February 2016 - Della Devoted

High Five For Friday

Hello everyone! Welcome to the weekly High Five For Friday linkup hosted by Tif@ Bright On A Budget, Katie @ Cup of Tea, Caitlin  @ Coffee With Caitlin and myself. We're glad you're here!

This week's featured blogger is Penny from Penny's Passion. Penny is a wife, mother and administrative assistant. Penny is from the Midwest and loves to craft, cook, read, travel and shop. You will see a lot of recipes and projects on her blog. Please stop by and say hello to Penny!

What can I say? This week has been a very rough week. Last Friday, Raylan and I both had to go to the doctor. We have been sick and stuck inside all week. We have had a round of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments. Thankfully we are on the mend. I sure hope your week was better! Let's rewind to the highlights of this week...

1) Saturday was Raylan's 2nd Birthday. Where does the time go? I wish it would slow down. It makes me so sad that our baby is getting so big. It seems like it was just yesterday when I had him. I am blessed beyond compare with such an amazing little boy. He is the love of our lives and brings so much joy to our little family.



2) We were under the weather and couldn't  have his party on his birthday, so we are planning to have his party tomorrow. However, I couldn't let his birthday pass by without making him a little cake. I had to make my dinosaur lover a dinosaur cake. 


3) While being sick, I have actually had time to catch up on some reading. I am currently reading Letting Go by Molly McAdams. I love all of her books. She is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend that you read her books if you haven't already.

4) . My husband was out of town while Raylan and I were sick, and wasn't able to be here to take care of us. But I have to say that I am blessed with some pretty wonderful friends. Both Saturday and Sunday some friends of ours came up and brought food for Raylan and I. It was nice to be taken care of. Friends are a wonderful blessing from God. 

5) We have had some nice warm weather this week and it has me wishing for spring to hurry and get here. I have been looking for a new spring wardrobe. I have also been on Pinterest a lot looking for Spring and Easter Ideas. I am loving this Spring Tulip Wreath. Isn't it beautiful?


Source

Well that's it for now. Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend. May God Bless You!

Thanks for linking up!
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2 Ways To Have A Better Day

Being a mom is tough! It's one of the hardest jobs a woman can have, but it's also the most rewarding job you can have. Being a mom is truly a blessing from God, but like I said it's hard. There are days that you feel like you don't have a spare second. Sometimes you feel like you are going crazy, but I have finally figured out how to manage my sanity a little better in two simple ways.


1) Wake up before everyone else - Used to I would sleep until Raylan woke up. I felt like I was running off of his schedule and could never fit time in for myself. Recently, I have started waking up at least 30 minutes before Raylan. This ensures myself a little me time. Every mom needs time for themselves. Time to think and get prepared for the day. This gives you time to take a quick shower or savor a good cup of coffee. Time to relax before the start of the day. 

2) Bible Study or Devotion - I have started reading my bible or reading a daily devotional every morning. I also write in my bible journal sometimes of the morning. This gives me time to catch up on the word of God, time to meditate on it and pray. Acknowledging God and putting him first is the best way to start off your day.  This is the most important step of all. If you don't do the first step, make sure you do this second step. 

Now that I have started doing these two steps everyday, my days tend to go so much better. Sure! I still have bad days every now and then, but God gets me through it. I don't feel as stressed and I feel like I'm ready to take on the day. I feel like I have a little time for myself even if it is for a few minutes. Moms tend to forget to make time for themselves while taking care of everyone else.  If you don't take care of yourself, how can you care for anyone else?

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Fashion Favorites: The Cardigan

We all have that favorite go to piece of clothing. That one piece of clothing that seems to look good with everything. My fashion favorite is the cardigan. You can use the cardigan to have a dressed up or casual look. No matter which way you wear the cardigan, it always looks well put together. To give you some outfit options, here are a few of my favorite ways to style a cardigan.


Cardigan styled with a dress shirt underneath and a long Kendra Scott Rae necklace added


Button-Up Cardigan styled with scarf


Cardigan with dressy tee and a statement necklace added


Cardigan with a v- neck tee. You can also add a basic tee or printed tee. 

Just about anything looks great with a cardigan. It's very versatile. You can wear cardigans with dress pants, leggings, jeggings, dresses, jeans and capris.  A cardigan is a fashion staple that everyone needs.  It adds character to give you a completed look.

