My Dog... the hero

I have had a very interesting day today. I have had a super busy day with work and so I let Scout spend most of his morning outside playing in the gorgeous weather. I look outside to check on him real quick and realize he has invited a friend over because there are two dogs in my backyard. What the crap?? Here is stranger dog:

I call Scout in you know for an explanation and realize his feet are covered in dirt. What? I go outside and stranger dog makes a mad dash to the back corner of our fence where we have no neighbors-one of the things I love about our house! Then stranger dog tries to go out the hole she has obviously come from but I caught her before she made it. She is adorable, sweet and shaking from being scared and cold. Still confused as to why she is in my yard I go ahead and offer her food and pet her and then it dawns on me... a friend of mine on Facebook had put on her status a few days ago that her cousin had lost her dog in our neighborhood and this dog totally matches the description. I put a clay pot on top of the whole and walk around to the other side of the fence and realize stranger dog dug one side and Scout dug the other- Scout somehow knew she needed help so he just invited her over via the fence...

I made a few calls, sent pictures and Kourtnie and Ashley headed over to pick-up "Elsie" Scout's new bff. I am so glad that Elsie made it home safely. Scout cried at the back door once she left- he was obviously a fan of saving her life. I already knew Scout was the cutest, sweetest, smartest, craziest dog on the planet- apparently he also helps lost dogs find their way home. All in a day's work for Rescue Dog Scout. In the word's of my bestie Raven , "He's such a rescue dog, I mean couldn't you just see him in a fire fighter suit??" Honestly, I definately could! Haha I love you Scout!

So Thankful...

I wish that I listed everything that I am thankful for everyday, it would probably make any problems I might be going through seem non-existent. However, the thing that I love most about Thanksgiving- even beyond all of the fantastic food which I wait for all year long is the way that families all come together, despite their differences and celebrate all they have been given.

I have a wonderful family. We are not perfect by any means but I feel so blessed to be a part of both the Qualls and Jasper clans. This year we split the holiday, we spent Wednesday and the morning until about 11 with the Jaspers in Austin and then headed back to Houston for the last afternoon/night with the Qualls and Ryan's mom. It was a great day and the good food was flowing! Here are just a few things I am thankful for this year...

1. The way my mom decorates the house for the holidays- it's something I look forward to every year, she always does a great job and is the best host in the world.
2. corn casserole- one of my t-giving favs! My mom makes it every year
3. broccoli- cheese casserole- my other fav! my Nana has this recipe perfected!
4. Scout. He is such a crazy dog and brings so much happiness to my life!
5. Pedicures- i know why they end in the word "cure" they cure every stress in life. While I was in FW visiting my girls Raven and I spend the weekend doing all the things we love doing together- jean shopping, pedis and manis, watching movies and eating great food! in our book it was a completely satisfying weekend- love my girls!
6. Ryan. He loves me, crazy, stubborn and all! I am so blessed by him and lucky to have found him.
7. FRIENDS!! I have been blessed beyond what I deserve with new and old friends alike. This is something that if you have read my blog know that I have struggled with- after loosing a close friendship I was in a very difficult time and the Lord has been so faithful to me. Although it has not shown to be His will that the relationship is mended at this time He has constantly reminded me that what he takes away he gives back- a million times more! I have the best friends in the world- if you think you have better friends than me, you are wrong. :-)
8. Our house! I absolutely love living in our house, I really enjoy entertaining and love that we have been able to do it quite a few times since moving in. We have been so blessed by owning such a new home that is perfect for our chapter in life. We didn't think owning a home would happen so soon and I am so thankful that it did and that it hasn't been a financial struggle for us. So many people are loosing their homes in this economy ad we don't take ours for granted at all- we don't deserve it but thank God he has chosen to give it to us!
9. Moving back to Houston. The last few months have been up and down about our new chapter- obviously I am happy to be close to our family and some amazing friends but there are definitely days I miss Fort Worth. The thing I am most thankful for is the peace of knowing we are in God's will. There is no doubt in my mind that we were supposed to move back and join FBC. Watching Ryan serve on staff has made me fall deeper in love with him than I was before. Serving alongside of him when I am able to is more rewarding and freeing than anything I have ever done.
10. A good pair of jeans. There is nothing more important in a wardrobe than a good pair of jeans. I have been lucky to find 2 new pairs for the holidays- this makes me smile.
11. My new Jimmy Choo purse from my generous Mom-in-Law. She is always blessing us with things that she somehow knew we needed or wanted. I have been needing a new purse but didn't want to spend the money on it with the holidays around the corner and without my ever telling her this she surprised me with the cutest bag yesterday!!
12. Christmas trees! I love Christmas time, especially decorated trees- last year we had a mini tree because our place didn't really have space for a full size tree. This year we are getting a real tree and I couldn't be more excited!
13. My job- I am so lucky to be in a job that I love and have such great co-workers.
14. Cold weather!! I am so happy that its freezing outside right now- makes me excited for Christmas and new years!
15. Weight Watchers- I am back on the plan and have lost about 9 pounds, granted with the holidays I will have quite a few cheat days and that is what I love most about it. I am officially making an effort to loose a lot of weight- I have been carrying extra pounds for way too long. I will try to keep the blog updated with my progress!

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for this year??

Um, Hello Blog!

So i have started 5 different blogs since my hiatus. I have finished not a single one... I have alot to post but honestly don't know where to start now that it has been so long and so many blogworthy things have happened but here I sit... blabbing about what I should blab about... here is one of the 5 that i am going to attempt to finish right now!

I am going to just start with Halloween because it is one of my favorite days- simply because I love wearing costumes, I LOVE chocolate and my absolute favorite thing- passing out candy to kids in costume! Well, this year gave me all of those things at the same time! To be honest I was kind of thinking this year would pale in comparison to the previous 2 Halloweens- last year I went with my besties and our group to a haunted corn maze- it was such a blast!! The year before Ryan and I had our only wedding shower on Halloween- it was so much fun celebrating our relationship in costume with our closest friends. Anyway, back to this year... I took the day off on Friday and Ryan and I headed to Huntsville to visit the camp we went this past weekend for JR High retreat- we made a promo video filmed by my mad skills and then went to lunch at our favorite place from college- Five Loaves. I had my chicken quesadillas with a cup of Enchilada soup which was so thankful is still the Friday soup special. My stomach has not been that happy since graduation, over 3 years ago. We also made a trip to Austin Hall where our wedding reception, engagement and the 1st time we met happened and to the bookstore to load up on new t-shirts, stickers for our cars and even a collar for Scout! It was so fun walking down memory lane- I am so blessed to have met my Ryan over 6 years ago- he changed my life the moment I saw him.

