjoyed all my memories of 2011! :)

All about me & my life :)

2011-12-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

I'm 19 years old - I was raised in a loving christian home with my parents & younger brother. My dad is a pastor & has been since I was 12 or so. We grew up with lots of family traditions during the holidays and birthdays have always been a 'big-deal' in our home!

I am blessed to have grown up with so much love and great guidance!

Mom is a great photographer- she's not a 'pro' but she definitely has the ability to be!

She's building her portfolio & hopefully starting a business in the future :)

You can check out her blog here

I recently graduated from dental assisting school and in the process of finding my first job in the dental field. I am very excited to begin my career and even more excited to grow in experience.

I'm quite nervous to be a new assistant without any experience but trying to stay positive :)

I love:

my Savior

photography

my iPhone

Instagram

animals (dogs preferably)

lazy days

singing

fingernail polish (I paint my nails every chance I get)

tacos

mountain dew

great talks with my bff Rach

movies

music

Switchfoot

Alabama Football

Sunshine

& this amazing guy

Meet my wonderful fiance! :)

He's 19

Part-time worship pastor

Steelers fan

He's a kid in a big boy's body (but what guy isn't?!) ;)

He loves:

Jesus

Worship

His church family

Music

Movies

Pizza

Fried Chicken

We're from Pensacola, FL and currently planning our April wedding.

We are very excited to start our life together

& can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us

Yay for awards! :)

2011-12-13T19:57:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited! Whitney @ the land of sunshine chose to award me a blogger award! :)
I just love following her blog & instagram-you should follow her too!! She's from the beautiful sunshine state just like me and is a wifey & furbaby mama to some cute little pups...not to mention her super cute first name ;) Thanks SO much for my award girl! :D

Since I was nominated, I get to pick 15 blogs to nominate. I feel a little funny nominating blogs that have been around a lot longer than my little blog and have a lot more followers than I do but I love the chance to give my favorite bloggers a shoutout! :)

The Rules:

1. Nominate 15 bloggers

2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination

3. Share 7 random things about yourself

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you

5. Add "The Versatile Blogger" photo to your blog post

Nominations:

1. Rachel @ Miss Mustache

2. "Mom" @ Melissa Torrez Photography

3. Megan @ Writing My Story

4. Stephanie @ Mrs. Stephanie T

5. Amber @ I love you to the moon.

6. Tammie @ Dear Whimsy

7. Ashley @ Ashley Fashion

8. Elsie @ A Beautiful Mess

9. Ivelisse @ Pretty Little Mustache

10. Julie @ Jooleedoh

11. Katie @ Skunkboy Creatures

12. Jessica @ My Little Mustache

13. Juliet @ Inspired By Lovely

14. James @ bleubird vintage

15. Carissa @ Ordinary Vessel

7 Things About Me:

1. I'm a soon-to-be wifey

2. I'm one of the few preacher's daughters that do not live up to

the horrible reputation most people have for preacher's daughters

3. I'm a huge Alabama Crimson Tide fan! ROLL TIDE ROLL!

4. I don't have one specific favorite color & it often changes,

but at this time my favorite colors are turquoise & yellow

5. I'm an animal lover!

6. I'm a graduate from dental assisting school

and soon-to-be Registered Dental Assistant

7. I'm not a big 'sweets' lover...I'd prefer a bag of salty chips over a cupcake any day!

Thanks again to Whitney!

Hope you guys have a wonderful day! :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 9 & 10

2011-12-10T14:37:00.001-08:00

I'll be combining days 9 & 10 because I missed a day yesterday...whoops.

:: 2 Songs ::

1. The song my boy wrote me. It's not the best song ever written but it's definitely very special to me! I could listen to it over and over again!

2. He Loves Us-Written by John Mark McMillan, also performed by The David Crowder Band

Thaddeus, our friend Jackson & I lead out in worship to this song regularly at church. I love that they lyrics are so simple but so powerful at the same time! It's a great reminder of God's love for us

:: A picture of Me ::

This was taken circa 1994. I was the cutest little chunky asian girl ever! ;)

I hope my kids are as cute as I was! :)

This will be my last post of my 10 Day Challenge.

