O Holy Night.

My mind has been in 100 different places the past two weeks.

God has been speaking to my heart and I have been absolutely stunned by the tragedy in CT.
I have been trying to gather my thoughts to put something on this blog but nothing could come out. I needed to just sit and be quiet for awhile. But I have missed you all!
-.-.-.-
Christmas is only a few sleeps away and I have been so impacted by the meaning of Christmas. I have been following through with the  #shereadstruth advent study and my pastor also has been doing a series on Advent (which means "coming".)

I am overjoyed to spend another Christmas with my amazing husband and celebrate the unbelievable birth of our Savior.

I leave you with the lyrics to my FAVORITE Christmas carol. I LOVE 'O Holy Night' because of the beautiful story it tells. The lyrics are so powerful!
Read the words and open your heart to the meaning. (:

What's your favorite Christmas carol?
-.-.-.-
'O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born; O night, O Holy Night , O night divine! O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother. And in his name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, With all our hearts we praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! Praise His name forever. His power and glory ever more proclaim! His power and glory ever more proclaim!'

A thrill of hope and love. - Monica

BIG announcement! (:

Well.... we have a very very big and exciting announcement to make today! (:

Yup!!!

Martin and I are expecting our first little baby in August 2013!!! (: (:

We are very excited for this new season in our lives and we are completely in awe of the Lord!

Excitement and love - Monica

Taking control of my emotions.

So... I would consider myself a pretty emotional person. I cry when I need to. I laugh A LOT (even when I am nervous and in completely awkward moments for someone to laugh or smile). I yell. I scream. And I cry again.

Now I think it is a good thing to be in touch with your emotions. I don't ever want my heart to be hardened.
BUT there can be a point where we need to take stand of our emotions and not allow them to control us.

This is where I am at currently.

The past week I have felt my emotions (and crazy hormones) control me... and I want it to change.
The bible says {Ephesians 4:26} to be angry and sin not.
Well... since I am being HONEST on my blog.... I have failed in that the past few weeks.

I have allowed my anger to overflow like a flood attacking my husband. Something I am NOT proud of.
I have let my stress get so unbearable that I have SINNED!

This next week (and forever) I want to learn to take control of my emotions. I will no longer let my emotions rule over me.
I know its not easy... and sometimes I get mad/frustrated over nothing but I have to choose to breathe and not sin. I need to take that extra moment to focus on responding in love instead of reacting in anger.

I also had to ask my amazing husband to extend a little more grace currently... but that never gives me an excuse to be mean all the time.

If you have been a little more "on edge" lately how can you work on taking control of your emotions?

Emotions, more grace, and love. - Monica

I am back.. promise

hi lovelies!

I know I haven't been blogging much and I promise that will change.

I have been working out in my own head and heart how I have been feeling about this little blog world that I have come to love so dearly.

When I first started blogging I was mostly writing for myself to journal and see how I was growing and changing and document all the funness of planning a wedding and being a newlywed.

Now my blog has grown to a little over 100 followers (whoo hoo!)!!! I am still in shock and still no incredibly honored and humbled.

But I started to feel..... pressured. Like I NEEDED to write because I had people waiting to listen. Not that I think any of you stare at your computers or smart phones anticipating a new Captivated By Love post but there was that sense of pressure now.
I felt forced... like I needed to say something to fill the silence. I didn't like feeling like that so I took a short hiatus.

WHY do I blog?
What is the point of it? Am I having fun and is it giving my joy? Do I have something to say?

Those were some of the questions I asked myself this past week.

I blog because I love it. I love writing my thoughts and feelings down. I like sharing with others the ups and downs of being a newlywed and what its like in my little home.
The point of my blog has always been to give me smiles and hopefully give you all some too. I want to be inspired and to inspire others. I want to hear your stories and how you met your husbands. I want to listen to how you are doing and show you that you can get through your difficult situation.
I want to laugh while I show you my silly puppy and even sillier husband. I want to share with you what the Lord is showing me in this current season and hear what He is showing you.
I am still getting so much joy from it. As long as I am breathing.. I have something to share.

Happy happy thursday to you all!

Blogging, contemplating, and love. - Monica

Grown up Christmas list

Well Christmas season is here!

Christmas trees are decorated and stockings are hung. Streets are filled with sparkling lights and the countdowns are starting.
Which means....... its time for letters to santa.

Do you remember what you wished for 10-15 yrs ago? (oh my! I was 15 yrs old ten yrs ago! How is that possible?)
Its funny to think how different our list was from then to now.

When I was 15 I probably wanted clothes... or a cell phone. Haha. I most likely got cds, makeup, clothes, and jewelry.

I would still want makeup, clothes, and jewelry [*wink wink husby*  (; ], but yesterday I was thinking "I wish Santa would bring me a vacuum that picks up dog hair and works on carpet and wood floors." Lol

Now that I am married (and 25) my wish list has changed from things I want for myself to things that would benefit our home and has more of a purpose.

Here are some of the bigger items Santa can bring us. (:
- vacuum
- a kitchenaid
- fancy blender
- decorative stuff for the house
- mixing bowls
- coffee table
- bigger TV (husby would like this one)
- new car
- tv stand/entertainment center

Those are some things off the top of my head. Hehe.

What's on your Christmas list?

Growing up and love - Monica

Enjoy life

I think that no matter which season we are in... we can sometimes lose our joy when we become to focused on the future.

If you are single you {impatiently} wait for the day when you are married.
When you get married you long for the day when you have a baby.
You might have a job but you work even harder to get to the next level.
You are enrolled in school but day dream of when you will finally graduate.

I am sure we have all done it at some point in our lives - I know I have.

During this month of thankfullness (and reading the #Shereadstruth devotion on thankfulness) it has really been making me think more about all the blessings I have.

I don't think life will EVER be perfect, there will always be room for some sort of improvement. And I don't think it is bad to hope and be excited for your future (I am BEYOND excited for the day I will be a mother) but remember to stop and enjoy this day, at this hour, at this moment that the Lord has given us. We have so many reasons to smile.

If life isn't EXACTLY how you pictured it... know that I am praying that God will reveal all the beauty that surrounds you. Joy will ALWAYS come in the morning, lovely.

Enjoying life at this moment and love. -Monica

2nd thanksgiving married

I hope all you had a wonderfully beautiful thanksgiving!

The husband and I had a great time with fantastic food!!!
I had sweet potato casserole for the first time and Martin tried pecan pie for the first time!
The only bad thing with not cooking for own dinner is no left overs! Hehe.

We did not partake in black Friday but we did end up going to Wal-Mart and getting Christmas stuff and decorated our tree.(:
The theater was offering matinee prices all day so we saw Red Dawn after eating a DELICIOUS meal at Logans (two steak dinners with two sides each and dessert for $20).

After that we got all bundled to go see this part of town that is all lit up with Christmas lights. We were even going to take Sophia.... but when we got there it was going to cost $5 each. No thanks. Lol.

Today it has been really cold so we have just been snuggling all day. (:

Hope your weekend is going wonderful! (: did you do black friday? What was the best part of your thanksgiving dinner?

New foods, Christmas trees with colorful ornaments, and love. - Monica

Also make sure to like my Facebook page to see more about what's going on in my life. (:
Www.facebook.com/mrsv820blog