You Had Me at Brunch

You had me at brunch!

When Josh and I adventure together we love to find places to share brunch at! one of our favorite Brunch places of all times has been the Biltmore Estate. 

The setting was beautiful and the food was amazing! We tried to device so many ways to go back before we had to leave town! I sure do love adventuring with my guy!

Adventuring Together

Oh Darling,

Let's adventure together!

One of my favorite things of all times is going on adventures with my handsome husband! I love how he takes me to places just because he wants to see the reaction on my face. I love that he plans things carefully and is always on the look out for exciting things to do!

I can't believe I found this post still in the drafts! We loved going to The Biltmore Estate and can't wait to go back! Enjoy the pictures!

Cultivating a Grateful Heart

Reflecting on our past experiences can be painful, hard, and sometimes unpredictable. This thanksgiving season, I found that this practice is more essential than we think. Normally, when I find myself reflecting on my past, I feel all the feelings again. I feel the rejection, the hurt, and the feelings of inadequacy that come rushing back. Sometimes, I just pause and neglect to examine the feelings instead of inviting the Lord into them with me. This Thanksgiving, my time of reflection brought along all of those feelings, but I found that there was something else waiting to be examined with them- my gratefulness. 

Read the rest on the Dayton Women of the Word Blog.

Seasons

As the years pass and the seasons come and go, there might be a tendency to overlook them and go on about our lives. A deeper look shows us that our lives mirror that same pattern; they also ebb and flow in seasons. For the believer, the Holy Spirit walks with us in and out of those seasons. I don't know what it is about fall that sets my heart ablaze with thoughts and longings for more of what the Lord has for me. Have you ever felt this way?

Read more on the Dayton Women in the Word blog! http://www.daytonwomenintheword.com/blog/2016/10/19/seasons

Christmas at the Dronen Residence

 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! I get so excited about it all! The wait is over and he is here! Emmanuel means God with us -what comfort that we are not alone! 

He took on flesh, came as a baby to change everything! Setting in motion a plan prophesied for hundreds of years, the plan to set us free from sin! All is well because of Him! 

Merry Christmas! May your day be blessed and full of joy! 

The weather in Ohio has been so balmy even up to 70 degrees! One morning I woke up to the most beautiful light for pictures! I wanted to share our home with you in pictures! Wishing you could come over for Christmas brunch! 

All of the textures found around the house make it more cozy and inviting, don't you think? 

I love Christmas cards! I do love finding fun ways of displaying them! 

I have so loved having the door open a lot this December! 

The lighting in this beautifully redone dinning room, thanks to my love, is breathtaking in person and hard to capture in pictures.

The presents were wrapped thanks mainly to my love! I love that I'm still enjoying this Christmas tree wrapping paper from the shutterfly gift card I won last year from the TomKat studio! 

Have a beautiful Christmas, darling! 

A Picnic Surprise Birthday Party

Happy Birthday to my sweet mother in law! I am so blessed to partake in the inheritance of blessing the Lord has bestowed on her- her children. I am married to the Love of my life and her oldest son. We have two beautiful children who light up there GG's (Gorgeous Grandma) life as well as ours! 

These past few years we have left for vacation during her birthday making me want to celebrate her before we left this year. But more than that she blesses us so much all the time with her generosity and in lavashing our children with love. In light of this I decided a surprise birthday party was in order! I do love to host people and bring them together to celebrate and bless others! So we planned it and were able to keep it a secret until the day of-barely! Here are a few glimpses of this beautiful night where we celebrated our all American gal! 

Dad brought her over to "let Josh borrow a tool" on their way to dinner. "She should come in to see the babies before they went to bed," he strongly suggested. She walked in and Our sweet little Giselle hurt her finger on the door. So we and the 20+ people in our dinning room waited patiently for GG to console her before we yelled surprise!  

She was completely surprised and I love how she just embraces Josh! This is one the things I love the most about her she is always ready to hug you and put you at ease! 

I loved how surprised she was and how excited she was to see everyone as she went around the room hugging each person there! 

I set up the porch for an indoor picnic since it rained all week long, until 3 hours before the party. 

A make your own Sandwich station was set up showcasing some amazing bread and awesome fixings! 

I was so excited some of her Sisters were able to make it and totally surprised her! 

I love celebrating birthdays with friends too they add such a sweet dimension to birthday celebrations! 

We had a make your own s'mores bar, again show casing an all American Summer tradition! 

Her birthday cake was so delish! Made in town at Love Cakes by DLM ( a local grocer) 

These beautiful peonies also came from Dorothy Lane Market. 

I love how the cake looked with the sparklers instead of candles. 

When I saw this porch I envisioned having people over and spending time out here! I am so excited that one of my first events was in honor of my mother in law! The rest are pictures of the sweet friends and family that came together to celebrate this beautiful woman because she means so much to all of us! 

We love you so much Pattie and I pray that this year you understand even little more how deep and wide His love for you is! Happy birthday! 

I could not have done it all without help! Josh, thank you for helping me and supporting my vision for this evening! Robin, thank you for listening to my heart from the very beginning as I began to think about this event! Thank you for coming early and staying late, so my kitchen could be completely clean before bed! 

To all who gave of their time and brought sides, drink and food thank you! What a blessing it is to bless others!