Will You Marry Me?

Those 4 small words are some of heaviest words in the English language. Most people only say them or hear them once in their life. Well, my turn to hear them was Saturday.

Nathan and I have been talking about getting married for awhile; we've been ready for about 3-4 months. I didn't know when the proposal was coming, but I was hoping (and praying) it would happen over Christmas break. I did not care how/where he did it, but I did have two requirements for myself. 1. I would be surprised, and 2. I  would cry (name two girls that don't...). Well my friends, he did GOOD.

Nathan and I had plans to open our Christmas gifts from one another on Saturday morning. We bought a small Christmas tree and lots of decorations, and we had decorated my apartment on Friday. So Saturday morning, Nathan (who has a key to my apartment) came over early and made us breakfast and peppermint mocha. When I finally awoke, we ate together and then sat down in front of the toasty fire place to open gifts. 

As I opened my last gift from him I realized there was nothing in the box... except a guitar pick tapped to the bottom. I was like, "um... what?? I don't get it." And he replied, "well give it to me and I will show you." Then he picked up the guitar and started playing me a song he had been writing since we first started dating. He sang about our past struggles and how we have loved each other through the hardships and we are stronger and better for it. To honor his request, I won't read all of the lyrics. But I will share the beginning and ending of the song:

(V1)

From across the room I saw you there

Held down butterflies when you caught me staring

You walked to me and took my hand, didn't know if I had the strength to stand

On the first of the steps of my walk with you, loving you was so easy to do.

So I gazed in your eyes for a minute or two, saw the love and the hurt that you held in you

And I hoped to fall in love with you.

(V4)

So here we are, the moment of truth,

No turning back, all I want is you

As we walk together, won't you take my hand

When one's not strong enough the other can stand

There's no one else I'd rather be with, with you my troubles just don't exist

Because I am in love with you

(v5)

We'll figure it out as we go along, keep adding verses to our song

Because I am in love with you

Through the years our love will change, don't worry about it cuz every day

Ill fall in love with you again.

Through the tears at the end of the song, Nathan pulled out a ring box, opened it, and asked, "will you marry me?" Obviously, I said yes. It was magical. We laughed, cried, and kissed for the next hour, and I made him play me the song over again because he was crying so much through it. Precious! 

THE ring

One more surprise that he had up his sleeve was that he invited our dearest friends and family to celebrate with us at my brother's house. It was the best engagement party I could've hoped for. I am still in shock sometimes when I look down and see the GORGEOUS ring on my finger. We can't wait to plan our wedding and spend our lives together. The Lord has truly blessed us. 

Thanks for reading our story. I'm loving this sweet time in our relationship and looking forward to being Mrs. Phelps! 

Wrapping Up Summer part 1.

Im sad to see that my last post has been more than 5 months ago... WOW. Doesn't seem like I've neglected my blog for that long! But looking back over those 5 short months, so much has happened.

This summer I've been working at a Pediatric dental office 3 to 4 days a week (it's harder than it sounds) in Edmond.  I love working with kids everyday and I think someday I might want some of my own.  They are too stinkin cute! One nice thing about working there this summer is that I got 2 weeks off for summer vaca. It was seriously the best 2 weeks of staycation I've ever spent in Oklahoma.

Monday night I drove to Inola and stayed with the rentals. I got to have lunch with my mom and grandpa and then hang out with him for a while. After I left his house in Jenks, I stopping at an antique mall and bought a legit floppy hat for $12. Then I spent time with April and my 3 favorite children in the world.. that is always entertaining! Dinner with my sweet Great Aunt Mary and Nina, which was lovely because she is a hoot and we talked about everything from outdoor weddings in oklahoma to her college and early married days in California. The next evening my mom and I went and looked at a venue for a possible wedding in the future, which I happened to really love. :) That night and next day I visited my best friends from high school, Amanda and Keahna, where we reminisced and caught up on life. I also spent the night at my sisters place and got to hang out with her and Mark and their 3 dogs. It was really great. So after 5 fabulous days in Tulsa, Nathan and I headed see my dad, Aunt Connie and the Bills at their house on lake Eufala. That was filled with lots of food, hot tubbing, lake time, and convo.

When the boy and I left Eufala, it was the beginning of special surprise trip for the weekend. He took me all over Tulsa to places like the Philbrook museum, Tulsa performing arts center, dinner, movies, and then to hobby lobby to let me pick out some new art supplies. It was a very thoughtful and romantic trip. He spoiled me rotten, and I love him.
                                                          Here we are at the Philbrook

 

The second week back in the city was filled with sleeping, eating, relaxing, laying out, sleeping, and not having a care in the world. It was amazing.

So no I haven't been to any beaches this summer, but I've spent lots of quality time with the people I love the most. So wow, thats just a preview of my summer so far! Lots to catch everyone up on!

What has been special about your summer? Have you gotten to spend time with friends and family?

Healer

Lately, things have not been great. Quite the opposite. Where should I start... School couldn't be harder for me. I'm in 18 hours, and all of my classes are difficult. I don't have that 1 class where I can space out in and know I'll have an A. I am working hard for B's right now.

Not to mention, I have  ~11 hours of clinic each week on top of school work where I have to be on the ball. I am seeing patients, which is great, but one of the most mentally taxing things I've ever done. I am trying to pull everything I've learned in the past 7 months (which is A LOT of info) together and still try to be professional, polite, and take care of the patient in my chair.

I knew dental hygiene school was going to be hard, but I have no energy. I come home from school in between 3-5 each day and can't move. I immediately put my sweats on and try not to think about anything. But that rarely happens, because I sit there and think about how I'm not studying for my test tomorrow.  I want to excel in clinic, but its darn near impossible when I have to spend my small amount of extra time into studying to pass a test. I usually end up falling asleep while trying to work.

