Believe it or not...

This weekend was so not what we had planned! Originally Ryan and I were going down to Houston to celebrate my wonderful mother-in-law's birthday but it ended up not being a good weekend for her so we are rescheduling. The great part was that Ryan already had Saturday off so we actually had a normal weekend together for the first time since we have been married! We got to sleep in on Saturday and did some errands and hung around fort worth, then Saturday night we had dinner with my 2 sister and brother in law's that live in Dallas and my father-in-law and 2ND mother-in-law. It was so great to see all of them and my precious 2 nieces and 1 new nephew! I can't believe how grown-up Sophia is getting, she is so gorgeous and so sweet! I got to play with her alot and found out she loves my jewelry!! Her 1st birthday is in a few weeks and i am so excited! After dinner we went to trinity hall and listened to an Irish band which was great and headed back to fort worth.

Sunday we went to church- which I have not talked about our church recently. We have been going to Fellowship Church, our pastor is Ed Young JR and we absolutely love it! We have been getting more involved and are trying to join a small group, we just have to find one that will work with our schedules. Our church is doing amazing things, we did a huge outreach to kids who needed backpacks and our location alone gave close to 2,000 backpacks to kids in need! We are excited to have found a place we feel so at home- FINALLY! After church we went to Ripley's believe it or not and Wax Palace. There was some crazy things to see and we had alot of fun with the wax people! I was especially happy to see the Wizard of Oz exhibit and got to take a picture with the cast!

The weekend ended up being exactly what we needed, I love having so much time with Ryan and it was nice to not have a strict schedule to stick to! It feels like we have had something going on every weekend since I have moved to Fort Worth!

Oh and I also have to update- my great friend Jalei from work had her baby and Elliot is SO gorgeous! I can't wait to see her in person (they live far away!) I am so excited for her and Lane! Congratulations ya'll!!

I also need to shout-out to my amazing friend Ashley Ochoa! Please keep her in your prayers, she is going to do mission work overseas and is trying to raise the last bit of her funding needed. She is going to do great things in Kazakhstan and as much as I am going to miss her I am SO excited to hear her updates in the next year. I will keep all of you updated on what is going on with her as well!

With school being back in high gear work has been very busy! I am back to recruiting, I have 96 schools to recruit before October 31st!! I hope to hit my goals and look forward to the school year- recruitment is not my favorite time of year so I just want to survive! I have been getting to know some of my coordiantors and I am excited to plan all of their events! Well, I am off to spend the rest of the night with Ryan before it's back to reality of life tomorrow! Love yall!!

It's the climb...

Ryan and I went rock climbing this weekend, it was SO much fun! I have never been rock climbing before so although I knew I would obviously be scaling a wall I really had no idea what to expect. I even tried to wear jeans and a cute shirt and Ryan laughed at me and told me I would definately want to be wearing work-out clothes. Definately glad I listened to him even though I said I thought he was dramatizing the situation haha. I am not a fan of wearing work-out clothes in public so I was not too excited about this. Anyway, we headed to a place called Dynorock in Arlington, I have to say I almost didnt go inside it was inside an old creep wearhouse but I am so glad we did! After putting the harness on and getting a quick lesson we were set out to scale TONS of walls. It was scary at first just trying to find a good foot and hand hole but once I got started it was pretty easy to get to the top. Even though you have a harness and a rope around you it is still a little nerve-racking when you look down and imagine yourself falling onto the not so soft pads on the ground. It was also interesting how everyone starts at a different place and gets to the top in their own way and even their own direction. I tended to stay in the middle of the wall while ryan always seemed close to the right side. It definately takes ALOT of trust in your partner because if they dont hold the rope tight enough or aren't paying attention to what you are doing you could fall fast and hard! Ryan of course took good care of me but I was so freaked out when trying to come down the first time- you have to lean back, let go of the wall and hold on to the rope. We both lived and didnt have any disasters thank goodness! We had so much fun and I want to start rock climbing on a regular basis.

