Why I love the 1st of the month!

Happy Thursday everyone! If you are here from my guest post over at Lovely Little Things, welcome! If not, go check out my post over on Jessica's blog about my favorite products that help me make it through this Florida summer heat!

Tomorrow is the first of June and every first of the month I look forward to something new that makes my days brighter, more colorful and brings beauty to something I use every day...A New Desktop Wallpaper!

I am very picky about how my desktop looks. I like minimal shortcut links so it isn't cluttered. I used to think being picky about wallpapers on my desktop and phone (don't even get me started on phone cases) was abnormal, but through blogging, I have met many fellow bloggers that like keeping the look of everything, even wallpapers on their devices, in a tip top, fashionable state. 

My go to place for desktop wallpapers is Sarah Hearts Design. She is a graphic designer and photographer. On the first of every month, she features a free wallpapers for many different desktop sizes, iPhones and iPads. I will be honest and say I am sad to see the month of May go because it was probably my favorite desktop from her so far!

Go check Sarah out, she's great! Can't wait to see what June's desktop wallpaper will look like! :))

Another place I like to check out for wallpapers is Smashing Magazine. I just looked at the wallpapers for June and although I have been disappointed the past few months, they have a couple that I would use for this month! This is my favorite:

Are you as crazy about the wallpapers on your devices as I am? Do you have any other places to go to get cute desktop wallpapers? I'd love to check them out!

Sponsor Spotlight!

This is the last sponsor spotlight for this month. Meet Kara and Kelsey!

blog // facebook // twitter // pinterest // bloglovin'

Hey! My name is Kara, and I'm a 20-something just starting out in the blogging world! (I’m really loving it!) I was born in Idaho, have lived up and down the coast of California, but feel most at home in the Bay Area. It’s where I went to college, work, and most importantly where I spend time with my wonderful family and friends. I love fashion, interior design, bad reality TV, bright colors, neutrals, rom-coms, animals, Kristin Wiig and Keri Russell (just to name a few things!) I’ve come to a place in my life where I’m learning to love the little things and take in every moment. I am constantly reminded of how lucky of a girl I am. I find time for gratitude everyday. Styled With Life is a “lifestyle blog” where I share my love of fashion, interior design and products I’ve come across. I also love to share tidbits of my life, work, family and friends. I’d love for you to stop by, and maybe even stay awhile! I look forward to meeting you!

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blog // facebook // twitter // pinterest

My name is Kelsey and I'm the blogger behind Glistening Ambition!  I'm a 20 something, God loving, nursing student who is blessed beyond measures and is slightly obsessed with fashion and DIYing.  On my blog, you will find a little bit about my life, my handsome dog Gus, fashion, and crafts with a touch of anything and everything in between.  I started it as a creative outlet and a way to document the things I love.  I hope I can inspire you to glisten in all areas of life!

Be sure to go check out Kara and Kelsey and tell them I sent you! :)

Love Long Weekends!

This past weekend was full of everything great and good and wonderful! 

On Saturday, Jake and I went to the lake. I got to go kayaking for the first time ever and loved it! It was so nice to be outdoors being active together. I didn't even realize how much we were missing out on by having to work weekends throughout college. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures from the lake because my phone is my camera and I didn't want to risk dropping it in the water. I'm sure you all understand!

Sunday, we went to church and our pastor preached an awesome message on marriage. If you are married, or want to be married and learn how a marriage should be, I highly recommend checking it out! If you would like to, click here. The podcast should be posted tomorrow afternoon. Our young adult Bible study was Sunday night and we had awesome discussion and then a great dinner out after! I absolutely love learning and growing in the Word and spending time with all of my young adult homies.

Yesterday, we visited Jake's family and swung by my parents house for dinner. It rained allllllll day long so we were stuck inside, but that meant more time for board games! We tried the Mexican restaurant with Jake's parents for the first time and it was great!

Not to mention, this was the first weekend that Jake and I have had completely off together since we have been married! We have always had to work, or request off because we had somewhere to be. It was so nice relaxing and spending time together. Can't wait for many more weekends just like this one! :))

High Five for Friday!

As always, linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!



I was a bad picture taker this week so this post might be kind of bare. :/

Anyway, I had a great week and here are some of my favorite things about it!

One.

All of the guys play basketball on Thursday nights so we had girls night going out to dinner and watching Monday's episode of The Bachelorette. Had great girl talk and good food. The Bachelorette was an "ehh" episode in my opinion. The muppet date theme was kind of cheesy to me. Right now I'm loving Ryan, Charlie, Arie, Jef and Doug for Emily. We shall see how it goes!

