May 2016 – Mikal Dawn

Wedding Wednesday

Wedding Wednesday: A Book Lover’s Dream

Posted on May 25, 2016May 24, 2016 by Mikal

Wedding Wednesday (1)

Oh you guys. You’re probably all going to wonder what took me so long to get to this Wedding Wednesday.

I don’t know. I haven’t had enough coffee, apparently. I need more.

Lots more.

But today. Today is the day. Today…I present, a Book Lover’s Wedding.

Yes. ALL THE YESES!

The dress:

068304969a23aac543289b1d6072f273 — From Belle the Magazine

Isn’t this dress sweet? I love the classic lines and deep sweetheart neckline, but you know what I adore?? How the color reminds me of vintage book paper, and the layers remind me of falling book pages. I love this. For reals.

And bonus jewelry:

enhanced-25841-1405025412-17 — From BuzzFeed

Because who doesn’t want Pride & Prejudice earrings?! (I may actually go find these and buy them just because. Don’t tell the husband though, k?)

The bouquet:

2014-10-21-HPBOUQUETPL6seRP1 — From Huffington Post

Because YES. Even though these are pages from a book, which kinda hurts my heart. BUT I HAVE A SOLUTION! You can download images of book pages, print them out on both sides of a piece of paper, and then create this bouquet with those printed pages! See? IT’S A GOOD PLAN.

For the Groom:

Yeah, for once I’m including him in this. Nice, eh?

grid-cell-3959-1405173424-15 — From Etsy

*snicker*

The invitation:

edit-22447-1405038454-11 — From BuzzFeed

How cute is this?! With the most important dates listed on the library card, then the wedding date? As an invitation?? I’m in love.

The decor:

enhanced-19878-1405009570-28 — From BuzzFeed

Because who doesn’t want to be married under a book arch?! I die.

vintage-wedding-ideas-17-10122015-km — From Mod Wedding

For the guest book table? How cute!

The cake:

I admit it, I couldn’t decide. One is less literal and two are, well, more literal. And I love them all.

vintage-wedding-ideas-22-10122015-km — From Mod Wedding

I love how clean this one is, except for the “ink print” on a couple of the layers. Very simple and elegant!

191262315394506160odZvqTShc — From Weddingbells.ca via Indulgy

This one is sweet and simple, and could be personalized to the bride and groom specifically. Love.

948500e0-f3fd-0131-6d7e-0aa0f90d87b4 — From Bustle

So this one is definitely more colorful, but I adore the idea of having book titles on the cake that both the bride and groom love. I mean, this. is. fab.

The favors:

ea0b89d2a33aeffcec9688147c4ca918 — From Instagram

Okay, so this is actually an idea from a bookstore. But really, this could easily be done as wedding favors for guests! Do this and let the guests each choose one. You can go to a used bookstore to find these books, so you’d not only be saving a bit of money, but supporting a local business. What could be better?

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Well? What did you think? Would you be all over a book wedding?

Confession: I kinda want to renew my wedding vows just so I can have this wedding. Whoops.

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Forever Friday

Forever Friday: Peace

Posted on May 20, 2016May 19, 2016 by Mikal

FOREVER FRIDAY (1)

I’m continuing on with my 1 Corinthians 13 series today. You can read Love here and Joy here. Today is all about peace.

Peace 3

Confession: I love a peaceful home. Quiet, calm, not much activity. My cat sleeps on my legs during the day, I drink coffee (duh) and write…and not just on Facebook. 😉 But then my kiddos come home from school and my husband comes home from work. The quiet house? Not so much anymore. (Okay, another confession: it’s still quieter than a lot of my friend’s homes when their kids come home.)

Peace isn’t just quiet and calm. In my mind, it’s also trust.

My husband (Donkey is his call sign…Shrek anyone? Nonstop chatter? Yep. My husband is Donkey.) is away from home quite often due to his job. His job requires him to fly various missions around the world. The problem with his job? If his plane goes down, so does everyone on that jet, including Donkey. I’ve seen tragedy and I know we’re not immune to that possibility. I do get nervous sometimes, especially if he’s flying out of the country rather than just a simple mission for a few hours. But that’s where trust comes in.

When I am afraid,
  I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
  What can flesh do to me?
~Psalm 56:3-4, ESV

When I have trust in the Lord, peace follows.

