My new best friend...

Meet my new best friend, her name is Melatonin. So you obviously know that my complaint has been that I'm tired pretty much all the time. Last night I got it in my head that I would take some Melatonin before bedtime because its been known to help your sleep cycle. TAH-DAH, I woke up this morning feeling the best after an 8 hour sleep shift that I've felt in months! I may not be all cured because I still needed my daily dose of Diet Coke to keep me running but as of now I have a new best friend.

Exhaustion

Lord, I need time where there is no time. I pray you turn my minutes into hours that I can get everything done that is set out in front of me. I pray you turn my exhaustion into energy that I do not skip things because I am sleepy but that I keep going and get more done than ever expected! I pray you remind me of those moments that I need to be seeking you as opposed to doing what it is that I want at that moment. Lord I pray that you open my eyes to capture and enjoy every minute of this process. I thank you Lord for my wonderful life you have given me, I thank you for Chris and his kindness and love, I thank you that you gave me someone who loves you, I thank you for our families and their help in making October 9th happen, I thank you for the love you have given us that allows us to love other people, I thank you for our church family and their support in this time, I thank you for all of those surrounding us and pouring out their love and support on us. You are so good and I pray with confidence that you can do all and you will give me the time when I need the time to get things done. You will take my exhaustion away and replace it with extreme energy. Lord I love you with all of my heart. Thank you for this special moment and time and thank you for the future you have planned out for Chris and me.

Less than 3 weeks...

As of today the countdown is at 19 days! Wow, literally only 19 days until I am Mrs. Chris Whatley! It has a pretty ring to it doesn't it? Well 19 days makes us pretty busy! I devoted my entire Saturday to my Mom and helping her to complete wedding stuff! We had LOTS to do! We went and had bows made, we bought things to wrap things in, we went to the rental place, we bought almost every ivory candle that Hobby Lobby had and plenty more!! Although we were super busy it was so much fun!! She has been amazing throughout the whole time and I am so thankful for her!

Then on Sunday Chris and I both went over (he's so helpful) and helped my Mom do some things to put together programs! Even she said when she got this grand idea about making these programs she never knew how much work it would be! I will say, they are BEAUTIFUL! The picture below is kinda what they look like but not really! They don't have the vellum cover and they have a little flap that goes down where the ribbon is and then the ribbon comes through that flap! All in all, they are very labor intensive! Chris and I only helped a little so all the credit goes to my wonderful Mom who not only thought up the grand idea but has pretty much put them all together single handedly! Not to mention she did all the creating and printing! Wow- I'm a lucky girl/Bride!!

That is the wedding update of the week! On another note which I will give you all the details of tomorrow, Chris and I are going to see Kings of Leon tonight in Birmingham! This is so much fun for multiple reasons...

1- Chris is so musical but this is the first concert we've been to that is music that I introduced him to!

2- We missed seeing them in concert last year because we were out of town at a family wedding and so this has been a long time coming!

3- They are my favorite favorite current music!! (For all music prior to now I'm obsessed with Van Morrison)

If you don't know who Kings of Leon are grab a song on ITunes and check them out!! I will fill you in on how incredibly wonderful it is tomorrow! Yay :)

Admiration

Since meeting Chris and beginning our relationship together I have made some amazing friends, and one of them happens to be one of the people I admire most in this world. Our friends Brad and Rachel are just normal people to the outside world, she's an accountant and he is a Pastor at Saint James. To us, they are two people with the biggest hearts and love for God we know!

In November (fingers crossed :) they will travel to Uganda to bring home their new baby girl Amelia! She is the sweetest thing you have ever seen! They already have one daughter Caroline who Chris and I would truly take away from them if that wasn't looked down upon. You would want to take her too wouldn't you?