What's your favorite way to style a cardigan?



Navy Cardigan (Maurices)(similar)
Black Button-Up Cardigan : Target (Similar)
White Cardigan: Aeropostale (Similiar)
Pink Button-Up Cardigan : JC Penney


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High Five For Friday

Hello everyone! Welcome to the weekly High Five For Friday linkup hosted by Tif@ Bright On A Budget, Katie @ Cup of Tea, Caitlin  @ Coffee With Caitlin and myself. We're glad you're here!


This week's featured blogger is Meg @ My Monochromatic Life. Meg is a wife and a therapist. She loves her dogs and loves fashion. Meg has a great sense of fashion. She always has the prettiest and colorful styles. Please stop by and say hello to her.


* Next Friday is Bring-a-Friend to H54F. . . If you have a blogging buddy who doesn't do H54F, invite them to participate and introduce them as part of your H54F post

This week has been a good but sad week. Valentine's Day was wonderful but then we found out Justin's grandmother has advanced lung cancer so please pray for her and all of the family. Let's recap my favorites from this week.

1) We didn't have a baby sitter for Valentine's Day, so we decided to take Raylan to Gattiland and do something fun with him. He absolutely loved it. 



He truly enjoyed every second of it and didn't want to leave. He especially loved the carousel and had to ride it 5 times in a row.  He had been once before but he was too little then to really enjoy it. Justin and I enjoyed every second of just getting to watch Raylan. There was no better way to spend our Valentine's Day.

2) Justin surprised me with this beautiful necklace for Valentine's Day. I cried when I saw it. I love heartfelt gifts like this. I would rather have a heartfelt gift than roses or candy any day. He said he chose this picture because it's his favorite one of us. I love the thought that he put into it. 

This cake that I made was Justin's Valentine's present from me. He loved it!



3) Did you catch my blog post this week The Greatest Love Story? It's a must read for everyone. Please take time to read it.


4) Since I've done a lot of baking this week, here are some of my favorites..

A Cake that looks like Pizza for the Pizza Lover

and Cat Cupcakes for the Cat Lover.


I really wish I could have my own bakery one day. That would be a dream come true!

5) I saw this beautiful umbrella wreath on Pinterest and I can't wait to make it. I am so ready for Spring and all of the bright colorful flowers and warmer temperatures.


Well that's it for me. Have a safe and happy weekend! God Bless You!

Don't forget to link-up below...



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The Greatest Love Story

I love a good love story, don't you? Leading up to Valentine's Day, you probably heard about and read many love stories including mine here. But there is one love story that is my absolute favorite.  It is by far the greatest love story that I have ever heard. It is a true love story!




It is the story of God's love for his children. God loved us so much that he gave the world his one and only son so that we could have eternal life after earth. Now that's true love!

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16 

Imagine a father who would sacrifice his son to save everyone else.  Sin started with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and went on down the line. God knew we needed redemption of our sins and his son Jesus was the one to do it. To be honest, I don't think I could sacrifice my son to save someone else. I love my son and I am selfish. But then again, I am human. However God loves everyone and knew that by sacrificing his son, there would be a greater good come out of it. He wanted us to not all perish in sin.  With his son dying on the cross and rising in 3 days, we now can have eternal life. 

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8


If we accept Christ as our personal Savior and friend, we will receive forgiveness of our sins. All of our sins will be erased. We will have a mansion in heaven that waits for us. We will never have to worry about getting sick or dying again. We don't have to worry about anything that upsets us like it does here on this earth. All will be peace, love and joy. We will be re-united with those who have gone on before us. We will also meet Jesus face to face. Isn't that worth getting excited for? 


That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:9-13

Isn't it amazing just how much God loves us? He knew we were on a bad road of self destruction. He didn't want to see us die in our sins, so he sacrificed his precious son on our behalf to pay the price for us. It should have been us paying for our sins, but God loves us unconditionally and blessed us with the gift of being able to to repent of our sins and be cleansed of them. He sacrificed his son so that we could live life eternally. I am so thankful Jesus died and rose again on that third and glorious day just for me and you. This is by far the greatest and most selfless love story that you will ever hear. God sure is good!