I've enjoyed sorting through all of my likes and dislikes and finding the most important!

Hope you guys have enjoyed getting to know a little about me! :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 8

2011-12-09T19:49:00.001-08:00

:: 3 Films ::

1. Sweet Home Alabama, definitely my favorite. I can just about quote it word for word. :) It's one of the few movies that I can watch over and over!!

2. The Other Sister, cutest lovey movie ever! I love everything about it!

3. The Lion King, everyone has a favorite Disney movie

& it's definitely my all-time favorite!!! :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 7

2011-12-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

:: 4 books ::

1. The B-I-B-L-E, I will admit that I do not read God's Word everyday but as a follower of Christ I see it as the most important book you could ever read.

2. Redeeming Love. I haven't read it in a couple years so I couldn't tell you all about it but it's a fictional story based from the book of Hosea from the Bible & such a great love story.

3. Jesus Calling. The best devotional book ever! (I totally cheat-I don't actually read the book, I have an app on my phone ;))

4. My Sister's Keeper. Probably the last book I read completely. (The book is SO much better than the movie)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 6

2011-12-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

:: 5 foods ::

1. Mexican. Ask anyone that is around me often-I eat tacos like once a week!

They were the first thing i learned how to cook (I know, I know-not much "cooking") & it's about the only thing I can cook without a recipe, so I sure am glad Thaddeus likes my tacos :)

2. Cane's. If you don't live in Louisiana, Mississippi or Mobile, AL you probably have never eaten Cane's Chicken Fingers. But trust me if you ever come upon one, get some chicken!!! They have a special sauce that comes with the chicken that is to die for!

I'm so sad we don't have one here in Pensacola!!

3. KFC, chicken tenders with mashed potatoes & a Pepsi-to be exact :)

4. Panera Bread's Potato Soup We now have a drive-thru restaurant

here in Pensacola which is not good for me at all! ;)

5. Japanese Hibachi, it's in my blood to love it! :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 5

2011-12-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

:: 6 Places I would like to go ::

1. Japan, My Nana was born in Okinawa & lived there until she was 21. She is 61 now and has never been back to her home country. She never taught any of us the language or anything about the culture but as a family we always talk about taking a big trip to visit.

2. Thailand. Thaddeus' Dad is Thai and his uncle and family are missionaries there. We both want to go visit the family and do some kind of mission work with his aunt and uncle soon!

3. Hawaii. Who doesn't wanna see Hawaii?! I'm a beach lover and I've seen how beautiful it is there through pictures!

4. California. Preferably San Diego. I always love pictures I see of California and would love to visit the beach there!

5. The Bahamas. I love the beach, if you can't tell! ;)

From what I have seen in pictures, they have the most beautiful water! And I always see people relaxing on the beach or in some beautiful resort-which I am all for!! :)

6. The Mountains (in the Winter time). Thaddeus and I will be staying in a cozy little cabin in Tennessee for our honeymoon & we are SO excited! But it will be during Spring & I've always wanted to see snow (never seen it) & how beautiful it is during Christmas time :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 4

2011-12-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

:: 7 Wants ::

1. A puppy Thaddeus and I both love dogs and can't wait to have our own little fur-baby(s)

2. A new wardrobe. What girl doesn't want new clothes ;)

3. My own camera, a Canon, to be exact. I use my mom's Canon Rebel when I need a better camera than my iPhone but I want a camera of my own. I love that the new Canon's take amazing pictures and videos & would love to have better quality pics and vids than my iPhone takes

4. A new car. I'm still driving my first car, a 2004 Saturn Ion. It runs and isn't the worst car in the world but I would love to be driving a newer car :)

