A Stroll Down Jacey Lane

We didn't print any holiday cards.... soooo this blog post will be our version of a Christmas card to all of yall! Our little Harding fam is doing great!  The biggest event was that we got married in August! {as most of you know} And it was the most beautiful & special day! We beached it up in August & September at Kiawah Island, SC and Panama Beach, FL. I have been working while James went full time in school. He survived his first semester with a pretty good GPA and only a few patches of hair missing due to that dang history class 😜 James also started a job at GNC! My photography business has been keeping me super busy, but I am way anxious to finish school. We adopted our little bff Teddy, who is crazy and an angel dog all in one furry body. His hobbies include playing fetch 24/7, stealing James's side of the bed, and chasing squirrels.  Seriously he's the best dog ever though, never leaves our side, and we love him to pieces. Teddy keeps u...

Sometimes I sit and laugh at Mine & James's Story... it is just the wildest thing to me. Usually when you tell someone that you first met your Fiancé in 8th grade, they say " awww you were high school sweetheart s?!" Yeahhhh noooooo hahah we definitely were not... BUT ~Flashback to a million years ago to little 8th grade Jacey & James~ James grandparents served a mission in my little branch in Bardstown, Kentucky. They had brought a bunch of their grandkids to a holiday dinner at the church. And James just so happened to be one of those grandkids.  Our only interaction really was playing few knockout games of basketball {romantic right?} But... we lived 35 minutes away so we didn't go to the same school.... soooo we didn't see each other.... didn't keep in contact (we were in 8th grade... definitely weren't thinkin about love at that point Lol) THEN ~ Flash forward 4 years~ It was summer of 2013... and the annual ...

Many people have not yet heard the story about how James popped the big question.... So... here it goes.  How James pulled off the world's biggest surprise: Last Sunday evening, James said that we should do something fun the next day before he had to work. It had been awhile since we had been able to go on a nice date together.... He also asked me if I wanted to go Ring Shopping as a part of our date too.  I looooved that idea. We had never gone looking at rings together before, so I was over the moon about the idea! So.... Monday comes and we head out to go to lunch at Red Fuego {a favorite of ours} After lunch we went to 4 or 5 different ring stores around town and it was a blast. Our future was becoming even more real as we experienced choosing rings that we liked together.  After ring shopping, we had some time before James had to go to work. It was a nice day out, so we decided to go for a walk in downtown Provo and around the Provo City C...

Recently, I had found myself in a funk. Doubting myself... doubting where I was in life and the Lord's timing... so lost as to what the actual heck I was to be doing.  And boy was I humbled... Problem #1 .... NEVER doubt who you are... I am a 21 year old single college girl livin in THE MOST competitive time of my life.. And it is SO hard not to doubt yourself! You look to your left and think someone is prettier than you... then you look to your right and wish you had the same success as someone else. Feelin misplaced... feelin like I'm a nobody and that I'll never {compare} to those other perfect girls (and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that... guys included) But sheeeeshhh what is wrong with me for lettin the adversary get me to believe all of those things?! That stuff will DESTROY us! Comparison is one of Satan's favorite tools! So let me now re-phrase ... I am a 21 year old single college girl livin in THE BEST time of m...

The past couple of weeks I found that I had been having a difficult time, kind of beating myself up; feeling full of regrets and "would have's" and "could have's". Thinking back on the last 3 roller coaster years of my life and thinking of all of the trials I have been put through. Hearing people talk about it all and bring it up to me, I found myself getting so frustrated. I found myself putting the blame on me. Thinking :  "If I would have chosen a different path, I could have avoided all of this pain." "If I would've chosen differently, maybe I would have ended up with the right person from the start." "If I would have left sooner, I would not have gotten hurt." "If I would have stood up for myself sooner, I could have avoided the mistreatment." "If I would have, then I could have..." All of these thoughts and more just circling my mind over and over; wishing I could go back in tim...

  Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev'ry change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. I'm pretty sure that this hymn has been the most played song on my phone the past few weeks. The words have such deep meaning to me an...

I'm sure many of you have heard of my latest happenings in life. And sometimes I find that writing about it is a little helpful to explain it all.  Many of you have continued to ask me how I feel now, and what happened and if I'm okay.. So, I share this experience not to get your pity, or sorrow for me, but because hopefully this can help you all come to understand my answer, and so that you can come to feel as much peace and comfort as I do. 2 Saturdays ago, I was writing addresses on wedding invitations and talking to my fiance, getting ready to mail out the first bunch. We were getting married in 2 weeks. And then in less than 6 hours, my entire life felt as though it had exploded. Being happily engaged and in love with someone that you were planning on saying "I do forever" to, you would never expect that in those 6 hours, you would no longer be needing to send out those wedding invitations.  We were supposed to go to dinner with his parents that eve...

Syd and I didn't have class so we decided to hit up the Alpine Loop while it was still warm and all of the colors were out in full force!

Dad came to Utah!! I'm so glad he could take time off to come and visit me for awhile. Conference was so great! The messages were so personal to me this go around and I loved every minute of it!

I was so glad that I had the opportunity to go the the General Women's Conference today with a good friend! It is so nice to hear such uplifting words. And I loved how much they focused on the family, and the importance of the role that mothers play.

I took a quick trip up to Logan, UT a couple weeks ago, not intending to be stopping by the temple. But before I headed back to Orem, as I was driving down the hill from Utah State, I could see the top of the temple and I felt strongly to go and GPS the street it was on so I could go and see it. So I did and with the perfect sunset lighting and lights shining up onto the temple walls, the Logan Temple looked absolutely beautiful. A castle made for a Princess of the King; for A Daughter of God. And I sat there outside the gates for a few minutes thinking of how grateful I am to have these beautiful buildings all around me. And how one day I want my prince to take me to a castle like this one, to be married and sealed for time and all eternity. It is one of the greatest gifts our heavenly father has given us today; the temple, and it is where I strive to always be worthy of going. It is such a place of peace, even sitting outside of it, so clean and breathtaking.  "What mat...

So my best friend Bailee had no idea that I was getting in yesterday. I had told her I would be getting in on the 22nd. I hadn't told any of my friends when I'd be getting in! So last night I showed up at her house and surprised her with my appearance! It's crazy how much you can miss a friend. 6 months is too long to have to go without us seeing each other! We talked for forever, and then decided to go and surprise a few more people that night. We drove over to surprise our friend Sarah while she was studying :) I loveddd seeing Sarah and having her catch me up on things going on. She is like a little sister to me. It's so good to see these wonderful people! And of course me and Bailee hung out and had a girls night for the rest of the evening just talking about everythinggg and watching a movie!  It feels so good to be reunited with my best friend!