Through being her friend and supporting her through their adoption process I have learned SO MUCH! Ignorance is not so much bliss these days. Ignorance is turning your head so you don't see the things that are truly supposed to make your heart cry. Ignorance makes you forget about all those who are hurting so you can sit back in your comfortable lifestyle. Ignorance makes you continue your past beliefs that are incorrect and judgmental. While I am still very ignorant about so many things I have learned so much and learned to be accepting of things that the world calls us to look down upon or see as a stigma. Rachel has a blog about their adoption process called Heirs with Christ that you must read! Go back a few and read this series she posted about HIV and it will rock your world. I might have forgotten to mention how incredibly SMART they both are! Like I said, we think ignorance is bliss but turning your head to look at the world and truly taking it all in can completely change the way you serve, love, and glorify God's kingdom. So go read, let it change your opinions and mindset about the children of this world. It changed mine :)

Home Sweet Home

No fear! The only reason I have been MIA for the past few days is because I have been out of town! Friday I left to go on my last hoorah as Jessica Seagraves and had my Bachelorette party! Thank you to all my wonderful friends and bridesmaids who made it such an incredible weekend for me- you all rock my world! Then Sunday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to go to a work conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome. I got back yesterday and was relieved to be home!

It is amazing the little things in life that you just miss when you're away! I slept better last night, couldn't have had a bigger smile on my face to see Chris, enjoyed sitting at my desk at work today, felt back in my place at church last night- I love my routine!

Now onto wedding plan, FREAKING OUT! I mean like really, Chris and I are getting married in 24 days ~ Do you realize how soon that is? I DO! Monday while I was out of town Chris went and picked up my wedding band! :) No bigger smile could express how I felt when he let me wear it last night. Okay I will admit that I pretty much refused to take it off so he had to let me wear it for a lot longer. Sadly, he has put it away in hiding until the big day!

I know this post is such a ramble but I just had to get you back on track with my world! Now for the health update of the week! Good news, the EKG, 24 hour holter, and bloodwork came back NORMAL! So nothing is wrong there! More tests are to come but keep the prayers coming!

Wires and Doctors and Tests Oh My!

First of all, HAPPY FRIDAY and WAR EAGLE!

It was a close call but a Win is a Win! Don't make us so nervous next time Auburn!

This afternoon I am headed off to my last hoorah before I become Mrs. Whatley with almost all of my bridesmaids for my Bachelorette Party in Atlanta! Soooo fun! I cannot wait!

Let me give you a little update about what has been going on in my life the last few days. I have been oddly tired most of the time for the last 8 or so months. We have pretty much just brushed it off and then on Monday I had a strange incident at the lake. I fell asleep on the swing at the lake and then when Chris tried to wake me up it was abnormally difficult to wake me up. It took him 4 or so minutes of shaking me, patting me on the back, talking to me before I would come to, etc. Then, when I did come to I was very disoriented, dizzy, had a horrible headache, my memory was hazy, and more. It took about 45 minutes before I was my normal self again and then I still had a headache. Then, a similar incident happened on Wednesday morning. This is when the doctors came into play. My three sets of caretakers- Chris, my parents, and Chris' parents made sure I went to a doctor. Wednesday afternoon I went to the doctor and first they checked my blood sugar which was low. (Background info- I'm hypoglycemic) Then Chris started talking to him about everything that happened and other symptons those around me have noticed and thats when I became overwhelmed. My wonderful doctor who I have seen for 20 years (yes that is all the life I can even remember) started pulling out forms and listing the tests I have to go through.

So, on this day that was 31 days until I get married he began to tell me before the wedding I need to have ....
1- Blood/Lab Work
2- Wear a holter (heart monitor) for 24 hours (Image of what that looks like below)

3- EEG

4- EKG
5- MRI of the Head
6- Carotid Ultrasound
7- Glucose Tolerance Test
8- Sleep Study



Hmmm- I think that might be it! So I wore my heart monitor for 24 hours with wires all over me looking as if I was a test subject- thank you for not making me wear that during my Bachelorette party! So whew thats a lot. Please keep me in your prayers as they do all of these tests that they figure out what is making these strange things happen!

Blessed...

Think back, do you remember those feelings when something happens and you just know that God did that for you and you were taken care of? This morning we had our 3rd of 4 Pre-Marital counseling sessions with our Senior Pastor Lester Spencer and his wife who is another one of our pastors, Janeese. These sessions were just meant to be, I leave them completely filled with joy and encouraged about the life Chris and I have ahead of us.

