Marriage Monday is Moving!

You know when something happens that suddenly becomes the straw that broke the camel's back? I recently went through that and I have a confession... one I'm terrified to share on a public platform for all the world to see...

Source: tumblr.com via Melina on Pinterest

I started seeing a counselor. Yes, I do believe that God is the end all, be all of the answer to all of our problems. But, think about it. People who have been given the gift of listening and guidance were given that gift for a reason. I can pray all the time and read my bible all day, but to be able to talk to a third party that can help me sift through my thoughts and inner battles of my mind?... Well, having that is simply an answer to my prayers.

In just 2 (really long) sessions, I've learned new ways of improving my attitude. To treat the voice inside me telling me negative things as a separate being (a.k.a. the Devil) who keeps me from reaching my full potential which God intended for me to live out His purpose. The other thing I learned is the act of questioning my negative thoughts. When a thought pops up in my mind I tell it "No!" But then I also question it by asking it "Why?" Why do I feel this way? What do I think is stopping me and what habits have I not realized I have been forming, but constantly live by?

I am tired of hindering myself and my own growth because of fear of failure, of guilt, or the fear of acceptance. I realize that I have to life my life for me. To allow myself to reach my full potential because I know I can never do what God intends for me if I keep listening to that negative voice that shoots me down all the time.

If you have been following me for a while, you have seen my struggle to keep posting, or to even be present not only on the blog but on social media. But now as I work on myself through this counseling experience, I have to apply what I learn.

Over time, the focus of the blog has shifted from a wedding inspiration blog to a Christian marriage blog. This comes from my belief that divorce in this nation can be eliminated if God is present in our marriages. Now that just makes all those wedding planning details and pretties and stresses all worth it just knowing that we are building stronger marriages when we strive for Christ!

As I have been shifting towards a career that is easier to move around, working towards being a fitness trainer, and as the focus of the blog shifted from wedding planning to planning for a stronger marriage, I have been fighting with myself for a long time to change the name of the blog. My fears have been that I'll lose followers but for those of you who follow me anyway, I know that it will be worth it.

Thanks to a third party opinion, I have made the decision to change and start anew on a new blog. I like to think that this blog has always been me, but I want to blog from a name that I can better grow with. I can never leave the blogging world, not only for the hard work I have put in the last year and a half, but also because of the messages I have received from readers that inspire me and keep me going. To those of you that keep up with me here in my little corner of the vast world wide web, I cannot leave. My name may change but I realize that perhaps God has given me an outlet, a way to reach out to others. To inspire others in leading them towards Him! Many of you have reacted positively to my Marriage Monday posts and to my Love Challenges. Right now I feel as if that is my calling. That even if I speak to one person, that even if one couple has a beautiful memory because of a challenge I put out there, that even if I lose the wedding planning followers but keep the followers who also want to build a strong marriage, well.... then it is all worth it!

I haven't bought a URL yet, and the site isn't even up to all the tweaks I want to make to it, but I decided to go ahead and move myself. I pray that those of you who follow me for your marriage will keep following me. I'm not leaving, I'm just moving. It is kind of like life when we move to a new neighborhood or new state right? But it is still me!

And to those of you that I lose, or have already lost due to my lack of posts lately, I pray for you always! I pray that while you are in the midst of your planning, that you are able to keep God in front. That while you are about to scream and punch everybody in the face for bugging you on wedding details that are Driving. You. Crazy! That you will still be able to keep that moment when you will say your vows, when you will say "I Do" in the front of your mind.

I pray that we never lose sight of what is truly important in the process of getting married. And then I pray that I can continue to provide a raw and open account of a woman who keeps trying. I'm flawed but the beauty is that God loves me anyway. It is my hope that you can feel not alone in certain feelings, to relate to the common issues we face as Christian women, yet may be too afraid to admit or feel! My new blog is me opening up the dialog for us to relate to each other and to support each other.

Allow me to introduce my new internet home:

thestronglifeblog.blogspot.com

It is about living strong in our marriage, in our homes, our bodies, and our faith. It's a bit of the chronicles of marriage (no marriage is perfect but the journey is the beauty!), fitness to make stronger, healthier bodies that bring stronger attitudes, and growing in Christ, the learning, the mistakes and the all around way that being a STRONG woman makes us better wives and better servants of God.

"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future." ~Proverbs 31:25

"I can do all this through Him who gives me strength" ~ Phillippians 4:13

P.S. Marriage Monday will be on the new blog as "The Wifely Life" and even better, the Love Challenges aren't leaving at all! They will continue on the new blog asap! I hope to see you there! Here is to living The Strong Life!

P.P.S. Does this mean Wedding Pickle is over? No way! I plan to put together guides that round up posts from my archives and some other ideas in the future. Wedding Pickle won't be full time anymore but it will still be around. Consider Wedding Pickle and The Strong Life to be sister blogs! Complementing each other. One for before your wedding and one for after! :-)

Source: sodahead.com via Melina on Pinterest

Looking for the Ladder

This is actually a post that I have thought about writing for a couple months, have had written for a few weeks and have revised a million times. It is long so I won't hold it against you if you want to scroll to the bottom and just get the quick list of the announcements I'm making today. Now, finally, here it is. . .

Source: mynxstudio.com via Melina on Pinterest

I figure I just need to lay it all out there as to what I have been going through. It isn't fair to post a few times here and there then go silent for weeks as if I have fallen off the face of the planet without explanation. And it isn't fair for me to not be honest with myself and with you on what I can and cannot handle right now.