Two.

I did Kendal's hair and makeup for her 8th grade social yesterday. She looked gorgeous! Love that girl!

Three.

Since Jake has a new job and no more school (woot!) we have been able to spend more of our evenings together and I LOVE IT!

Four.

I found that JcPenney sells OPI nail polish in their salon and if you buy 2 or more, they are only $6 each! They had a quite a few on sale for $4 so I had to pick some of those. ;)

Five.

I picked up a new book called Real Marriage by Mark Driscoll. I have been reading lots of books about how women need love and men need respect but I was ready to hear something different. This book is about how you should be best friends with your spouse. It's really relevant for my life right now and I can't wait to dive into it. I'll let you know how it is!

Hope y'all have a great long weekend!

It's just a thang!

Yesterday I was having a great day, staff meeting went well, we were all still laughing about the video we made for Pastor Appreciation. I had lunch with some friends, life was all good until I got some disappointing news.

This news wasn't even that big of a deal. It didn't affect any of my personal relationships, it involved a material, worldly item, not that big of a deal. It could hurt the wallet a little bit, but in the long run, those things don't matter anyway.

So I got to thinking last night after half of my day was already wasted being upset about something small in the grand scheme of things, and I asked myself why I just let something that was such a small deal put me in such a bad mood?

Most of the time I am a happy, go-lucky gal, but yesterday I let something control my mood that had no business controlling it!

Now, I have made my mind up that I am going to try and not let small things affect how I am feeling. When these little things happen, I need to remember how blessed I am. What in the world was I thinking letting a small material thing affect my happiness? Even when small things happen in my friendships and relationships, I am quick to let it ruin my whole day.

No more. Friendships have rough times. It will soon be back to normal once things are talked out. Things break and get messed up. They are just things and more things will be acquired. No sense in letting it ruin a good mood!

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

This is going to be how I choose to live my life from now on. I'm sure I'll still get upset about some things but I want to be quick to get over it and move on. Gotta put all of my trust in the Lord that all things will work out!

Hope this helps someone else that might be having a rough day. Count your blessings, I'm sure there are some you're forgetting about! :)

Sponsor Spotlight: Grin and Barrett!

Happy Tuesday y'all! 

Make sure you go and check out yesterday's post. It was posted late last night so I don't want you to miss it. I'm sure you will love it and hopefully laugh a lot.

Today, it's time for another sponsor spotlight! Meet Melissa from Grin and Barrett. I love reading her blog every day and I'm sure you will love her too!

Hello readers! My name is Melissa and I blog over at a little blog called, Grin and Barrett. I have been blogging for four years and absolutely love it! Right now I am juggling grad school, a full time job, and the life of a newlywed. On Grin and Barrett you'll find a combination of pretty, tasty, insightful, funny, and everything in between. If you are a blogger or shop owner, I have several advertising options that you should check out! In my spare time I like to read other blogs for hours {kidding, kinda}, read books suitable for 12 year olds, dance when no one is home, and cooking. 

I hope you will stop by and check out G&B!

Tell her I sent you! :)

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p.s. Congratulations to Pamela G. for winning the Junk In The Trunk Giveaway!

I'm so hood. Gotta see this.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned on the blog yet that I love to sing. I pretty much sing all of the time. It drives Jake crazy, but he has learned to just let me belt out my songs whenever. I remember many days of my parents dealing with it when I was growing up. Might as well let me get it all out of my system.

This past Sunday was Pastor Appreciation at DCC. It was a great service from beginning to end.

As a staff, we knew we wanted to do something special for the Pastor so here is the priceless gift that we gave him. He and the whole church absolutely loved it. I'm sure you will too!

How much do you love DCC Staff Infection? Too bad we don't have any albums yet. YET.

My Dad's Favorite! "Those Friday things."

This past weekend, while I was visiting my parents for Mother's Day, I was making sure that they read my blog every day. Hey, that's what good parents do, right? My dad said "I like reading those Friday things where you list five things about your week." So here are "those Friday things" aka my High Five For Friday! I'm linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk.

{one}

Wednesday was my third anniversary! Since Wednesday was church night, we are celebrating tonight with a date night. Since we barely even saw each other on our actual anniversary day, he gave me a beautiful key and lock charm for my Pandora bracelet so it would still feel like our anniversary a little bit. How sweet!