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High Five For Friday

Hello everyone! Welcome to the weekly High Five For Friday linkup hosted by Tif@ Bright On A Budget, Katie @ Cup of Tea, Caitlin  @ Coffee With Caitlin and myself. We're glad you're here!

This week's featured blogger is Kristy at Seven Graces. Kristy is a stay at home mom and wife. She is writing a bible study this year and I can't wait to read it. She blogs about mama faith and mama life. She has such an inspirational blog that I absolutely love to read and I know you will too. Please stop by and say hello to Kristy!

 This has been a fairly good week. A kind of relaxing week which is few and far between, but hey I'm not complaining.  I've actually even had the chance to catch up on some reading which never happens. Anyways, who is ready for Valentine's day? I'm excited! I get so giddy over every holiday. I'm such a kid at heart. Here are some of my favorite happenings from this week.

 1) Over the weekend, Tif from Bright on a Budget and I got together for Our Casual Valentine's Day Outfit photo shoot. Tif always has the cutest outfits! You can catch her look here and mine here.

 2) I also was able to book Raylan's birthday party last weekend for the 27th. We are having a dinosaur themed party!  I can't believe my baby will be two years old on the 20th. He is growing up way too fast! I wish time would please slow down.  

 3) Since it's the week of Valentine's Day, I decided to write Our Love Story on the blog. Be sure to read it here. I love a good Love Story, Don't you?

4) To go along with Our Love Story, I made these cookies for Justin as an early Valentine's present.


5) and while we are on the subject of Valentine's Day, I gave myself a Valentine's manicure. I don't think I did too bad with my heart. I mean it could have always been worse lol. I love festive nails for every holiday.


Well that's it for me. I hope everyone has a wonderful  Valentine's weekend. Be safe! God Bless You!

 Don't forget to link-up below...


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VALENTINE'S DAY H54F GOOGLE HANGOUT LIVE TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EST



Don't miss out on this month's H54F Google Hangout--it goes lives at 9:30 PM EST tonight!!! Tif, Caitlin, Katie, and myself are talking all about LOVE tonight since Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  Katie has promised to wear her wedding veil and some of us may have some wedding things to show you as well.

If you haven't joined in on a Google Hangout, let me get you up to speed.  A Google Hangout is a video/video chat platform where tonight's hangout will be hosted.  There are quite a few ways to watch! You can watch right here, on this post, down below!  The video will be available as soon as the hangout goes live, but you can watch it then or anytime thereafter. 

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You can also watch on Google+ or YouTube!  You don't need a Google+ account to watch. BUT you will need one if you want to ask us questions live using the Q+A function. But if you don't have one, no worries! You can still watch LIVE! You can also tweet us questions or comments using #H54FHangout.

If you can't make it, don't worry about that either! We will be recording, and it will be available to watch later, whenever you want.

We are so excited to have you join us at 9:30 PM eastern time tonight! Can't wait!!!!
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Our Love Story

It's the week of Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Everyone is sharing their love stories, so I want to share with you my favorite love story. It's our love story!



    I've known Justin my whole life. My parents were friends with his grandparents who lived in the next county. We visited with them often and a lot of times Justin would be there too. Justin and his parents also lived beside two of my aunts. He was best friends with my cousins, so when I would visit my cousins we would all play together. We always seen each other as just friends so naturally we dated other people. 

    After a few bad relationships, we decided to give each other a chance. One day while visiting my cousins, Justin asked me out. I kindly declined his request. I was hesitant to date him because I had previously dated one of my cousin's friends and that had ended badly. But Justin was charming and persistent, so after a few weeks of talking I agreed to go out with him. Our first date was July 4, 2004 and we have been together ever since. 


This was our first year together at my senior prom. 


After 3 years of dating 

  After 4 years of dating

After being together for 5 years, Justin asked me to be his wife. We didn't have an extravagant proposal like most. He asked me to be his wife at my dad's house, which to me was the most important place to ask me. After saying yes, we went out to eat and watch a movie to celebrate. It was a perfect day!


These were our engagement photos that my neighbor took. He actually proposed on February 5, 2009 but we waited until summer to take our photos. 

5 months after our engagement, we tied the knot on July 18, 2009. It was such a perfect day! It was the wedding of my dreams!