My efforts in rock climbing were so similar to what we face in life everyday. Whether you are working on your relationships, education or career you are on a climb to make things better, to get closer to the top. Sometimes you can't find a good foot-hold and you have to try a different direction, sometimes you bolt to the top without a problem and sometimes you might feel stuck to the ground with no where to go. Regardless of where you might be, in order to get to the top you have to start climbing and this takes a movement of faith. In rock climbing your faith is in your partner, the rope and yourself. You have to trust that the rope is strong enough to hold and that your partner isn't going to leave you... the truth is that these things aren't great things to put your faith in! People make mistakes, ropes break and you might even slip up! Thank goodness we have something so much stronger to trust in for our lives! God will never leave, break or slip up- and my favorite part, He is always there to catch us when we fall!

I am going to keep on rock climbing and working on my faith. God is doing great things in mine and Ryan's life and I truly believe He is working on our faith! Please keep us in your prayers as Ryan continues to search for a new job in the ministry. We are thankful for the job he does have, especially with so many lay-offs happening to people around us but his heart was made for something more. It is so hard to watch him go through this time of waiting, just feeling stuck to the ground but we know that God is going to tell us when it is time to start climbing and I have to tell you we are hoping it is soon! Until then, we will just wait- harnessed up and ready for His timing.

Everything happens for a reason...

It has been a long time since I have updated, I know! The Summer has been SO great, so relaxing and just a time to recharge my batteries. My job is amazing in the fact that we really do get to rest during the Summer. Don't get me wrong, we still work but we get to work from home and it is supposed to be a time to reflect on the school year and just really spend time with our families and honestly relax! I can not even begin to tell you how great this has been for me! The last year has been crazy to say the least! There have been SO many great moments, when the Summer started I couldnt believe that just a year before Ryan had proposed, I moved to Fort Worth and just completely got caught up in a whirlwind of change.

These changes have been tough, starting over always is. I was so lucky to have the love of my life beside me a few amazing friends, one as my roommate for those months of crying, laughing and just adjusting! I was so blessed to have Owen- one of my childhood best friends living less than 5 minutes away, it was definately like having a peice of home right with me. Of course having Ryan with me was amazing- we had such a hard time during our 10 months of long distance and I can't describe how it feels to finally be the one you love. Even with all of these great things the move was hard, I am very close to my family and I am the first to move away. I miss the Friday night dinners we used to have, all the things my sister and I used to do together and all the nights with my friends. It has definately been hard on a few of my friendships! Unfortunately, not all of them made it through... which was a complete shock and hurt more than anything I have experienced. However, I know that there is a plan in all of this that is much bigger than me and the friends that are still here are the ones that want to be, the ones that are meant to be and they have been there for me more than ever which has been great.

On to my happy changes, I am now married to the man of my dreams. I dont deserve him, but for whatever reason he chose to be with me and I am such a lucky girl! Ryan makes me want to be the absolute best version of myself and he just brings it out. He makes me more patient, understanding, forgiving and most importantly he makes sure I stay true to myself no matter what. I have always heard people say they fall in love with each other more everyday after marriage and I never really understood it until now. A year ago I thought there was no way I could possibly love Ryan more and today I can say I love him so much more than I did then. The last 8 months have been the best of my entire life. People kept telling me before the wedding just be prepared - the first year is going to be so hard and you are going to have a hard time adjusting to living together. Those people didn't have the luxury of marrying Ryan because I have to tell you he is just absolutely wonderful. The "adjustment" has been a breeze.

Onto less cheesy things...
We just got back from vacation! We went to Lake Tahoe and I have to say it was fabulous! Its so gorgeous there, it was my 2nd trip and Ryan's first. He loved it. He kayaked, hiked, swam, went out on a yacht one day and did just about anything else that required us to be outside! It was so nice to just get away and spend some time together. Ryan's work schedule doesn't allow us a ton of time together- he works 2-11 and his days off are Sun-Mon, thank goodness for the Sun because we actually get one day that we are both off. Anyway, it was a great trip and I wish we were still there! We are already planning our 1 year anniversary trip, we aren't sure where we want to go but I can't believe its almost been a year! It feels like it just happened!

We also recently were part of a wedding that meant alot to us both! Ryan officiated and I was a bridesmaid in Laura and Adam Sanders wedding. It was so gorgeous and so much fun! They are a great couple and we were honored to be a part of their big day!

The pictures are from our vacation and from the wedding!

Ok, well that is all for now... just wanted to do one big update, things are going really great and I am so thankful for all of the amazing people in my life! I love yall so much and miss the ones I don't get to see! Hope you are all doing great!!