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
~Isaiah 26:3, ESV

Peace in marriage is so vital. Donkey and I do argue, though his absences make us more conscientious about enjoying one another. When we argue, however, we still try to keep peace between us. We try not to raise our voices (I think we do a good job of that, but I don’t record our arguments, so really, I have no idea), and we try to work our arguments out quickly, and always before going to sleep. Only once have we gone to bed mad at one another, and it was not fun…nor was it a good sleep.

Disagreements, arguments, fights…they can happen in a marriage. Well, in any relationship. Keeping the peace, trusting in God…those can be hard. But pray together, spend time with God, keep Him your focus, and peace will follow.

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I know that no marriage is perfect, and believe me, I am so preaching to the choir when I write these posts! So help a girl out. 🙂 How do you keep peace within your relationships? Do you have any Bible verses you focus on? I’d love to hear (okay, read) your thoughts, so feel free to comment below!

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Get Your Tickets!

Posted on May 6, 2016May 6, 2016 by Mikal

It's been a week!

It’s been a week! A good week, but definitely a busy one! So busy, I actually forgot Wedding Wednesday!! How terrible of me! I hang my head in shame.

So while I don’t have a Wedding Wednesday for you this week, I do want to draw attention to an event that will be happening in August! You may have seen some talk on Facebook about a Christian fiction readers retreat…or you may not have. If you live in a hole. 😉

A few extremely dedicated women, including my dear Wonder Twin, Carrie, have organized this event. There are more than thirty authors taking part!!! Go HERE to read more about it.

While the early bird pricing is over, registration is still open! Make sure you check it out and if you’re within driving distance (or want a quick getaway, hop a plane) of Nashville, make sure you attend this event! It’ll be spectacular!!!

One more for the road: Check out the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat!

For Fun

Forever Friday…On Sunday…and Not Forever

Posted on May 2, 2016May 2, 2016 by Mikal

Sooooo…yeah. I missed Forever Friday last week. But I promise I had a great reason!

This past Thursday, one of my super-sweet critique partners, Teresa Tysinger, flew into my city to attend the Wordsowers Christian Writers Conference. It was the first time we got to meet in person, and it was phenomenal! As Teresa kept saying, “You’re not two-dimensional!” Bahaha!! I love her to pieces.

13119014_10209120770921660_2498651754562749315_n — I got the opportunity to make her one of my favorite lattes eeeever, a Kit Kat latte.

It was like we’d known each other our whole lives. Pretty fab, if you ask me. The next day, our other two critique partners, Holly Michael and Shawna Robinson Young, drove in (well, Shawna flew to Holly’s city and together they drove to my house). It was the first time the four of us had met, and just as when Teresa and I met, it was like we’d all known one another our whole lives. God is pretty amazing.

Aren’t they beautiful???? I’m totally stealing a line from Teresa: “My critique partners are cuter than yours!”

When Holly and Shawna arrived, the four of us drove downtown and had lunch at Twisted Fork with the sweetest, most beautiful Jennifer Slattery and her incredible husband. And speaking of Jennifer’s husband…I’m sorry, S., for all you had to endure during our conversation. 😉 And thank you for lunch. ❤

13094236_10206296504547279_5924107619958315929_n

Apparently I need my roots done. Whoops.

After Jennifer and her husband left, the four of us sat there for another hour-and-a-half just talking. (It was suggested Holly pick up a new pen name and write in a different genre, but I’ll let her make that decision.) Then we headed over a block to Aromas for some coffee and went to the first night of the writer’s conference. It was a great intro section. But the party animals the four of us are, we went for dinner–at Arby’s–and shut the place down. Awwww yeeeeaaaaah. You know you’re jealous.

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The next morning, we woke up bright and early–oh-so-early–and went back to the church where the conference was held and spent a great day learning from published authors, like the ever-so-funny Mary Connealy.

13102632_10153409789551020_7340873056574516643_n — She is so much fun!

And can I totally brag for a moment?? Along with Jennifer, I have two other friends I meet with once a month to brainstorm, and I adore all three ladies!! Sara, Stephanie, Jennifer, and I have a great time together, and they’ve helped me immensely!

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Another fun part of the conference? Meeting another new friend! Chaka Heinze is pretty hilarious. I adore her already, and I’m so happy she lives here so I can get together with her!

13124910_10153410518766020_7175066296321525672_n — Her smile is SO contagious!

And at the end of the conference, an announcement for next year’s conference was made. You wanna know who the keynote speaker will be??? New York Times bestselling author, Tosca Lee!!!!!!!! (You have no idea how excited I am!) I’ve had the honor of meeting her once and taking a workshop she taught, and she is so incredibly kind and fun, and such a phenomenal author!