365 days. 12 months. 1 year ago.

 There are times when this feels like it has been ages and then there are moments where I feel so close that I can still here the steady “pitter-pat” of his heart beat as I fall asleep snuggled up on the couch.

I haven’t shared much about my dad here in this little space of mine for fear of the exact thing that is happening in this very moment…tears streaming down, that knot in my throat and that “type… then delete… then type again… then delete again…” sequence as I struggle trying to find just the right words.

Sometimes I still wish that May 17th could be just any other day on the calendar for my family.

Everyone grieves so differently. I have always been a very emotional person, but until this week I could probably count on just one hand the number of times I’ve cried sobbed over the loss of my dad. I did not expect approaching the anniversary of his death to be any different.

But, we can now officially say that this week has not been my best. No one gives you a handbook on how to handle this type of thing! Poor BRS has dealt with his share of meltdowns and as much as I hate to admit, my attitude has been just….ugly. I was frustrated. I was stressed. I was sad. I was angry. I was exhausted.

It wasn’t until a conversation with a friend who has felt these similar pains of loss that I understood why “the anniversary” can be so difficult. As she put it, the one year anniversary can take you back to that exact moment in the most vivid way. The feelings of the season, the weather, the clothes that we wear all can remind you of that place in time without you even realizing that’s what is making those memories feel so alive again.

These memories are so bittersweet.

My daddy fought a long, hard battle with late-stage cancer.

He went to be with Jesus in Heaven on May 17, 2012.

He was just 46 years old.

He had more friends than any man I’ve ever known.

He was devoted to his family and worked so hard to provide.

He was generous.

He taught my brother and I the meaning of hard work.

He was a sports fanatic.

He had the kind of laugh that was contagious, one that still echoes in my mind.

He treasured my mom and loved her well.

He gave his life to the Lord and worshipped Him above all else.

Every part of my daddy’s life, his death and the way in which the Lord reigned through it all plays a huge part in my testimony and has completely changed the way I view each day.

I don’t just mean that I learned “to never take a day for granted”.  I learned by the most beautiful example that in each and every moment God is sovereign. And he makes all things work together for our good. (Romans 8:28)

If you’d ever like to hear more about my family’s story, please feel free to reach out and let me know.  I’m still trying to figure out how the Lord is calling me to share this story of His provision and am praying for His guidance in this. The way the Lord works in our lives is POWERFUL and GOOD and it would be a blessing to me to be able to share His goodness with you.

Even in this day full of heartache and memories, I want to choose joy. Will you join me?

-M.R.S.

Enjoy!

Did everyone have a fabulous weekend? Since I began working full-time in the corporate world I have found a whole new appreciation for the weekend… weekends are AWESOME.

This weekend I :

• Got my green thumb out and headed to the Lowe’s garden center with BRS to find some new pretties for our garden.
• Drooled over our bride’s fabulous wedding in downtown KC…just to give you a taste of how incredible her style is, check out my Insta-captures here, here and here.  WOW.
• Discovered a new (to me) amazing local jewelry artist thanks to Saturday’s gorgeous bride.  I’m already on the hunt to purchase my first piece from her collection in the coming weeks!
• Put some ink to paper and practiced some calligraphy strokes.
• Celebrated my beautiful mama over brunch and my mother-in-law over dinner on Sunday.

Excited for some fun posts ahead for this week! Happy Monday y’all!

-M.R.S.

-M.R.S.

Recently I have felt like God has been pressing this message onto my heart. And it is coming at me from all angles.

It has come in the form of this day’s reading in Jesus Calling, sermons at church, a new friend in social media, sticky notes in the mail from my bff’s mama and even little gifts like this beautiful print (photo above) created by Julie Song sent to me by sweet Jacin Fitzgerald.

BRS and I both have big business dreams and when we get conversations rolling about some of our ideas I feel like we can do ANYTHING! It pumps me up! We start making plans for all of our ideas and setting goals…and then I catch myself feeling this great amount of pressure to accomplish all that we can RIGHT NOW.