Saturday one of my besties Lindsee and I headed back up to Huntsville to see our great friends Hannah, Meredith, Heather and Laura. We had lunch at Farmhouse- our old favorite and spent the afternoon with a little boutique shopping and seeing Hannah and Heather's adorable house- I have not laughed and been so blessed by great girl time with these amazing friends in a while so it was so fun! Normally when I am with these girls I take 589 pictures but somehow I only ended up with one, here is my Lindsee and I- love you girl!

Linds and I headed back to the woodlands and I headed over to our friends Elyse and Aron's house to prepare for our small group's halloween party! Our small group has been such an awesome addition to our life! It's so great having friends in our same chapter of life, at our church who are all God-driven and a blast to be with. The party was so fun with TONS of great food, fun and decor! Ryan and I were Mr. and Mrs.Potato Head, the other couples that came were Lois and Peter Griffin of Family Guy, Rodeo Clowns, The Princess and the P and Nerds! Here are a few pictures of our night:


Sunday was a day that we knew was going to be crazy... however it ended up being one of the busiest days of our lives! After church we headed for a quick lunch that was so weird. Ryan and I have been doing the Daniel Fast with a few people from the Youth staff so we have a strict diet- Luckily, Tortugas has these amazing veggie fajitas that I have loved for years so we headed there... the hostest being the professional that she was yelled to a waiter about where to put us and the waiter answered back "don't put them in my section" - we were feeling very welcomed. The hostess then proceeded to put us at a table that prohibited Ryan and I from sitting across from one another because it was practically on top of a family of 37 people- yes we were sitting side by side facing a long table of strangers. my response as she tried to seat us "UM is it possible to seat us elsewhere because it'd be kind of weird sitting here" her answer "What?" me again- "Can we sit at another table because we can't pull out any of the chairs across from one another..." her- "What chair ma'am?" me "All of them... do you have any other tables??" her- "this is all we have" me- "Ok..." we sit. I stare at the other 67 empty tables in the place. Ryan and I laugh hysterically about the fact that we were at a family reunion and didn't know the other people at our table... Our waiter enters... I immediately tell him we are moving. Hostess glares at us. WEIRD! Fajitas come and they were wonderful.

Right after lunch we headed on a search for 250 hot dog buns. We went to Sam's the Friday before and picked up 250 hot dogs to be told a church had cleaned all of the Sam's in the Houston area out of their hot dog buns. Cool... We are a church with the same plan. After an HEB run we were armed with 2 buggy fulls of hot dog buns and fixings for our volunteers for Trunk or Treat. We headed to the church, I dropped Ryan off and then went to our house to let our dog and my sister's dog we were babysitting out, grabbed our costumes and decorations for our car and headed back to the church- aided Ryan in cooking 250 hot dogs and got everything ready on the tables, then we finally started on our car which we didn't have much of a game plan for other than that it would be Toy Story since we were the Potato Heads. I had collected all of my cousin's Toy Story paraphernalia and it actually turned out pretty cute for the 16 minutes we had to decorate and throw our costumes on before everyone started to arrive. Trunk or Treat was a blast! I loved it!

I am going to skip this past week and just tell you about 2 weekends ago because this post is already super long. Ryan and I have been looking forward to November 5-7 for months, it was his jr-high retreat called "Fearless." Ryan wrote all of his material, created quiet times and booklets for the kids and has been preparing for it for quite some time now. It was based on both present day martyrs and those in our history- all people who lost their lives for Christ. I have to say that I have never been more proud of Ryan than I was this weekend. I've always LOVED listening to his sermons but this weekend was one of those times that I just sat back while he taught in amazement that I am the girl he chose to spend his life with, the girl who gets to share in his ministry. Our 7th and 8th graders could not be more awesome. We had a group of 30 head to a camp called Carolina Creek near H-ville. Ryan and I both know people who are on staff there and were so impressed with how nice the cabins were along with the rest of the facilities, the counselors who are so fantastic and the activities. Our students had so much fun and so did we! We did a high ropes course which included an activity called "Tree Tops" which was an obstacle course high in the air and a 1,000 foot long zip line- needless to say it was so much fun! I had never done a zip line and I can't believe I have been missing out on something so awesome! I could post a few of the 7,483 pictures but i am just tired of uploading and spacing everything out so I am just not going to.

This past weekend was welcomed with pure exhaustion and me being taken over by my allergies but we still managed to go on a date Friday night to a new pizza place in Market Street and then to the movies to see the Social Network. It Was really interesting to hear how Facebook was created, not my favorite movie by any means but interesting. Saturday we slept in and relaxed and then headed to the Nutcracker Market in downtown Houston at the Reliant Center. I WILL NEVER GO TO THE NUTCRACKER MARKET AGAIN! Although there were some cute things, I even got a new super cute purse it was too over-whelming and over-priced. I was hoping to get a few Christmas decorations and maybe a Christmas present or two but we ended up walking away with 2 jars of jelly and a purse. SERIOUSLY? I did have tons of fun with my family though, my parents,sister and bro-in-law went along with us so it was fun trying all the samples and wandering around. I also got to run into a million people I knew so that was good too! After the shopping spree we headed to Spanish Village, this great Mexican food place that my parents have been going to since they started dating in high school- I had my usual cheese enchilada and tamale and enjoyed some great chips and salsa too!

I am getting pretty excited about this coming weekend, Ryan is leaving Wednesday for a wedding he is in that is in Georgia. Normally I would obviously be going with him but he has to be at a youth conference in Nashville the day after the wedding (SO JEALOUS!!) and so we decided to save the money since we wouldn't really be able to spend much time together since he will be super busy with groomsman duties and then flying out to Nashville so instead I am heading north to Fort Worth to see my besties Katie and Raven! This will fill my heart with happiness as I miss Ryan like the desert misses the rain for the 6 days we will be apart. I can't wait to see my girls- it has been over a month which is crazy because for the last 2 years I was 1. living down the hall with Raven before I got married 2. then I moved across the street post wedding 3. Then we lived a block away the rest of the time we were in Fort Worth. Obviously I saw them a few times a week so I have been suffering from separation anxiety! OK, well thanks for reading this post for the last 62 hours. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving, I plan to have my next blog be all about the great food I will be partaking in.