It was the day that I married my high school sweetheart, best friend and soul mate. 


We celebrated with a nice romantic honeymoon in a cabin in the hills of Tennessee. It was perfect as well. 




Justin is definitely my happily ever after. He is my rock and confidant. No matter what obstacles I face in life, I know he will be there for me. He is the love of my life. I couldn't ask for a better husband. 

After 4 years of marriage and a horrible miscarriage with twins, the Lord blessed us with our miracle which is Raylan. He was born February 20, 2014.  He is our whole world, the love of our lives and our pride and joy. 


Raylan has brought so much joy to our lives. We are truly blessed! Raylan completed our little family! 


I love my beautiful family that the Lord has blessed me with. I have an amazing son and a wonderful husband who works hard everyday to provide for us. I am one blessed woman. I love the story of us. 
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Casual Valentine's Day Outfit

Valentine's Day is this coming weekend. I'm like a kid when it comes to any holiday, so naturally I get excited! I always set a theme the week of any holiday and try to dress in the colors of the holiday all week long. I have already showed you my LOVESTRUCK style but now I have another style for you as well. Most of the time, my husband and I like to keep our Valentine's dates very low key by having dinner then catching a movie. So when it's a low key date, I like to dress casual. While you are here, be sure to stop by Tif @ Bright on a Budget to see how she styled her Casual Valentine's Outfit too!


and other than red, pink is the obvious choice for love and all things Valentine's day


I love this hot pink cardigan. It just screams love!


and I like to add even more pink to my outfit, but not too much. So I opt for these pastel pink Rockstar Jeggings. It differentiates the two shades of pink.

 
 
This Taner Bar Mini Necklace and Mika Lariat Necklace from January's Rocksbox set adds the perfect touch to this outfit. I love how they look layered together and the simplicity that they add to the casual look.



These beautiful  Kendra Scott Logan earrings go perfectly too with the necklaces and my flats. They also came in my Rocksbox set.


This is a cute and comfortable casual outfit for Valentine's Day. It looks well put together but not over the top. It's the perfect combo for that sweetheart look!

To get this look:
Cardigan- JC Penney
V-Neck Tee: Walmart
Jeggings: Old Navy (Similar)
Flats: Rue 21 (Similar)
Jewelry: Rocksbox

What's your favorite Valentine's look?

Don't forget to check out Tif's casual look as well!!!

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High Five For Friday

Hello everyone! Welcome to the weekly High Five For Friday linkup hosted by Tif@ Bright On A Budget, Katie @ Cup of Tea, Caitlin  @ Coffee With Caitlin and myself. We're glad you're here!


This week's featured blogger is Michelle from It's the New Twenty. Michelle is a wife, mom of twins, lover of fashion and a fitness ambassador. She blogs about family life, fitness and I love her recent post of Dollar Bin Finds You Need To Get Right Now.  I know you will enjoy Michelle's blog so please stop by and say hello!

*Don't forget our next Google Hangout is Thursday February 11th at 9:30pm est....It will be a love theme!

Hooray! It's finally Friday! It seems as if this has been one long week. I'm ready for the weekend, I know you are too! Let's recap to my recent favorites from this week!

1) On our way home from Atlanta last weekend, I had the wonderful pleasure to meet up with Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort. It was so nice  to finally get to meet her in person. She is such a sweet heart. How often do you get to meet another blogger in real life, especially those who live a long way away from you? Definitely the highlight of my week.


2) We have had some beautiful 60 degree weather this week, so Raylan and I have tried to make the best of it. I snapped this picture of him while we were walking. It's like he was praising the Lord for such a beautiful day.

3) Did you see this week's How I Style It: Lovestruck Date Night Look? You can view it here.  I also did a post called Love Challenge. It's steps toward showing your significant other how much you care about them all month long and improving your relationship.

4) Over the weekend, Justin and I were able to catch a matinee movie and have lunch. We love watching movies. Who else loves to watch movies? We watched 13 hours. I normally don't like war movies, but this is actually a really great movie. I highly recommend it. 

5) Yesterday, I did my first set of student observations for the teaching program. The observations went really well. I truly enjoyed myself. I'm so excited to be a teacher soon!

Well that's it for now. Have a great and safe weekend. God Bless You!




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