My motivation has left me, my energy has left me, and I'm just trying to get by. Not to go into detail, but as one can image a love life suffering from this. Nathan is moving to OKC in the next few weeks, and I'm not really sure when I will see him anymore. This makes me sad, but it honestly could be beneficial.

I want to be full of life, and life giving to those I'm around. But my soul is weary, and I have nothing to give right now. My spiritual life has been suffering as well. I know I need to make it a priority to read my Bible, and I try, but fall short too often. I went to the Lord today and have been reading out of Job, because I feel I could relate to him.

All I can conclude is that God is wiser than I, greater than I, and is a good God. I prayed for healing, wisdom, and strength. I know first hand God is a good God, and he is a healer. I am trusting in the Almighty with all my weaknesses. Where I am weak, He is strong. I'm needing His peace right now but that comes from me trusting Him. And since He did speak the universe into existence, I think He's a pretty good guy to trust.

Kari Jobe has been on repeat. Jesus heals through song, and especially my heart through Kari's.
Here are the lyrics to her song, Healer.

 You hold my every moment

You calm my raging sea

You walk with me through fire

and heal all my disease

I trust in You

I trust in You

I believe You're my healer

I believe You are all I need

I believe

I believe You're my portion

I believe You're more than enough for me

Jesus, You're all I need.

I am still weak, but I'm trying to give my cares to the Lord. I hope I find healing and strength in that. 

-Bekah

Snoww Dayyzzz

Hello friends. Its been too long.

  I haven't been too busy to post. Quite the contrary. I've been too lazy!! This past school week, I have attended 1 out of the 5 days. Awesome. A college kid's dream week. But after the 4th day of sitting at home not being productive, I'm really ready to get back.

   I see my first patient on Valentines day! So exciting, I agree. But I really needed this past week in clinic to get every ready and prepared. I need to be able to at least convince my patients I know what I'm doing. Confidence is key. But its kinda hard to be confident when the weeks before you practice dental hygiene on someone, (who isn't another student) when you have been playing wii and eating unhealthy amounts of humus.

    On a positive note, I have had a great time with the rooms! We decided it would be imperative to make a fort. It was sheer brilliance. Molly added some nice touches with the "no boys allowed" signs. They actually worked for a few days ha!

  We then hiked uphill both ways, in the blizzard, fighting frostbite to get the bare necessities for survival: pizza and margarita mix.  After de-thawing, Jena and I made enchiladas, Molly made "Snowgaritas" and we watched Sex and the City.

 Since then, not much has changed; my productivity has been insufficient. My goals for today are to start studying for my ridiculous coarse load the coming week. BOO.  I hope everyone has been enjoying their snow days. I have!! 

   

   Would you choose to have snow days or do you think they aren't worth it?

The Power of Prayer.

We have been told our whole lives to pray. And its something that I, and many of you, have always done. We're told to bless our food, pray when someone is sick, and say our bedtime prayers. And that's usually what happens. But lately I have been convicted about praying. And not just, "Lord, help me pass this test. Amen."  I mean really talking to God, like a friend, telling him about my day,  what's on my heart, and what I need strength with.

I think that waking up early and praying is really the best thing I can do for my day. Waking up and giving my worries and mind to Him at the start of the day will prepare me for the battles that lie ahead.
Jesus set the example. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" -Mark 1:35.

I am NOT a morning person. Despise it. I'm literally dead to the world. Like, I would literally prefer getting my foot run over than having to wake up before ten. I will spit on that. This is me in the morning:

And that's why I think its so beautiful. Im gonna have to go the extra mile to meet with the Lord every morning. It's not gonna be fun. But if I want it bad enough, I will get up lazy fanny up. And the second morning I met with the Lord, He told me it was totally worth it. It was Jeremiah 29, a letter to the captives in Babylon, from the Lord.

"12 When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. 13 When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, 14 I'll make sure you won't be dissappointed..."

So yeah. God's a baller. That was such an encouraging scripture to read and know that when I am serious about seeking the Lord, its not gonna be easy, but it'll be worth my time.

What do you think about morning prayers? When do you prefer to pray?

Temporary Defeat.

So back in June, Erica and I egged my friend Kyle in the head with 3 eggs. Rude, I know. But Kyle is the type of guy who would like your facebook status if it said, "I just got in a car wreck, totaled my car, and broke my neck". A great friend no doubt, but in my opinion he rightly earned the egging.

So within a month, Erica came home to a chicken squawking and pooping on her kitchen counters. His ransom note stated, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?".  After viewing the video on facebook, I realized I had it coming.

He gave me the option to make my fb status, "Kyle Kues is a better human being than me in every way" instead of him getting me back. Couldn't do it. Because its totally not true.

So....now you know the back story. I came home from Christmas break and noticed pine needles on the front porch and a profusely strong smell of pine in my house. "That's weird..." I thought, then dismissing it when I saw a green christmas tree car freshener taped to my bedroom door.  "Jena must've gotten this for me as a nice way of saying my room stinks?" haha. Then I opened my door.

And stood there.

Staring.

Mouth wide open.

I was wondering if I was in the right place. In my bedroom, the was 6, yes six, real pine trees, all on Christmas tree stands. There was fake snow, glitter, and pine needles every where. I thought a Christmas tree company delivered a farm to my house on accident. Then my next thought was Kyle. Oh yesss. I called him, and of course he didn't answer. I wouldn't have either.

He informed me he would help me clean everything up via text, and fortunately he put tarp underneath everything.

So my bedroom was Winter Wonderland for a few days. It was pretty brilliant. Right now I am trying to come up with something to top his prank.. though its not looking good so far. Time is not a concern though.

So.. Ill put the video up below so you can watch it and see the damage for yourself. Right now, I stand temporarily defeated.