I am loving all the girl time I've had lately!

the past few weeks i have been so lucky to be able to cash in on some great girl time!
it was definately needed and i loved every second of it :-)

Raven has come to visit- twice and i got to see her both times, seriously makes my heart happy because there is a Raven and Katie shaped void in my life... it has been there since I moved away for FW!

Lindsee and I have been able to see each other- this is a dream come true because I have missed living closer to this girl! We have been trying to do lunch every few weeks and i got to see her on one of raven's visits so yay for that!!

Laura and I have been able to go on a few double dates together- this does my heart good. It's hard to find couples that are compatible for both of you and we love our sanders!!

I have been able to make some new friends because of our church, we joined a small group and I am so looking forward to these new friendships. the 6 other girls are so sweet and I am thankful for them! it's refreshing to have friends in the same chapter of life as you!!

Last night I had dinner with my TWFG girls- we worked together for years and all moved on around the same time- we have such a great bond that I just love!

I have also been able to spend time with my friend Angela recently who had a baby a few months ago- we had ourselves a girl's afternoon that I just loved :-)

Last but certainly not least I have been able to spend tons of time with my Mom and sis since being back- i LOVE this!! it's great to have the qualls girls together again :-)

I love all of my girls, those of you that I haven't seen lately- let's change that!

My dog is on a schedule...

I love our dog Scout- if you know me at all or have read previous posts you know this. He is a snugly, curly, sweet white dog that we rescued back in December from the SPCA. He is our child and we spoil him rotten.However, I do not want precious little Scout to turn into a bratty dog so we try to discipline him and this process has been pretty hilarious- it really does make us feel like his parents.

Well, for starters Scout has been through a lot of change- whoever had him when he was born deserted him, he spent time at the SPCA until we met him then he moved into our old duplex back in Fort Worth for 2 days until we moved into our old apartment. Then we lived in our apartment for 5 months until Ryan got the new job and we picked up in a hurry and moved to The Woodlands. We lived with my parents for the 30 days it took our house to FINALLY close and he learned to love Bella, my parents dog and his grandparents. We finally moved into our house and he had his first yard.

Since moving Ryan and I have been doing a lot of traveling, meaning we have to leave Scout with family members- we have only gone on one vacation, the rest were for work so we aren't just leaving him behind because we want to. Most recently he stayed with my mother-in-law while Ryan and I went with my family to Mississippi for a funeral. Ryan just so happened to get the worst stomach virus in the world while in the car on the way home- let me remind you the 8 hr trip ride home so he was absolutely miserable by the time we got back, poor thing. So, when Scout came home things weren't like they normally were- you know all about him since I was trying to make sure Ryan was going to make it through the night. Although I hugged him and played with him as soon as we walked in the door Ryan went straight to bed without even saying hi and I don't think Scout like this. The next day I was swamped with work and Ryan was still sick and then the following day we both had a youth group function so he was here all day alone. He really did not like this. Then, lovely Sunday morning I got up- sick with the terrible stomach virus and was in bed- ALL day. I have never slept more in one sitting in my life. I have never felt like I was going to die like I did that day. TERRIBLE. Well, the good thing about this day is that Scout apparently was very lethargic himself and laid in bed with me all day and it was sweet. He is seriously the sweetest dog in the world but he does have his bratty tendencies...

This brings me to my next section... Scout's bratty tendencies. Let me just tell you what all this moving around and staying at other people's houses this summer has done to our precious dog. He started chewing again for some reason. He just turned a year on July 4th so he was really young when we got him but we were able to break him of this habit and then for some reason in the last few weeks it has started up again- what is going on?? He has chewed up a few pairs of my shoes, one of Ryan's hats and anything else that is mistakenly left on the couch or floor. He even got a pack of gum out of my purse and chewed it up. When I found him he was chewing on a piece while sitting on the couch watching cartoons. WHAT?? OK so i put the TV on for him but he was seriously sitting like a man on that couch!

Seeing that I work from home he doesn't have to spend very much time alone- when we were in the apartment there were some days that I just had to put him out on the balcony for a little while because 24 hours of anybody is a bit much. I know, I am a terrible mom. However, since we have the house now I really thought it wouldn't be as big of a problem. What I didn't think about was the scorching heat that graces Houston 363 days of the year- the other 2 are unbearably cold. I am not going to put little Scout out in the back yard for longer than a few minutes because his fluffy, curly hair makes him over-heat. Seriously. He will come into the house and pant for a good hour if he is out there for even 30 minutes.

If I let him hang-out in my office with me for too long he drives me nutty, he scratches on my legs trying to get in my lap, he tries to get into my files etc. So spending my work day with him right under me all day is not an option.

Well, I strongly feel that he is acting out because of lack of structure and consistency. Ryan laughs when I talk about this but it's so true! He needs a schedule just like the rest of us so I have created one for him. When I get up he gets out of bed and stretches while I go to the restroom to brush my teeth etc. Then, we walk to the back door, he goes outside to do his business while I go ahead and get his food and water ready. Then I get my banana or yogurt and we eat together in the kitchen. Then, it's off to the shower for me and he comes along and has his 1st morning nap. While I am getting dressed etc he plays- runs all around the house, brings out all of his toys etc. Then I go to the office while he plays for about an hour or so on his own. In the meantime I have moved his bed a few quiet toys into the office and placed them under the office window which is his station. Yes, I have stations. Don't judge me. He normally comes in plays a little, lays a little and just hangs-out for a while. He normally spends some time looking out the window and sitting in the other office chair. I work and work until lunch time. We go into the kitchen, he eats his left over breakfast while I cook my lunch and then we normally hang-out on the couch for a few minutes. Then, it's walk time. We walk to our mailbox (it's a community box in our neighborhood) and he is super happy during this time. Then we come back and it is nap time for him and more working for me!

I either finish up work or Ryan gets home and we will move to living room- along with his bed and toys where everything is placed by the entertainment center- his next station. He is really great about trying to keep his toys close to his station once he is done playing with them- it's like he is trying to help me clean them up.