Any couple could go to Pre-marital counseling with Lester and Janeese and I'm sure have a wonderful experience and learn a great deal because they are two very very wise and Godly people. However, I'm not sure any two people could have the experience that Chris and I have. Lester and Janeese have characteristics about their relationship that run very parallel to Chris and I and they have been such a blessing and encouragement to us throughout our engagement period.

As the divorce rate continues to rise I think it is so important that couples go through this. Saint James is adding a new program for couples that are about to get married that is a Mentoring Program. Very cool program especially since one of my Role Models in life is heading it up (I love you Lil!)! Couples will be matched up with an older married couple and will meet with them throughout their engagement period and then follow up and meet with them after the wedding. Now, we didn't go through this program since it is just getting started but I can promise you we have PLENTY of couples at STJ that we feel are our mentors. I could spend a whole blog just listing those people who have watched us throughout our whole relationship and we love each and every one of you more than you know. I think that program will be so cool though because who can help you out more in preparing for marriage than those that have stuck it out through the thick and thin and learned from it. Very cool! I pray that this new mentoring program will be a blessing for both mentors and young couples involved in it and hope that one day Chris and I will be that older couple mentoring a young couple who is standing where we are today.

Splish Splash!!

Bath time for a soon to be 8 month old!! I wish I had a picture to capture the moment Chris and I had last night. First let me reintroduce ourselves, I'm Aunt Jess and he is Uncle Chris. I am truly an Aunt Jess to my brother's sweet little daughter Cadence but last night we were Aunt Jess and Uncle Chris to one of our onofficial nieces, Amy Kate Damato! Our friends April and Matt had a sweet little girl back on January 21st! Well being new parents they don't get many "date nights" so I just went right along and offered Chris and my babysitting services up and on we ventured to the land of Amy Kate Damato! What a ball we had! Well I knew because I'm such a good listener that her bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00 and you could tell this little girl was getting sleepy. She started getting a little fussy and even me who has no Mommy experience could tell that it was just a sleepy cry. Well I knew that she normally gets a bath before bedtime so I ingeniously decided that Chris and I should give her a bath!!

Hmmm, smartest decision I've ever made- probably not! Good thing she can sit up and could sit in the bath or else I would have been LoSt! She cried a little at first but then once I started splashing my feet around her she got all excited and I think there were a few smiles as Chris held her slippery self while I soaped her up and washed her off!

After bath time I knew it was sleepy time but couldn't bear the thought of just putting her down and listening to her cry so I just walked around and rocked her a little bit and it melted my heart to watch her head just fall down and sleep as I held her. I'm not ready for Chris and I to venture into the road of parenthood just now; however, holding that sweet little girl in my arms as she slept was a beautiful thing.

The Title...

Hello all!

Before starting to write to you and wanting you to believe the words that you're reading, I must admit I started with a lie. Our oh so cute title, "A Whatley World" isn't completely true for me YET! We have 32 days left until we make it official so I cannot officially be a Whatley until then. However, the title was too cute to change the name to "The Soon to be Whatley World." Chris is convinced that our title is way too cheesy, fortunately for me I am the one writing it so it doesn't matter!

A little introduction to "The Whatley's"...

This is us a week ago at a shower our wonderful friends threw for us!

We are so blessed!

Chris is 29 and a Fleet Manager with a pharmaceutical company. While the rest of us probably see dealing with accident management and other car issues a complete pain, he is a total car guy! So breath easy, while I would rather work 60 hour weeks than deal with car stuff all day long, he loves his job! In his spare time he's playing guitar at church or parties around town and being a typical guy. He loves to ski more than anything and just learned how to scuba dive!

Jessica- Well I'm 24 and just started a new job with the Family Sunshine Center as a Prevention Educator. Hmmm, you may ask what it is I'm trying to prevent! Well we are a non-profit agency working to break the cycle of family violence and sexual assault. This includes domestic violence, child abuse, etc. In my spare time I'm reading, with friends, or at Saint James doing something!

This is us, there will be more to come but I thought an introduction would settle for our first post!