{two}

I got to go back home this past weekend to visit my mom for Mother's Day. It was great to spend some time with my family even if it was only a short time. Dad made the Holiday meal (biscuits and gravy) for breakfast and some awesome ribs for din din. Mmmm....

{three}

The Bachelorette started this Monday! A friend and I got together last night to finally watch it. Some of those entrances were absolutely crazy (guy in grandma outfit!) but it seems like there are a few nice guys in the bunch!

{four}

This was Jake's last week at Cracker Barrel. They were wanting him to work a lot of nights so he found another job to fill the gap until he gets his engineering job. I love the fact that we will be able to spend our evenings together, that hasn't been the case the whole time we've been married! Feels like a whole new marriage in a really good way! :)

{five}

We should be going to pick up my car fully painted tomorrow or Sunday night. I can't wait to see what it looks like with paint on the whole thing again...it's been a while!

p.s. don't forget to sign up for my first giveaway here!

First Giveaway!

My first blog giveaway is courtesy of Junk In The Trunk. As much as I would love to wear this myself, I will be giving away this handmade pendant and necklace to one lucky winner!

 Junk In The Trunk is a small business in my hometown where two sisters make unusual pieces of jewelry using recycled and found objects. No two pieces are alike and nothing is mass produced so that it can stay fun and exciting for them and their customers. The shop is just adorable, check out some of the photos of it and some of their jewelry. They have some items posted in their Etsy store but if you live near Madison, Florida you definitely should go check out their studio! Be sure to stop by the shop or visit them on Facebook and tell them I sent you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will close at 12:01am Tuesday, May 22. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

Here are some of their other awesome pieces and some pictures of their cute little studio.

3rd Anniversary!!!

Three years ago today was the best day of my life as I married my best friend! Since then I have experienced a relationship like no other, a relationship of trust, love, loyalty, respect, growth and so much more. There is no one else I would rather spend my life with. I am so thankful to have a great man to share the ups and downs with. We celebrate the good times together, and we lift each other up when one of us is down.

Since we have been together since I was 14, we have had the chance to grow with one another. Sure we grew from the time we started dating to the day we got married as most people do from ages 14 and 16 to 18 and 20, but that doesn't compare to how far we have come since our wedding day. We have learned to live together and love each other day in and day out. I have learned to respect him as my husband and be there for him in everything. When it seems like the rest of the world is bailing out on us, we still have each other. We have had holidays together, vacations together and birthdays together. We have had the privilege to be proud of one another as we both celebrated earning a college degree from the University of Florida.

May 16, 2009 was the day of my dreams! We have had so many great days since then and I can't wait for a lifetime of days to share with him!

(All wedding photos by Weeks Photography)

Sponsor Spotlight!

It's time for another Sponsor Spotlight. Today, I'm featuring Megan! She blogs over at And Today Was A Fairytale. Go check her out and be sure to tell her I sent you! :)

hey sweet thang, i'm megan! i live in the sunshine state, but hail from the great state of 
OH-IO! i'm a wife to the most handsome man in the world, and an auntie to the cutest little girl alive. i'm a student at the university of central florida and will graduate in december! the most important thing about me is Jesus. He's the man. He's turns my grey skys blue and makes my life better. i live on the beach, it's actually my back yard. if i could, i'd just live on a shack there for the rest of my life. i love all things cleveland sports, and tend to be the loudest one in the group. i'm in love with photography and hope one day it will be more than just a hobby. my blog is about my little life and i would really love to be friends, so come say hi!

Broiled Chicken...Say Whaa?

When it comes to cooking dinner, if takes too long to cook, or it's more than about 5 ingredients, I'm out. I, somehow, have never heard of broiling chicken. Once I googled it and found out that you could, in fact, broil chicken without it getting too dry, I knew I wanted to try it. Broiling is such a fast way to cook and comparable to grilling when it comes to how healthy it is.

First, you butterfly a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Add some Italian dressing to your cooking dish and coat the chicken breast in it. Season it with whatever you like. We used Everglades and Lawry's. Preheat the broiler for about 9-10 minutes before you put the chicken in to ensure it doesn't burn the outside without fully cooking the inside. Broil it for about 6-7 minutes on each side and you're done!

It can't get much simpler than that! We had peas and creamed corn with it. It was delish!

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Happy Friday, Y'all!

