Gloriously Encouraged By Nicole Neesby.

Gloriously Encouraged is a series where I have asked several beautiful women to share their hearts with you guys. 

The purpose being to encourage you all.

I can't keep quiet about these ladies you guys, they are such gems!! 

Beautiful inside and out. 

I look forward to hearing what each of them shares on this topic. 

I have asked them to share with you guys every week leading up to Christmas, so you too can be encouraged by them during this season of thankfulness and grace. May their stories point you to the one each of them loves! 

I am so blessed to be able to call these ladies friends. 

I find such encouragement in hearing how the Lord is working in their lives and working through them. 

I hope you too will find their stories and hearts to be a blessing with where you find yourself on your journey with the Lord. 

 Much Love as always!

 L

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Morning lovelies!  I hope you are reaching for your favorite cup of tea.  Or cocoa.  Cuz we're about to get to know each other and I wanna get cozy!  I'm over here resisting the urge to consume 27 peppermint shakes.  {They're my favorite and are quite plentiful this time of year!}

My name is Nicole and I blog over at a little web place I call Nicoladee.
Nicoladee is my little spot to celebrate the beauty in the ordinary.  A little place where I choose to be real about life, even when it's not so perfect. . . because I believe that deep in our hearts we all crave to truly know each other in honest, real ways.

My real life is made up of being married to my very best friend who happens to be awful buff and dashing.  We feel in love several years ago while we were playing with orphans at a summer camp in China.  A year and a half ago, we kissed under a shower of confetti in a white country church and now we are counting down the days til our very own little person joins us for our adventures.

When we first found out this summer that our Little was on the way, a lot of things starting falling apart.    While we were excited to meet this tiny person we had made, there were so many overwhelming things.  The bills loomed bigger every week.  Our car that resembles something more like a bucket of bolts on wheels than a car, literally started falling apart and sucking the last pennies from our bank account.  The bedroom remodeling project we had started almost seven months before was still half done and we were sleeping in our living room.  And to top it off, I was sick and working full time chasing two little kids around.

A lot of these days were spent crying because of how unfair everything seemed.  It was just too much for this poor hormonal girl to handle.  Why did everything have to fall apart at once?!  Would it ever stop so we could have two seconds to breathe?!

And then one day in the thick of it all, it was like God whispered to my broken heart.  
Nicole, can you choose to thank me even when you aren't feeling thankful?

Thus began my quest to choose a thankful heart.  
Thank you God that we paid cash for this car and don't have monthly payments.  
Thank you God that it gets me to work and home each day.  
{That was about all I could find to be thankful for when it came to the car}  
Thank you God for a job that pays the bills even if I have to wake up before the sun.  
. . .     . . .

Then an amazing thing happened.  Things slowly began to lighten up.  Little by little we began to get ahead.  Husband fixed the car.  Some bills actually got paid off.  But the best part has been the way that God has been changing my heart.  Changing my heart to see that even in the middle of chaos, He is still good.  Even when it feels like my mind can't handle one more thing, that is when I get to watch Him come through.

So even though our life is still far from organized and perfect, I am slowly learning what it means to choose thankfulness.

So here's my challenge for you.  What things could you choose to be thankful for?!  How could this change your own life?  You really might be surprised!  And while you're at it, won't you stop over and say hey?!  I always love meeting a new friend.

xo

Comments are off so you can head over and say hi! =)

'Two Hearts In Love' Thursdays. [Sisters]

It's here!!!!!!

The brand new series is all about wedding planning.

I have so many inspiring pictures and projects related to weddings, 

I couldn't resist sharing them with you all.

For my first share on weddings, 

I would love to share this picture.

Because although I have planned my own wedding, my sister is now the sweet one planning hers.

This photo is just precious.

What a cute picture of two sisters at one of their weddings.

{Via}

One of the sweetest pictures I have ever seen.

The subject of sisters in weddings automatically makes me think of the Maid of Honor.

For my own wedding, I did have my sister as my Maid of Honor.

But that doesn't have to be the case.

I felt my sister was dear to me & had known me the longest.

I wanted her to be recognized on my wedding day.

There are so many topics within wedding planning around Maid of Honors.

{Image property of E.Girdlestone}

What I did, in order for my sister to stand out, was to have her in the same dress as all the other bridesmaids but her dress was in a different color.

Or rather different shade of pink.

Your Maid of Honor should be a girl dear to you, who understands you.

My Maid of Honor & our Best man were such a huge blessing to me leading up to our wedding.

My groom was still finishing up school, so he didn't get into town until 24hrs before we got married.

Since I didn't live in the place we were getting married either, 

I flew in about 10 days before we got married myself.

(Perhaps more on our story at a later point)

So you can imagine what a relief it was to have two awesome people helping me out.

The choice can be difficult when choosing a Maid of Honor though.

It can be a delicate issue at times in order to avoid hurting feelings or making your friends feel uncomfortable.

Choosing the ladies to stand up there with me was possibly one of the hardest decisions I had to make during the whole process.

How did you guys choose? Or how do you plan/think you should choose?

Much Love,

L