Since moving back to Houston our schedules have become crazy! I used to not have anything going on during the week back in Fort Worth but now we have something almost every night! Sunday nights are Retro, the junior high service that Ryan preaches at and I lead a small group discussion after the service, Monday nights we are free- yay!!, Tuesday nights I have yoga and Ryan has Judo, Wednesday nights Ryan has youth service- this is a night I try to reserve for seeing friends, Thursday nights we have small group and Friday nights we try to spend some time with just us because Saturdays are so busy with weddings, youth events, family events, birthday parties etc. that we really don't get a weekend together. I am not complaining though b/c honestly we have never had a weekend together since being married. Ryan's previous job schedule was TERRIBLE and he worked nights and his weekends were in the middle of the week so the fact that we have Monday and Friday and even Saturdays when something isn't happening is fantastic compared to how it was!

All that being said that Scout spends his alone time now in the guest bathroom. He used to be free to roam but since he destroyed my copy of New Moon it's off to solitary confinement when we aren't here until we feel that we can trust him again.

Well, that's that. An entire post about my dog, his weird behaviors and the way I am trying to correct it- with a schedule. I may as well put a chore calendar up on the fridge next. So far I am keeping my sanity and he seems to be liking it as well... we will see what happens!

Who said I was qualified for this?

Ever feel like a little kid playing dress-up?? This has totally been my life the last few months!

Here are just a few things that happened this summer that have me asking am I qualified for this??

1. I Became an Associate Youth Director's wife.
Let's talk about this for a bit...
I LOVE girls ministry. It has been a passion of mine since my sorority back in college when I really grew in my faith through my friendships. I think mentoring is so important for girls, especially in high school and the fact that I am able to serve alongside my husband is something I feel completely blessed by. I had the blessing of speaking to our girls this summer- I was so nervous but had a blast doing it and I look forward to building deeper relationships with our girls. Ryan is primarily in charge of junior high so those 7th and 8th graders are my focus as well. They are such a fun, sweet group and I am excited to be apart of their lives. Ryan and I both had a "weird moment" this past Saturday when we were driving a van- full of 7th and 8th graders to and from a ropes course. I looked over at Ryan and said "This is weird" we both laughed and he responded with "I feel like we have a van full of our kids right now and I should be wearing a polo and khakis driving this van." Then I said "Who said we were qualified for this??" We had so much fun with them, just listening to their random conversations was hilarious!

2. We bought a house.
I have really been enjoying decorating! We are having a house party in a few weeks with all of our friends and I can't wait! It's great having a yard, attic and a real office! I work from home so this was a great need in my life!

3. I just booked a work trip a few minutes ago...
Let me tell you my itinerary- I am flying from Houston - Dallas on Sun and staying until Wed. Then I am flying from Dallas -Albuquerque for a PE teacher's convention where I will do a presentation in the morning with a co-worker and then go to a luncheon to get to know some of my volunteers. What?? I have been doing this sort of thing for over 2 years at the AHA and gave presentations all the time at my previous job but it still makes me laugh and ask myself "When did I grow-up and get a real job??"

Who said I was qualified for this??

Do any of you feel like this sometimes?

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Many of you know that last November my Grandma had triple bypass surgery on her heart. During her recovery she suffered from a massive stroke that put her into a coma. We were not sure that she would survive and she spent months going back and forth from long term rehab to hospital stays.

We spent Christmas day in the long term facility with her and thankfully by this point she had come out of the coma and could recognize us but could not speak or walk. Thankfully by January she was walking and could say a few words. Now, close to a year from her surgery she can walk and talk however saying what she is thinking is very difficult. Like many stroke victims the part of her brain that controls the way she articulates has not yet healed. Over time this could change.

My Grandma was always one of my biggest fans. Every time we saw her she would tell us how proud she was of my sister and I. Living far away from her we didn't see her on a regular basis but when we did get together she was always so positive, sweet and excited that the family was together.

Today is my Grandma's birthday. This is a day that we really felt like would not come- the fact that she has another year of life to celebrate is so amazing and a true miracle. My Mom is very close to my Grandma and I am so glad that she is able to spend today with her Mother.

Most of you also know that I work for the American Heart Association. I am entering into my 3rd year with this great organization and I have to say that I feel like I am fighting for my Grandma every day. When I took this job and moved to Fort Worth I was excited to be part of a non-profit with a cause but I am here now because I feel like every dollar I raise, every newsletter I design, every school I recruit to participate in Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart is giving my Grandma one more day. Maybe even one more birthday. She has recieved the best care possible and it is because of the work that the American Heart Association does through of the funding from our amazing donors. Although most of my volunteers will never read this I want to say Thank you. Thank you for your support.

God has been so faithful to my family and myself over the last 9 months and today is a blessing that we are over-joyed about. Thank you for blessing us with my Grandma and for keeping her safe the last 9 months. Happy birthday Grandma- I love you!

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Well, vacation is over, it ended Monday morning when my alarm went off...
I must say though that our little beach vacation could not have been better!
We slept in Monday and took our little Scout to his Grandparent's house to spend a few days and headed down to Galveston. Ryan has only been there a time or two and although I have been a countless amount it has been a good 3 years and I haven't been back since all of the IKE damage.

We stayed at The Tremont House and it was pretty fancy. Our room was pretty big, 14 ft ceilings and made us feel like we were in a movie or something. LOVED it! Hotels make me happy, most you probably know that I love room service and just staying at hotels. I think they are fabulous. The first thing we did when we got there was order room service haha

We went to the beach, the pool and shopping around The Strand. There are some really great antique stores down there that I love but my favorite was closed because the people were "On Holiday." Well Antique Warehouse I will allow you to be on holiday... because I am on Holiday too.

We went to the Bishop's Palace since Ryan has never been and we revisted our original wedding sites- before choosing Huntsville we were going to get married in Galveston. I had found the church and reception hall and by an act of God we changed it at the last second. Had we not changed it IKE would have rained on our parade and we probably would have had to push our wedding date back etc. it would have been a disaster! I am pleased to say the church is back up and running but the plantation home we chose is still damaged and you can't visit it yet-sad day!