As usual, linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!

one.
Jake is officially a graduate of the University of Florida!! I am SO proud of him for this accomplishment. Electrical Engineering is one of the most difficult undergrad degrees at UF and he did it! I can't wait to see what God has in store for his future. Love that guy to death!

two.
The Civ is getting painted and I am so excited to not have a spotted roof anymore! It was so aggravating that the paint was coming off of my car in the first place but now I feel like I'm getting a new ride! Can't wait to go pick it up and see it finished.
three.
I want to give a shoutout to Monday for being so awesome. I spent it with Jake and his brother and it including pretty much all of my favorite things. We went to the pool, shopping, and out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Doesn't get much better than tanning, new wedges for $14 and cinnamon butter and rolls, right?
four.
Last Friday, most of our staff went to the Chic-Fil-A Leadercast. Some of my favorite speakers were Andy Stanley, John Maxwell and Roland Fryer. I also loved hearing from Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer. Although I didn't feel that I learned as much from that session, it was pretty entertaining since they are both former Gators and who doesn't want to listen to people talk about the Gators?? AND...we had Chic-Fil-A for breakfast and lunch which is a pretty awesome meal line-up if you ask me.

Mandi, my pastor's wife and friend, and I at Leadercast

five.
I made some changes to the blog and although they were minor, I'm loving them. I now have different pages with links at the top and cleaned up my sidebar. It's the small things that make me happy!
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Also, I have a few more pictures from the Nerd Night I posted about last week. Now you can see Jake and I in our full nerdy get-ups.

This is the awesome group of leaders that we work with every week in Axis Student Ministries!

Happy Friday, y'all! Have a GREAT weekend!
Don't forget to tell the mothers in your life Happy Mother's Day!

Prayer Request!

Hello lovely readers!

I have a favor to ask of you today! I not only want this blog to be a diary of my life, I want it to be helpful to readers and get to know you guys! I want to be here for you if you need prayer and I will sure do the same for you!

As I posted a few times, Jake, my husband, graduated last weekend from the University of Florida with his degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. (I know, he's a smarty pants!)

Now, he is applying to jobs like crazy! I would LOVE it if you would keep us in your prayers that the right job will open up for him. If there is a job that is not in God's will for us, pray that the door will be closed.

I appreciate it! Shoot me an e-mail if you ever need prayer for ANYTHING!

Source: modernhepburn.tumblr.com via Meg on Pinterest

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I also wanted to take this time to thank all of you for stopping by to read this blog every day. It means so much to me when I see that people are actually reading what I have to say and leaving encouraging comments!

Love y'all!

Sponsor Swapping!

I made some changes on the blog today, including pages at the top, one of which is a sponsor page.

I am starting a sponsor swap here at Christian WifeStyle. I try to purchase at least one sponsor spot on a blog larger than mine each month, but sponsor swaps are ideal for me right now. I love the idea of smaller blogs being able to help each other out for free to gain new readers. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved!

I am looking for people to sponsor swap with for the month of June.

For now, I will be accepting around 10 sponsor swaps each month.

Basically, that means I will feature you in a Sponsor Spotlight post and you return the favor for me!

E-mail me at alexis@christianwifestyle.com if you are interested!

Please include:

-A photo of yourself

-An "about me" blurb to share with my readers

-Your HTML button code

I'm looking forward to partnering with you! :)

First Sponsor Spotlight!

This is my first sponsor swap! Leigh Anne was one of the first bloggers I followed and she is also one that inspired me to start my own blog. For some of my family and friends that don't know what a sponsor swap is, basically she features me on her blog so her readers will come check my blog out and I do the same for her. Meet my lovely blogger friend, Leigh Anne!

Hello Readers! I'm Leigh Anne from Hart to Heart and I am so happy to be swapping with Alexis this month. I started blogging in February of this year as a way to pass time during my husbands deployment to Afghanistan. I never thought that blogging would open so many doors as well as allow me to develop so many new friendships. Needless to say, I love blogging! I have a passion for fitness and I am perusing my certification in personal training. I also am in the homestretch of my undergrad degree in Liberal Arts; graduation is less than 2 months away! When I catch a free moment between blogging, working out, studying and spending time with my family I also run an Etsy shop Hart to Heart Designs! Come on over to my blog and learn a little about, me, living in Alaska, being an Army wife, my dog that acts like a cat, and my passion for fitness! I can't wait to meet you! 

xo 

Leigh Anne 

I hope you will head over and check her blog out, she's awesome! :)

May Photo A Day Challenge - Week 1

I am participating in a photo a day challenge for the month of May. Here are my pictures from the first week of the challenge.

Day 1 - Peace.

On that night, peace for me was freshly painted toes and a devotion before bed.

Day 2 - Skyline.

