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!

Happy Birthday Mom!

As I have grown-up my relationship with my Mom has grown into one that I cherish more than almost any other relationship that I have. She is the most giving, caring, forgiving, funny person on the planet. People tell me all the time that I am just like her and honestly I can only hope that is true. My parents came up last weekend to celebrate my Mom's 50th birthday! We had so much fun and it was great to just spend a whole weekend in celebration of her amazing self.

They came in on Friday afternoon and we went to my favorite local restaurant "Palio's." Then, we waited for Ryan to get home, they didn't make it all the way until 11- they said it was because my Mom was 50 but they go to bed at 9 and have my entire life haha. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed to my favorite little town outside of Fort Worth! Granbury is a town that has tons of fun shops, an opera house, a drive-in, a beach and my new favorite part- a concert house!

I had front row seats at will-call for us to see "The Beat Goes On" and it was really great! My Mom loved it! The owner even pointed at her on stage and said "no one had as much fun as this lady on the front row!" she was so embarassed but I just loved it haha.

Waiting for the Show to start!


Then we headed over to "Babes" for some amazing home cooking and came back to Fort Worth. We hung-out at the apartment and then got "Cousins" for dinner (one of the best bbq places ever) and headed to bed! My favorite part besides the show was brunch at Tillman's Roadhouse! Thanks to Jalei I heard about this adoreable new restaurant and it was fantastic! Here are a few pictures from the weekend! I love you Mom!!

Friendships!

I just wanted to share this cute poem that my Mom sent me- it is so true and I just loved it! I have TONS to write about but not very much time lately so I will be updating soon!

I used to believe in the concept of one best friend,
When I started to grow up I found out that if you allow your heart to open up,
God would show you the best in many friends.

One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man.
Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your Mom.
Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your children.
Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be.
One friend will say, 'Let's cry together,'
Another , 'Let's fight together,'
Another , 'Let's walk away together.'

One friend will meet your spiritual need,
Another your shoe fetish,
Another your love for movies,
Another will be with you in your season of confusion,
Another will be your clarifier,
Another the wind beneath your wings.

But whatever their assignment in your life,
On whatever the occasion,
On whatever the day,
Or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back,
Or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself ..
Those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman, But for many, it's wrapped up in several..
One from 7th grade,
One from high school,
Several from the college years,
A couple from old jobs,
On some days your mother,
On some days your neighbor,
On others, your sisters,
And on some days, your daughters.

Thank you for being part of my life!