We also got to meet up with a few friends of ours while we were there which was great! We ate some great seafood at Casey's, Willie G's and Seaside Grill. We also ate at Carlos Mencia's new mexican restaurant that took the place of Fuddruckers on the Strand... don't be fooled by the fact that nothing has changed inside- it still looks like a Fuddruckers. It is mexican and it was no good! Sorry Carlos... we had high hopes but when my quesidillas were soaking wet from grease and ryan's nachos were strickly refried beans and cheese we knew we had made a mistake coming there. We also stopped at a Qualls family favorite on our way our- Mario's pizza! My Nana, Aunt Zonakay and her boys came up for the day to go to Schlitterbahn so we had to get some Marios!! It was great as always!

Galveston, I have missed you! Thank you for letting me relax with you this past week!! A dose of you was just what Ryan and I needed!! It was seriously so great to get away without having to fly or drive far away! I LOVE you Galveston :)

exhausted!

Life has been busy. No, life has been insanely busy! I am pretty positive this has been the busiest summer of my life.

With moving, buying a house, going back and forth to DFW, Ryan's camps, vacations and my work travel this Summer has been everything but a break! I will say it has been a blast but I am just to the point of complete exhaustion. I actually just flew back home today after being in the DFW area all this week. This week was my team meeting for work and it is something I look forward to all year long! With the nature of our jobs we do not go to our offices on a regular basis and everyone is spread apart but there are 2 blessed times during the year that we all come together, collaborate, laugh and catch-up. Can I just say that I LOVE my job and the people I work with? It is so crazy to think I am entering my 3rd school year at the AHA! It has been a whirlwind and so much fun.

Anyway, back to this week... Well, I decided that since I had to be there for the meeting Monday and Tuesday that it would be fun to go for a few extra days so that I could see my girls! I flew in on Sunday afternoon and was greeted by Raven and Katie at the airport- we headed to dinner at the Italian Market which was so fantastic! Then we headed back to the house that they are sitting at this week- it has a pool, which brought pure happiness to my life! We immediately went for a swim and just had some good girl time! I miss these two girls SO much and love every second I get with them! Well, Monday morning I headed to Katie's work with her and checked-out her office which was super cute and my friend Christina from work came to pick me up! We headed to Dallas for one of the longest but great days ever! We had our 1st day of the team meeting and it was so much fun seeing everyone! After the meeting we headed to a place called 300 Dallas which was a really cool bowling alley- it is not your average bowling alley... we had our awards ceremony and dinner in our party room and I was so surprised to learn that I won two awards! Then we headed out to the lanes and had a serious bowling competition. Christina and I then headed back to her house and I stayed in her daughter's room. Let me just tell you a little about this room. First of all Mayson is one of the cutest little girls on the planet. She helped design her room. She turns 3 this weekend. She loves frogs. She loves butterflys. The room is a sky blue color and Christina had this amazing painter come in and put frogs, kangaroos, kites and butterflys all over the room. This might sound like a random mix but it is PRECIOUS! Mayson's bed is black and all of her furniture is black so it is totally whimsical meets chic. LOVE IT! I felt like a princess staying in her room. In fact I told Christina this when we woke up and she preceded to call me princess all day haha. We then headed out to Chic-Fil-A for a chicken biscuit which was wonderful and headed to day 2 of our meeting. After everything finished up my friends Amanda and Ashleigh gave me a ride back to Katie's office and we headed to the house to grab Raven! We then went to my favorite favorite place in Fort Worth for dinner- Posados!! It's the best mexican ever!!!! After dinner we headed to Denton because mine and Ryan's church were at Student Life Camp at UNT and since I didn't get to go we visited for the night! HUGE shoutout to Ben Stuart. I have always been a major fan of his and his sweet wife so when I learned he was the speaker I knew I had to get there somehow! We had fun remembering just how it was being 16 and seeing the kids and Ryan was great!

After camp we headed back to the house for some much needed sleep! I worked on Wednesday and then Katie and I spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool and then went and ate with Raven. I headed out Thursday morning which was so bitter-sweet because although I was ready to sleep in my own bed again I knew I wouldnt be seeing my DFW people for a long time!

Ryan came home from camp on Friday and I could not be happier he is back- I missed him so much! We have been so busy that we have not had a whole lot of time to spend on our own so we are headed to the beach this week for some much needed relaxation! We were planning to take a trip somewhere far away but the thought of more travel honestly made us both want to just stay home so we got a room at a fancy hotel for the next week in Galveston and we are just going to lay-out, eat seafood and spend time together. I am so excited :)

This summer has been such an amazing crazy time- it has been such a blessing to see where God has taken us thus far and I can not wait to see what is to come!

I promise to post some house pictures soon, I actually really need a new camera because I lost my battery charger and who knows if I will ever see that thing again! We are having a blast though and I am actually putting my office together today- once it is completed the house will be done! We are going to hold off a few months on painting, we aren't really sure on the colors we want and feel like if we live here for a little while it will be easier to make these choices. Come by and visit us soon!! Galveston, here we come!

Finally..!

Well, we are finally in our house!! After 1 sweet month of waiting we finally closed on June 30th, the last day of our home loan interest rate, the last day we qualified for the homeowners tax credit and the last day of our sanity. Wednesday afternoon at 4:30pm, also the last closing of the day my husband and I entered a room that was full of papers for my sweet signature. I have to say it was such a rush signing all those papers and then the closing agent handing me an envelope with keys inside. Seriously? this house is ours????? I jumped up and down and screamed.

Although the waiting was hard I must say that we are so blessed. Some people are paying for hotel rooms while we stayed for free at my parents house. Some people crowded their kids in with family and had a miserable waiting period. We had a blast hanging with my parents, going on double dates, swimming in their pool and feeling like we were at a bed and breakfast because of my fabulous mom. Some people after waiting for days, weeks and months didn't close in time or were denied their loan or never found the right house. We finished just in time and couldn't be happier. PTL that everything worked out for the best!!

I am sitting in my new living room and honestly still don't feel like this is our house- I feel so grown-up! I mean this is my house- I live here and I own it!! Obviously I have been married for a year and a half but I must say that buying our first home made me feel very married. I realize this doesn't make sense but I just can't explain it.