(Both BRS & I being self employed and rockin’ the small business world with no debt and great success at 22 and 24 years old? Ha! Patience young grasshoppers….)

Before I know it, all of those exciting ideas feel like burdens and become a never ending to-do list of junk running through my head.

So much of my mental energy lately has been focused on accomplishing goals and chasing after my dreams…which is totally a good thing! But as with anything, too much of a good thing can quickly become a bad thing. With all the transition we are already going through, we need to remember that it is okay to take a step back and just BE sometimes. Actually, it’s not just okay…it’s absolutely necessary.

God needs us to be still in order for us to hear His direction.  When I’m contemplating 32,412 different business paths (okay, that might be an exaggeration), wouldn’t it make things so much simpler if I took a breath and listened for guidance and obeyed that call? Then I just might see what it is that I’m really desiring, a joyful life…not a busy life.

I encourage you to see if there are areas in your life that need stillness today. I know that in times when I’ve made an effort to be still I have felt much more fulfilled and content.

How many of you wrestle with the pressure to accomplish even your big goals quickly? Do you need to show yourself a little extra grace in your timelines? (I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, as this has become a daily battle for me!) Share below!

-M.R.S.

It’s been a pretty long period of silence here on madireid.com and in that time I’ve missed this little blog of mine! I’ve sat down to create a new post numerous times and the longer I was away, the harder it kept becoming.  Want to know why? Let me tell you…

HOW DUMB IS THAT?!

I really did think that! Along with that, I was scared and kept having the thought that I needed to rebrand my little space on the WWW before I could make a comeback. I knew this blog couldn’t continue to be about the planning process for my wedding (duh…it was over).

I had in my head that in order to get back into blogging, I would have to find some new name, some new design, some new ME in the blog-world and that everything needed to be perfect and pretty when I started again.

But like a brick it hit me- if this blog is MINE and I want to continue on the path I had laid of authenticity, it cannot be perfect and pretty because MY LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS PERFECT AND PRETTY.

What exactly is my life like right now?

The best way to describe it is one-big-fat-period-of-transition.  

Since I last posted, the following major life events have taken place:

1) Finished my undergraduate education.

2) Made a 600 mile trip to move back to my hometown.

3) Got married to this cool guy I refer to around here (and here and here) as BRS.

4) Moved into our first home (pics coming soon).

5) Started a new job.

6) Began setting a foundation of working on a marriage…and y’all does it take WORK.

All of these things happened between December 17, 2012 and February 11, 2013.  (That’s only 58 days….I still think to myself “Like, WHAT?!”)

So what does this all mean? What am I even doing back here?

I am currently pursuing a complete redesign (what you see now is just a temporary facelift that took place late one night when I was tired of looking at that Tiffany Blue) as well as a new domain name in order to bring the things that have been stirring inside my heart to life on the web.

madireid.com will no longer be solely about the process of planning my wedding, but it will be (like my life) making a transition into something new. Think “lifestyle” blog mixed with some other mini-ventures of mine.  You will still see a great deal of wedding-related content because a big chunk of my life is focused on my passion for weddings…and I don’t anticipate that to change any time soon.

Bear with me as we get this thing rolling again…and this image below, from sweet Emily Ley, has been my anthem lately.

Glad to be back,

-M.R.S. …. (first time I’ve gotten to do that! :) )

Y’all, this really is the most insane feeling.  Relatives are coming in town, friends are beginning their travels from across the country.  This is really happening!

Early on BRS and I decided that we would schedule our honeymoon for the Monday following the wedding.  We did not want to wake up on Sunday morning rushing around with somewhere to be because that just seemed a little too hectic for our liking!  So, we are set to head to Cancun early Monday morning…still, the idea of just hanging at home on Sunday seemed a little dull! To do a little compromise with our Monday departure and our excitement about being married we decided to take a trip to the spa to enjoy “marital bliss” and on our first day as a married couple.

