yes.. i bet you didn't think i would.

My sweet friend/former nook-mate from college, Annie Lu recently "tagged" me in a blog of hers to list out the top 10 things that make me happy. How often do I respond to these sort of things? Nearly never. Why start now? It's an early morning at work, and I'm feeling crazy. That, and I haven't seen my Annie in quite a while.. Shout out, girl! So, without further ado I hereby impart to you a list of my "happy" things.

top 10 in descending order:

#10 Avocados
If you are what you eat, I'd be an avocado. Give me guac, turkey & avocado sandwich, or one by itself, I'm satisfied.

#9 Dancing
I LOVE performing.. there are days that my heart just aches to be on stage again.. tap, ballet, pointe, jazz, hip hop. Ah. Also, I love salsa dancing or two-steppin' with my main man.

#8 My sweet family & niece Landry Kay:)

Landry is a whoppin' 13 1/2 months now, and she, along with my family, have been a tremendous blessing. Just look at that face.. it'll make you melt. We're working on expanding her vocabulary away from just "dog". Aunt Jenn is comin' soon..

#7 Blue sky days, light breeze, windows down, music up.
After this harsh winter, I am MORE than ready for spring time. Gimme some sunshine!

#6 The Village Church
To put into words the immense blessing this body of believers has been is almost an impossibility. Love the Truth taught ever Sunday. Love seeing the Spirit move in lives.

#5 Awkward middle school students
Having observed and beginning to student teach this semester has confirmed my love for those awkward but wonderful middle school kids. In one moment you are thinking "are you serious?" and in another you are just dying laughing at the pure ridiculousness. I cannot wait to hopefully have a classroom of my own next fall and inspire these young minds to LOVE math.

#4 Romans and my home group
Loving this study with my "home"girls.

#3 Soy, no water, chai lattes for early mornings such as this
My saving grace on those 4:30 a.m. mornings.. If you haven't had one, bite the bullet and order it from your local barista. You will thank me later.

#2 My community of friends the Lord has blessed me with in this life.
If I truly step back and look at who the Lord has brought into my life over the span of my almost 24 years.. it overwhelms me. My friends have impacted me in more ways than they will ever know by challenging me to think out of the box, calling me out, encouraging me, and loving me far more than I deserve.

#1 August 14, 2010 & my fiance:)
Are you kidding me? Of course, this made the list. I am ecstatic to marry the love of my life in a little over 5 months!

Alright... There you have it. I'm not sure who would want to know these things, but Annie, this was for you..

Happy Weekend!

they won't call me miss leftwich..

.. instead, they will call me Mrs. Coddou.

Yes. It's true. The love of my life completely shocked me and blew me away this past Saturday night when he asked me to be his wife. The verse that stuck with me was a verse from Revelation that Patrick had framed, and we prayed over our engagement and marriage that night. It's found in Revelation 19:

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." {vs. 7-8}

I am so blessed to have this reminder. This is what earthly love, engagement, marriage, life together is all about. It is a beautiful, intimate relationship that mirrors the relationship Christ has with the church. What a celebration that will be.. when we rejoice, exult, and glory in Him alone for Christ has come back for the church!

Also, the part where the Bride has made herself ready, and then the description goes on to say she is clothed with fine linen {representative of righteousness}, bright and pure. The Bride or the church has been sanctified in this process and is ready for the redemption of their eternal body. Romans 8 talks about the believers groaning like the pangs of childbirth for what is to come. We long for that future hope, the reunion with our bridegroom... Can't you feel the angst in the vocabulary used? I just can't help, but get excited about this new stage of life. I know the Lord has called us to this process of sanctification, and this is one more sweet way that the Lord uses something that He has created to point us to the Gospel... continuing to wrestle together in this life with the sin, struggle, and reality of grace in my life until one day my sweet fiance or husband will be able to present me to my Savior, my King..

All of this to say.. praying for a heart that sees the beautiful eternal significance of this time in my life.. and excited to be called Mrs. Coddou by all the teenagers I see daily this coming fall:)