I also need you to know that I barely had to move a thing because of my tall, dark, handsome STRONG husband. We hired movers up in FW but since everything was delayed we had to put everything in storage for a month and then on our move-in day some awesome youth guys and the youth director's wife who I absolutely adore came to help and we got it done so quickly- less than 3 hours!! The girls only had to carry the light things because our youth guys were so great!! Thank you moving help, yall were fantastic!!

Since that blessed Thursday afternoon of moving I have been an unpacking machine. I have not started decorating yet because we want to paint and so I don't really want to put holes in the wall for no reason but pretty much everything is in it's place! My family was a huge help and we got it done! Whoo Hoo!!

Ryan left Sunday morning for Student Life Staffers Camp where he is a Rec Leader- Ryan has never been to SLC and he had no idea what was in store but I took him down memory lane to fully prepare him and he is having a blast! One funny story for you about camp... he is in charge of water tug-of-war and for fun decided to help out one of groups- while pulling as hard as he could on the rope he ripped his swim trunks. in half. down the front. in front of elementary students. Luckily no one saw and he was able to hobble back to his dorm room to change but the youth group knows and are totally teasing him. It's hilarious!

Anyway, while he has been gone I have been spending tons of time with my girls!! 4th of July was funny this year, my sister and I decided to be total bums since it there was a monsoon and we watched movies all afternoon and then took a night swim at our parents house. We have always loved sparklers so we watched the fireworks at the waterway here in the woodlands and had a blast with our sparklers. We had a blast and it was so relaxing. Monday my family and I swam all day and grilled out and then that night my friend Laura came to visit! She was my first sleepover in the new house and we had so much fun! We went to eat at Lupe's just to be disappointed by it closing early and so we headed next store to Red Robin... Yum! Then we came back to the house and stayed up way to late laughing and it was totally worth it! Then Tuesday we woke up and I worked and then we did lunch and she headed out! Tuesday afternoon my sis and I hung out for a while and then my friend Dana that I used to work with came over and we ordered a pizza, watched movies and stayed up way to late as well- we had such a blast!

This afternoon I enjoyed a much needed massage! Ryan demanded that I get one while he was gone because when I went tubing a few weeks ago I got a tad banged up and for some reason my back has not been the same... moving didnt really help and all the unpacking has taken a toll so I took Ryan's advice because come on, what girl wouldnt go get a massage?? I am now exhausted and just got back from dinner with my sister and Charish and think I am going to go to bed before 11 because the last 2 nights have worn me out!! I am so excited for Ryan to come home tomorrow! I have missed him so much and can't wait to hear more funny camp stories!! This weekend is going to be fabulous because my FW besties are coming to visit!! Can't wait to see them!! Yall have a great week and thanks for reading my random thoughts!! :-)

Updates, Updates, Updates!

I know I have not blogged in a while... honestly because there has been so much going on that I don't really know where to start! So, here is everything in a big throw-up form that has no structure....

- I moved to The Woodlands! This happened about 3 weeks ago. I really miss Fort Worth but I have really been enjoying my time with family and friends here... it's weird, everything is familiar but not the same. Although I had this same feeling when I moved back from college so I am used to this.

- We still have not closed on our house! This topic has pretty much been ruling our lives for the last 3 weeks. We were supposed to close on June 1 but clearly this did not happen. I think it is a combination of many factors that I probably shouldn't list because we are not happy about any of them. We are set to close Monday but we are not holding our breath.

- Since we have not closed on our house yet the 3 days we were planning to spend with my parents has turned into 3 weeks! Most people would say this is a nightmare but to be honest, we have had SO much fun!! It has been great spending time with my parents and if you know them or me you would know that they are the most supportive un-invasive fabulous parents in the world! Obviously we would prefer to be in our own house but I can not think of a better place for us for the time being. We have had a blast with all of the family dinners, swim and tanning time, movie marathons and being treated like royalty! My mom seriously treats us like we are at a Bed and Breakfast- we were joking the other day saying it's just been like a long vacation.

- Ryan started his job!! It has been so great and we feel blessed to be a part of such a loving, God-driven, mission-minded church! The kids are hilarious and we have been able to start relationships with many of them. I actually speak to the girls on August 7th so please keep me in your prayers! I am nervous but also really excited for the opportunity to share my heart. We seriously could not have had a better welcome into Faith Bible Church. Everyone has just been fantastic! If you are in the Houston area and would like to check it out you totally should!! www.faithbibleonline.com

- I have great friends! Also since we have been back home I have had so much fun meeting up with all of my friends back here... it was really hard leaving my friends in Fort Worth- as you have read in other posts I was rather attached since a few of them were friends from childhood and college! However, I am so lucky to have great friends in the Houston area as well. I have a few childhood friends that I am still close to and quite a few college friends that are so much closer to me now- I love all of you so much!

- I have LOVED having Ryan home at night! Can we just talk about the fact that he has worked nights since before we were married?? It has been so great actually seeing him at dinner time- I love that our schedule are not opposite anymore. Honestly we had been doing it for so long that I was totally adjusted to our schedules but I can not tell you how happy I am that I have my husband during normal hours! We have been cooking, going on dates on days other than Sundays and Mondays and I gotta say- it's been so fun. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and I also have to say that i LOVE seeing him interact with the youth group. It is a side of him that I have missed seeing since he was unable to do ministry with his old schedule. Ryan is like a totally new person now that he actually has a social life and it makes me happy that he is so happy :)

- My last post was about a girls weekend and this post is going to end with another girls weekend! I leave for the river tomorrow morning and could not be more excited!! It is 2 of my besties Katie and Raven's 25th birthday so a group of us are going to Gruene,TX tomorrow night and are of course visiting the Gristmill and Gruene Hall and then it is off to the river on Saturday morning! Please pray we have a safe trip with no crashes on the river! It is supposed to be super fast which makes it oh so fun and somewhat scary!!

Thanks for reading, I will try to make my next post a little bit more reader friendly. Have a great weekend!!

26 is going to be a totally rad year...

Before you begin reading this post I have to apologize for how many pictures you are about to see! I have been celebrating my 26th birthday for the last week! Yes, it does last that long :-)

I headed down to Houston Mother's Day Weekend and we went to Painting with a Twist to celebrate my Nana's birthday! It was such a blast and who knew we could all actually paint?? Here are a few pics from our fun night- if you have never been I highly suggest going! It was very therepuetic!

Me showing my mad painting skills!