I waited a little late in the day to post a picture and my iPhone didn't take the greatest picture of the moon. :(

Day 3 - Something You Wore Today.

My outfit was pretty basic with just a v-neck and skinny jeans, so I took a picture of my Pandoras, which I wear most days. Glad I picked colors that match almost everything!

Day 4 - Fun.

Fun was getting lost with Jake on the way to a housewarming party. MapQuest was telling up to go another mile which would have taken us down someones private drive. The housewarming party was in a swamp in the middle of NOWHERE!

Day 5 - Bird.

Had a hard time getting a picture of a bird that was still long enough for me to get my phone out. Here is the bird that was cooked for Jake's graduation dinner. It was SO yummy!!

Day 6 - You.

A pic of me and my fro yo the night of Jake's graduation. It was a beautiful night to sit outside and enjoy hanging out and talking with Jake's brother.

Day 7 - Someone That Inspires You.

My parents and Jake. I wouldn't be where I am today if not for these people! There are plenty more that have had a huge effect on me but I can't fit everyone in one collage! Thanks to all of you, though. Love you all!

Week 1 = Accomplished! Tune in next week for the next set of pictures from the May photo challenge! :)

High Five for Friday!

As always, linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk blog for High Five for Friday!

Here's this week's top five highlights!

{one}

I have gotten new followers this week and it makes my heart smile! I'm excited that this little blog is growing!

{two}

I had my first sponsor spotlight over at Heart to Hart blog. I'll be featuring Leigh Anne very soon so be on the look out for that! She's a great girl and very motivational when it comes to health and fitness!

{three}

Today, I am at the Chic-Fil-A Leadercast with the  church staff. There are some great speakers and I can't wait to share more with you about this event once it is finished! Might have to dedicate a whole post to it!

{four}

I am participating in my first photo a day challenge! Follow me on Instagram, my username is alexismeacham. I'll be giving weekly updates on the weekends in case you don't have Instagram. Hope I can keep up with it for the whole month!

{five}

It was NERD NIGHT at the youth group that Jake and I help with. Here is one picture, there will be more to come! :)

I have a lot of HUGE festivities going on this weekend, including Jake's graduation, so next week's High Five for Friday post will be hard to limit to only five things!

Happy Friday, lovely readers! :))

National Day of Prayer

Today is National Day of Prayer!

This morning at 7:00am, I went out to our new church property where the future campus will be to meet for National Day of Prayer. Even though it was pretty early for me, I loved it. It was such a nice and refreshing way to start out my day. The good Lord must have known what kind of day I was going to have and insisted I begin with much prayer!

So before you go to sleep tonight, in honor of National Day of Prayer, say a prayer for:

-Our Nation

-Our Nations Leaders (They are all appointed by God! *Romans 13:1*)

-Your Local Community's Leaders

-Education and Local Schools

-Your Church and Other Local Churches

-Family

-Friends

I'll end with the 2012 National Prayer written by Dr. David Jeremiah, the National Day of Prayer Honorary Chairman:

Heavenly Father,

Every good gift and perfect gift comes from You. You are a faithful God and Your mercy endures forever.

You have promised to bless the nation that trusts in You.  Our currency proclaims “In God We Trust,” but in our culture we are far from You.

In the words of the prophet Daniel, “We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.”

We come before You once more, seeking Your forgiveness and mercy.  You, O God, are our only hope… Hear our prayer and, for Your honor’s sake, shine Your face upon this nation.

Give our leaders the desire to seek Your wisdom and the courage to follow Your guidance… and watch over the men and women of our armed forces as they sacrifice for the cause of freedom.

We give You thanks for all You have done for us, and we earnestly pray that You will help us become, once again, a nation whose God is the Lord.

In the name of Your Son, and our Savior, we pray this prayer.

Amen

Oh, How Pinteresting!

Once again, linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday! This week, I decided to go with a theme of all things nail related!

{one}

Not sure what color this is, it wasn't posted on the website, but I love it!

{two}

Essie Luxeffects in Set in Stones
Great for an accent nail

{three}

Essie Cute as A Button

{four}

Essie Mochachino
A great neutral color to wear year round

{five}

Essie Fiji with an accent nail
This was my first Essie polish!

{six}

Love this, wish I knew how to do it!

{seven}

Zoya Dana
A great hot pink

{eight}

Essie Smokin' Hot
One of my favorites

{nine}

Love these spring colors by Essie

{ten}

Essie Go Overboard
Have this one but haven't been brave enough to wear it yet!