When I started I needed a purpose, a sense of being
Back when I started this blog in November of 2010, I had just quit teaching and just got married. I was in a place where I wanted to be doing something that gave me a purpose and was something I loved doing. I was obsessed (still am) with weddings and I had (still have) dreams of doing event design. I started the blog, I started internships, and I felt like I had a sense of being. I'll never forget the moment when I was working at a wedding and it was the first time that I was working without being concerned about the time. I was enjoying myself and not counting down to the end!

I loved writing so the blog was a natural thing for me to share my passion with the world as well as learn more about the industry. My dream will be why I could never let go of wedding blogging. . .

Where I wanted to head and where I ended up
When figuring out my niche, I just focused on what I wished was out there for me. A wedding blog for the Christian bride. It is all too easy to get lost in wedding planning and lose sight of Christ and the meaning of the marriage. I want to be that go to blog for all of you looking for inspiration, for reality checks and for an escape from the stress of your own wedding.

I spent a year building up connections with industry pros, fellow wedding bloggers and building a following of over 800 tweeps and nearly 400 Facebook fans. I couldn't be happier! It was slow but it was steady and I feel lucky to get to be connected to all of you! However, it is a lot of work that a lot of people don't realize when they get into the blogging world. I have to be honest, after the New Year, I experienced a sort of burn out phase. Then going into the start of Spring, I had to get back into the groove of things but found that perhaps the horse I fell off of is a little too tall right now for me to climb. (I am a former English major/teacher, so bear with my metaphor! lol) You could say that right now, I simply cannot get back on that saddle without a ladder. Problem is I need to find the ladder. Wherever (whatever) that is.

I don't want to leave what I worked so hard to build nor do I want to turn my back on so many of you who have supported me through the past year and almost half! So I'm going to face reality. I'm going to have to stop trying to get on that horse and go find that ladder! This means that the blog will have to be different for a while. Call it Wedding Pickle Lite, lol. ;-p

The dreams I have for the blog
I still have dreams for this blog and I do not plan to let it go. However, if the timing isn't right, I cannot force it. I believe creative work, as this blog is for me, takes a life of its own. The blog isn't ready. I'm not ready. Maybe in due time the fire will rekindle, I'll find that ladder and I'll get back on the saddle! I have dreams to bring for your viewing pleasure in the future styled shoots and DIYs that I do around my house that can double as wedding decor.

What I've learned and am thankful for
I can't even begin to express my feelings on how blessed I feel to have learned so much about social media, blogging, networking, making awesome Twitter and Blogger friends, and being so touched and inspired by the photography I have featured. It is safe to say that what I have gained in the past year and a half is more than I could have ever imagined. It is something valuable and irreplaceable. I'm forever thankful for these blessings.

Where I am today
I've sprinkled in here and there how I have been taking a class to get my certification in personal training and how I have also been working out like it is my job. I will be taking that test in about a month, and starting my personal training business to finally have a job. Furthermore, my fitness has become a new passion, my therapy and I feel stronger every day physically and emotionally. I didn't ever think that I would want to be a trainer, but for now this fits in my life best and will allow me an income to support my dreams and is something I can take with me as I follow my husband's career around the country. Because of this new change in my life and body I've been busy studying and learning about the fitness industry. The studying is tough, and starting a business is freaking me out. I feel like I need to just focus on that more which takes up time that I cannot give to this blog.

What the blog will be for now
I'm not going to kick myself anymore for not being what I once was with the blog. I'm only going to post because I want to and not because it has to fit in a routine. There will be no more posts everyday and no more photography submissions via Two Bright Lights. The typical schedule will be reduced to occasional scripture posts, weekly love challenges, the occasional wedding inspired posts and the occasional ramblings/journal type posts of my struggles and growth in Christ in my marriage. I do still have some photography submissions in queue that I am super happy to share but for the time being, I will no longer be accepting new ones via Two Bright Lights.

I know I said I was going to start the weekly love challenges back in March, but I'm for real this time! I already have the first one ready to go! I can't wait to share it THIS SUNDAY! Whoo hoo!

Where you can find me always
I still want to be connected and I am ALWAYS on my social media outlets! As I transition to running a business, you'll be seeing my Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter names change to something more along the lines with my actual name!

• I'd first suggest you Like Wedding Pickle on Facebook since I am more often posting there and you can be sure not to miss anything new posted on the blog. There will be daily content for you there for sure!
• Instagram (weddingpickle) is where you'd likely just find things out of my daily life and many appearances of Mila, my beautiful Pug baby! 
• Pinterest is literally my addiction. Seriously, I really think I have a problem. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. So you might as well follow me there to get inspiration. I typically pin tons of wedding stuff, inspirational quotes and fitness stuff. 
• Twitter is something I need to get better at. Lately my tweets come from my posts on Facebook and Instagram, but I'm going to work on connecting with you all more on there!

So there it is. Please don't take this as a farewell because it isn't. I still am going to be here providing content that I hope and pray you will enjoy or find inspirational. When God gives you an outlet to touch others, one cannot walk away from that. I'm not leaving. In the mean time, please pray for me as I find that ladder! :-)

Thank you, thank you for reading this if you did! I love you!

Source: daydreamliving.blogspot.com.au via Melina on Pinterest

Summary of just the announcement points:

• Posts will be reduced to at least 1-2 times a week, no longer posting on a daily basis
• No longer accepting new photography submissions via Two Bright Lights
• Bigger emphasis on Facebook page for content and sharing from me
• Name changes coming soon for Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
• Weekly Love Challenges start this Sunday! Be sure to Like Wedding Pickle on Facebook to get in on it!

~ Melina xo