My wonderful Nana and I modeling our paintings!
Nana, Cade and Zonakay!
My Sis, Mom and I
My sister and I were born 2 days and 2 years apart and we were both born Mother's Day weekend so every year we celebrate together and it is one of my favorite things about my birthday! We went to Spanish Village which is this quaint mexican food restaurant that my parents found back in highschool when they were dating! The food is pretty amazing and it is in the hood! We love going there :) Here we are at the start of the big celebration!

Gotta love Spanish Village!

We love our Daddy!

and our fabulous mom!

My sweet hubs and i...

After dinner we headed back for cake, ice cream and our annual double blow-out!

Sunday we celebrated our amazing moms and spent the day with our family. I also got to hang-out with 2 of my good friends from home. Rebekah took me to dinner and dessert and we met Suzanne down at Market Street. I had so much fun seeing them and thier baby boys! We headed back to Fort Worth Sunday night after a great weekend :)

Wednesday which was my actual birthday was such a great day! Ryan and I took off work and he took me to Dallas for a fun-filled day! We went to Medeivil Times for lunch- I have been wanting to go there since we moved here and it did not disappoint! We were given a HUGE feast that we were not allowed to use utensils for- that's right... you must eat with your fingers. Not something I am a fan of but it was so good that I endured it. There was jousting, sword fights, horse tricks and even a love story! After lunch Ryan surprised me by taking me to The Dallas Farmers Market- who knew Dallas had a farmers market district? They do and it is awesome!! We spent the afternoon walking up and down the streets looking at fruit, vegetables, jewelry, jam, house decor and so much more! I loved it and felt like I was on a movie or something. Then Ryan took me to the Galleria- which for me was heaven. He bought me clothes and shoes for my birthday b/c this is what I wanted and I had a blast! After shopping we went to the "Grand Lux" which is such a fun, cute place and the food was great. I just have to give a husband shout-out. I have the best husband in the entire world. Thanks for everything babe!

Thursday night began what was one of the best weekend ever! My besties from college came up to help me celebrate the BIG 26 80's style! That's right... 80's! We dressed up, went roller skating and had the ultimate sleep-over. I have to say it really was totally awesome :) Here are a few of our pics!

Katie and I-post skating, looking tired!

Christine, myself, Andrea

Laura and I!

Madonna... aka Raven and me :)

Group Shot!!

Hannah, me, Linds and Andrea!

I have to do another husband shout-out. He worked super close with the bakers and had this tubular cake created for me! It was freaking awesome!!

The Decor!

It wouldn't be a party without pop rocks, ring pops, pixie sticks and candy jewelry!

We can't forget about zebra cakes, fruit roll-ups, star crunches and nutty bars!

Saturday we got up and went to lunch at my favorite new place Tillman's Roadhouse. It is so girly and fun! Then we got pedicures because what is a birthday without fun toes??

I have gorgeous amazing friends!

I can not thank everyone in my life enough for making 26 the best birthday yet!! If this year goes anything like the start than I am looking at the best year of my life :) Thanks for all of the calls, texts, emails, cards, presents and making me feel so loved!!

and we have a winner...

Ryan and I got some great news on Friday which was also the very last day to qualify for the new home buyers tax credit. The sellers accepted our offer!!

We are not completely out of the clearing, we still have the inspection to get through but seeing the house is only 2 years old we do not expect anything to come back negative on it. We really love this house and it is just a few minutes away from my sister which is so fun :) Our closing date is June 1st and we could not be more ready to move in!!

Here is a picture of the outside, it is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with a really cute back patio and I love the kitchen! We feel so grown-up being almost homeowners :)

The Hunt!

The last few weeks have been so crazy!
We have been going back and forth house hunting down in The Woodlands area and as much fun as it has been I am just ready to have a house! The first trip I looked at 25 houses in 2 days... yes. it was pure insanity. The great thing was we thought we found one! We went ahead and made an offer and the sellers came back and wanted more money than we were willing to give so we walked.

I headed back down this weekend and looked at 10 more and we have another winner! This weekend was a little more stressful because Ryan was not able to come down with me due to his work schedule that thank goodness we will not be dealing with for very much longer! I mean I can not even tell you how excited I am to have dinners with my husband. We have made his 2-10 shift work for as long as possible but I am so glad to tell it good-bye! Anyway, this house actually fits us a little better than the other one and is really precious :) I hope that it will work out but know if it doesn't then there is a better one out there somewhere!

I will keep you posted on what happens! I can't wait to move into our new house, wherever it may be! I definately feel all grown-up looking at houses and signing my life away to contracts. It is so weird to think that this time next month I will be packing everything up and moving away. It is exciting, sad and surreal.

There's No Place Like Home...

Well the time has come for me to formally announce that Ryan and I are leaving sweet Fort Worth to return to our hometown, The Woodlands, TX. Well, actually my hometown- he lived in Oakridge which is only about 10 minutes away.

As most of you know and can learn from reading my entire blog; Ryan has been looking for a full-time ministry job that can also help support us. This search has seemed endless and impossible to find. Although there were opportunities they were always either part-time or nothing we could possibly live on while also paying his tuition, bills and actually living in anything other than a box. Can I please just get on my soapbox of how ridiculous this search was? I know, I know, this is no surprise to any of us- churches are non-profits and I of all people know this seeing that I work for the largest non-profit in America but of all jobs for you to struggle to pay bills it should not be ministry!

Anyway, moving right along to the exciting part... Ryan got a call about a month ago from a church in The Woodlands called Faith Bible Church. I used to drive by this church everyday on my way to highschool and I even looked there for a potential wedding location... the church said they would like to set-up a phone interview. The phone interview could not have gone better and he really loved what they told him about the position. Discouraged by all of the disappointing offers or rejections from the past year we were both trying not to get our hopes up but we also both had a peace and a feeling from the beginning that this could be the one.

FBC then asked us to come down for a visit which we were so nervous about! However, from walking into the church the youth pastor and his wife made us feel so comfortable and it was not as scary as I thought it would be. Yes, the day in itself was stressful and I so badly wanted Ryan to get the position because I know how very hard the last year has been on him and we fell in love with the church. The students we met were so much fun, the service was GREAT! Can I just get an Amen that this is a church we actually would have went back to being visitors?? During my interview I was even told that one of my close friends from an old job was a member there- they had looked on Facebook to see if we knew any of the same people and the funny thing is that I actually taught at a end of the school year girls bible study right before I left Fort Worth for some Seniors at this church! The Bible Study was not at the church but at someone's house and I never put the two together- it was obvious that everything was falling in place. Still apprehensive we only told each other "this is it."