We feel so lucky to be able to enjoy this time at the oh-so-BEAUTIFUL Spa at Briarcliff.

The Spa at Briarcliff located in Kansas City, MO offers services including massage therapy, facials, body treatments and nails.  The facilities are exquisite featuring private rooms for their services, a floating experience and their Amazon Riverwalk Pools.

The Spa at Briarcliff is a hot spot for the brides of Kansas City that want to feel pampered and that would like to offer an exclusive experience for their bridal party.  Their bridal packages can be custom-made to fit any bride’s needs including services for their entire bridal party or for a bride’s pre-wedding week preparation with microdermabrasion and peels.

In December I got to do a tour of their location and I was in awe of the beautiful amenities and services they offered. Today I am so excited to share some of what I got to see.

The Spa at Briarcliff’s room for manicures and pedicures.

The Amazon Riverwalk Experience

The Spa at Briarcliff’s Couple’s Experience room

The Spa at Briarcliff’s Couple’s Experience room

The Spa at Briarcliff’s Floating Experience

The Spa at Briarcliff is located at 4133 North Mulberry Drive  Kansas City, MO.

-M.T.R.

This is a Sponsored Post.  Madi has received compensation for writing about The Spa at Briarcliff .

No, we did not go ahead and get married at the Courthouse (though it was tempting!)… but we did get our hands on our beautiful marriage license!

Yay!!! Now just to get some signatures on this baby and we’re official!

Can you tell how excited we are?  My heart was beating fast and BRS made fun of my shaky signature!

We are officially 2 weeks from Mr. and Mrs. and things are coming along nicely!  We are rocking out timelines, packets of information, arrangements and finalizing decor for the ceremony and reception.  We’re selecting songs and creating signage and paper materials.

There are some days where I am extremely calm about everything…and then there are days where I’m in a state of panic! Packages of items we’ve ordered are coming in daily. Sleep is becoming more difficult with all of the “to-do’s” running through my brain and I am having the craziest dreams that are actually more like nightmares! (We failed to take any photographs, we finish the ceremony without exchanging any vows, we forget to sign the said marriage license, etc).

I just have to take a deep breath and remember it is all going to be okay!  We are doing really well at accomplishing everything and I really am feeling confident that we are going to be just fine!

Though things are hectic… I do want to take some time to update you on some other wedding happenings so stay tuned, friends!

-M.T.R.

I have been selected as Southern Wedding‘s Bride of the Month for December! Now you know that this news made me “as happy as a goat in a briar patch”!

Be sure to see the full post here.  It was so fun answering the interview questions about our special day! What a fun way to celebrate this final month before the wedding!

-M.T.R.

I found this gem on Pinterest today and it is too true not to share with y’all here.

It’s true.  I do.  With all of the stress that may come from planning…between decisions on flowers or a calligraphy style or which readings to include in the ceremony…I must step back and ask myself, “Why am I doing all of this?  For what?”

I’m doing it because of a dream bigger than any “dream wedding”.  A dream that includes a love that lasts forever and a family that serves the Lord above all else.  A dream of a partnership in which both parties care for one another most and support the goals and ambitions of their spouse.  Where faith, family and honesty are top priorities and love ALWAYS remains as “the greatest of all things” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Now that is more beautiful than any floral arrangement or calligraphy font. For future brides, current brides, or even brides that have been there and done that…make the marriage the priority. Don’t let others get in the way of that or let silly decisions keep you from putting in the work necessary to have something that lasts much longer than just one day.

Pray together.

Encourage one another.

Provide support to one another.

Love…even when you’re missing “that feeling”.

I know this wedding will come and be behind us within just 45 days, but my sweet BRS will be there when it’s all said and done…and THAT is what excites me the most.

-M.T.R.