5. Alabama's 14th National Title ;) ROLL TIDE ROLL

6. A happy wedding day, I know someone that was miserable on her wedding day because she was so worried about things being 'perfect' and (being the perfectionist I am) I'm worried that I will do the same. But I'm starting to prepare myself now and remind myself that the day will not be 'perfect' and not everything will go like I plan but it will be the happiest day of my life and a great time to celebrate the commitment and vows Thaddeus and I will be making :) <3

7. A JOB! I've technically been jobless since the last week of July...but August-1st week of November I worked full-time in a dental office as an extern student to complete my dental assistant schooling. I am graduated now though and looking for a position as a dental assistant but have not found that 'right' office to work at. Thaddeus has been wonderful in taking care of me during these past 5 months but it gets stressful just living on one income and knowing that we have an upcoming wedding and house (with bills) to pay for. We know it's all in God's timing though and trust that He will provide.

10 Day Challenge -- Day 3

2011-12-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

:: 8 Fears ::

1. Roaches It's more like a phobia. But I am DEATHLY afraid of them touching me!

2. Something happening to Thaddeus or my family. My Nana had a heart attack over 2 years ago and it was enough to scare me and realize that I would lose it if something more tragic ever happened to her or anyone I love!

3. Being alone. Kind of goes with the last one. And I also don't like being alone because I'm scared of someone "getting me"--which leads me to my next one...

4. Someone "getting me" I watch too much CSI & Criminal Minds and they have definitely scared me of the creeps in this world!

5. Being told I can't have babies I don't know that this will ever happen to me (I don't have any medical conditions that say I will ever have trouble) but I would be CRUSHED if it did happen! I'm definitely not against adoption but I can't wait to be a mommy to my own! :)

6. Rollercoasters I HATE THEM! I even freak out when I'm parking (or in a car parking) up a hill. I just hate the feeling of falling-backward or forward

7. The Paranormal Activity Movies I've seen 1& 2 and I WILL NOT see the 3rd. Most people think they're just dumb but for me they're so demonic and evil!

8. Dark water I hate not being able to see what's underneath me!

10 Day Challenge -- Day 2

2011-12-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

:: 9 Loves ::

1. Thaddeus Michael Jones, my future husband. He is no doubt the person God created for me and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!!

2. Instagram. I'm totally obsessed! :)

3. Alabama Football. Roll Tide Roll! :)

4. Jesus, My perfect savior. He shows me mercy and grace each day and I am so undeserving!

5. Rachel Nicole, my bff but she's more like my soul sister! :)

6. Sunshine.

7. Switchfoot.

8. Animals. Preferably dogs

9. Cuddling. Preferably with Thaddeus :)

10 Day Challenge -- Day 1

2011-12-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

Since you guys don't know much about me, I'll share 10 'things' about myself instead of 'secrets'

1. I have been raised by a wonderful Godly family & attended church all my life

2. My dad became a pastor when I was 14

3. My mom is a photographer by hobby but she has the talent to be a pro. We all are slowly talking her into starting her own business ;)

(you can check out her photography blog by clicking the tab at the top of my page)

4. I have an 11 year old brother named Jordan. He's already a little stud & just the thought of him dating soon drives me crazy! I'm glad girls are just 'friends' for now :)

5. Our family pet is a spoiled rotten miniature dachsund named Tobi

6. I lived in Louisiana for 3 years. 1 year was spent in New Orleans & the other 2 years were spent in a little town called Pearl River.

7. I recently completed my education to become a Dental Assistant & I am currently unemployed and looking for my first position in my new career.

8. I am OCD about grammar. Their, They're & There are totally different!! ;)

9. I currently live with my Nana & my fiance lives with my parents. Crazy weird, I know.

10. I'm SUPER excited to be a wife & even more excited to marry my wonderful fiance!

Hello Blogspot World!

2011-12-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I'm Whitney.

I am a 19 year old living in beautiful Pensacola, Florida.

I'm a soon-to-be-wife and lover of Jesus, photographs, & my wonderful future husband.
I plan for this blog to be about my life and all of the wonderful things the Lord has blessed me with.