Well, God giving us an over-abounding peace about the situation also had the church contact us immediately offering us the position. We had been waiting on a formal offer that took about a week and we accepted the position. We will be returning to The Woodlands area at the end of May and Ryan starts in June!

Some of you may be wondering what about your job?? Well, because I work for such an amazing company and the blessing of working from home the American Heart Association is thrilled for us and letting me keep my job! It is so crazy how everything just falls into place when it is the right thing. We have been so blessed in the last month that I can not even describe to you how excited we are to start this next chapter!

Of course there are a few hard things in all of this.... I love Fort Worth. I have loved the fresh start, the new friends and some fantastic old ones that were there. The people I have met in the last 2 years have gotten me through some tough times and Raven, Katie, Owen, Steph and Christina- I am going to miss you desperately! I love my entire work team and although I will still be on the team I will no longer be just a few minutes away :( Raven and Katie have been my rocks through the move and I see them at minnimum 2 times a week so I am going to have very difficult time with this transition. Your support has been amazing and I can not thank-you for all of the laughs, crys and just great friendship we have. Both of you will forever be 2 of the best friends I have ever had and I promise in front of the entire blogging world to visit on a regular basis because life without yall is impossible.

I am also very lucky to have amazing friends and family back in The Woodlands. I have so many friends that move away to places they do not know a single soul so we are very blessed to be moving into familiar territory. However, with this familiarity comes the truth that things always change. It is always hard going back home because things are never as they were left. Sometimes friendships don't make it, I truly believe sometimes they are not meant to. I know that with different phases of life God chooses to put those around you to lift you up and support you during whatever trials you may face. Fort Worth has been such a security blanket and the thought of starting over is exciting but also a huge challenge- especially when it somewhere you have already been.

I spent this past weekend house searching and it was so exhausting but very exciting! We have found one that we are hoping will work out, we plan to make an offer on it tomorrow morning if all of the paperwork is worked out. Please keep this in your prayers as we are dealing with a short time frame, crazy apartment fees and just a super stressful time.

We feel so blessed for this new chapter to start soon and so thankful for the last 2 years spent in Fort Worth. It has been such a time of growth and change for our relationship together and seperately. I plan to soak in as much of Forth Worth as possible and ask that you keep us in your prayers for this bitter-sweet ending of one chapter and beginning of another.

So much to say, so here we go...

ALOT has happened in the last few weeks, I am going to try to summarize but I am sure that I will leave things out.

I will start with the good stuff...

I took Ryan camping to celebrate his birthday, it was our first Jasper camping trip since we got married and it was so much fun! I bought him all of the camping gear we could possibly need- I definitely felt like a wife walking through Academy asking about fishing hooks and what tent would be the best... Possum Kingdom Lake was just gorgeous!


We took Scout and he had an absolute blast! He spent most of the trip rolling around in the dirt and eating everything in sight... but nevertheless he was in heaven.



We hiked, grilled, went out on a boat (just like the one from the notebook) and I fished for the first time in my life! That's right people. I am 25 and had never been fishing. We didn't catch anything but I still really enjoyed it.




Lindsee came to visit and we had a blast! We spent most of our time just laughing and eating good food :) the things we love most in life!

We took her to the "Stockyards" which is one of my favorite Fort Worth spots for BBQ!


I love my girls!!


The next day we headed to my favorite lunch spot... "The Lunch Box" it precious and could not be more girly. This is us in front of the cute green and yellow windows...


Our party would not be complete without cupcakes so we headed over to the "Cupcake Cottage" and the pink box of goodness became a staple for the rest of our day...


Then we headed to the Fort Worth Water Gardens and picture palooza began! If it's one thing we learned in being in our sorority it was how to take pictures... 100s of them- i LOVE that we can take all these pictures together without judgement. I am only sharing a few of my 76 pictures from our weekend haha



I rode back to Houston with Lindsee to spend some time with my family and Scout came along with us! I recently purchased the most ridiculous thing... a car seat. Yes, for my dog. My reasoning in this purchase is that Scout loves the car. Scout loves to climb on me in the car. Scout almost makes me wreck my car when he decides to jump across the console. Safety first folks... so here he is in his little seat... I love him.


I need to get the pictures from what happened next in our little adventure to Houston... Scout decided to bite his toenail while in his chair and the blood flowed. It was pretty gross. My mommy ways kicked into gear, we pulled over in Huntsville which is ironic and I wrapped his foot in a poop bag. It was all I had and I have to say, paired with my ponytail holder it was pure perfection. I am thinking selling it.

Linds and I went to Chic-Fil-A which we randomly ate on my parent's dining room table and said our sweet goodbyes. I love you so much and had a blast!!

I then spent time with my family, it was sweet Ethan's 5th birthday so we all headed to Chucky Cheese's and it was so fun! Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

Me with my birthday boy! I can not believe he is already 5!!


My Caderoo and I!


Me and my little man Jakers!


My Aunt, Jakers and I :) Love you Zonakay!


Me and my Nana!


After coming back to Fort Worth Ryan and I were given some very sad news about his Grandmother... she passed away earlier this week and it has been pretty hard on his Mom. Ryan was given the honor of doing the service, it was his 1st funeral and quite possibly one of the most emotionally difficult things he has ever had to do. I have to say that I could not have been a prouder wife as God used him to lead his family through all of this. The service was beautiful. Ryan did an absolutely amazing job. On the happier side of things his Mom stayed with us this weekend and today just so happens to be Ryan's 26th birthday. We have been enjoying our time with her and I am so thankful that she decided to stay- I am so lucky to have her as a Mother-in-law. We showed her around our town and despite the difficult circumstances really had a good time together.

Tomorrow we are spending the morning with Ryan's Dad and Step-mom and we are very excited about it! Then, I am taking him to dinner and our friends are coming over for the desert. Pray for me. I am making cake balls for the first time... hopefully they do not turn out to be a disaster! Thanks so much for the recipe Linds!!!

Ok, I am now going to end this incredibly long post... more to come soon because I still have more to tell!