Were Movin on up!!

I can't believe January is almost over! 2010 has thus far been a pretty busy year! The Spring Semester is by-far the craziest time for my work as about 90% of our events happen in February and March... so, needless to say we are busy!! I love this time of year however because this is when donations come in, I hear the amazing things my coordinators are doing and the excitment keeps me energized! In only a few short months the school year will be over so I am just soaking it all in!

Ryan and I also chose this busy time of year to move! We are so excited to be moving to a new place, it is much bigger, newer and in a really good area of Fort Worth. We are leaving our duplex behind to be apartment dwellers and I have to say I can't wait! Although I will miss our little Melrose Place atmosphere it's time to move! The great thing is that pretty much everyone on our block is moving at the same time and we will still all be close! The time spent in Carroll Park has been so fun and I would not have traded it for anything! My friends and I were just talking about the unique experience we have all had together and about how no one else would understand the closeness we all had without being a part of it. It is a bitter-sweet move for Ryan and I as well because this was our first home! The last year and a month have been amazing and so cozy. We will look back and remember our little duplex for the tiny bathroom, precious wood floors and hilarious kitchen. I have to say that this random little neighborhood got me through the transition of moving to a new place and Ryan and I starting our life together. For this, I will forever be grateful and in love with this place. Our theme song the last week or so has been from the Jeffersons... "Cause were moving on up, to the east side... to a delux apartment in the sky" haha we have pretty much been singing it randomly. We have started packing, moving day is really soon!! I am also excited because our new place will allow a much better work area for me, I need it!

Here is a picture of our new place:


Say a little prayer for us over the next few weeks!! Moving is a huge pain!! I will post some pictures once we are all moved in! Good bye Caroll Park!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

This year the holidays were insanely busy! We had lots of people to see and not a whole lot of time to make it happen! I am SO lucky to have Christmas break from my job, its amazing, I had 2 weeks off and this isn't my vacation time, just our break so it was great being able to just relax! I headed down to houston a few days before Christmas so I could spend some time with my family and friends. I got to see a few of them which was great!Ryan planned to come down on Christmas eve after work... however, the crazy snow storm came in and he was snowed in!! Luckily he was able to get out of Fort Worth early Christmas morning and made it before breakfast, I was surprised to see him when I woke-up, there could not have been a better Christmas morning! We opened presents over at my parents house and then headed up to the hospital to see my Grandma, she is still not doing too good so her entire family came in to spend the day. We stayed there for most of the day and then headed over to my Uncle Randy and aunt Belinda's house- we got to see tons of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Then, we headed over to my Aunt Zonakay's house to play with my boys :) (Cade, Ethan and Jake). After a very busy day we headed back to my parent's house and hung-out, went too sleep and woke up the next day ready to head out to Austin to see Ryan's family. While we were packing up I got a text from my friend Rebekah who was in labor!! We ended up visiting the hospital so I could see her before baby Everett arrived, I was so glad he came while I was in town! Then, we headed to meet Ryan's mom for breakfast before heading to Austin. It was so good to see her! Austin was such a blast- I am so lucky to have such amazing in-laws! We of course got to see our adoreable neice Sophia who is walking!!! We got to see lots of cute Christmas lights and eat some great food! Ryan was excited for me to eat at Salt Lick, this is a Jasper favorite and I have to say- it was fantastic! Then, we headed back to Houston to get Ryan's truck and had dinner with my parents. We went to see precious Baby Everett and his proud parents! They are all doing great and I am so happy for the Collins! Everett is SO lucky to have such amazing parents! After that whirlwind of a week we headed back home!

One of my best friends Laura came to visit for New Years and I was SO happy she came! We had a blast! Raven, Katie, Laura and I had a girls night and I couldnt think of a better way to ring in the new year! I can not beleive that the holidays are already over! I go back to work on Tuesday and this semester is going to be super busy!! Please continue to pray for Grandma, she is still on a respiratory machine and will be moving soon to a more permanant facility. The holidays were definately hard with her but I know that God has a plan and everything is out of our control. Here are a few pictures from this holiday season! I hope 2010 is the best year yet for us all!

This is me with my PRECIOUS cousin AJ!!!


My husband and I on Christmas!!


Spending time with our sweet Sophia!


Baby Everett Scott Collins and his beautiful Mom!

Time flies when your are having fun!

I can't believe Ryan and I have already been married a year! On December 13, 2008 we began our life together and I have to say the past 12 months have been full of surprises, changes and most of all lots of fun and laughter!

Along with it being our 1 year anniversary of being married we also celebrated 5 years together! We were smart in getting married the same weekend we got together half a decade ago! To celebrate we decided to take a trip to South Carolina and it was exactly what we both needed! We also got to eat our wedding cake as well right before we left and I was very nervous! A cake that has been in my parent's deep freeze for a year didn't sound to apetizing- however I must say it tasted great!

Here is our celebration in pictures :)....
The Cake!!


My gorgeous anniversary roses... my favorite of course! Red roses cut short! I love the vase too... I intend on filling it with a fish once the flowers die!


Welcome to beautiful Charleston, South Carolina!


Our hotel... I LOVED our hotel! I have pretty much been talking about it nonstop... it was fabulous, romantic, the food was great and the people were so sweet!





We biked everywhere, it was not only a great work-out but the best way to see the city...



Here are a few things we saw while biking around town...
Rainbow Ridge... it is called this because all of the houses are a different color- I loved this street :)

The beach!

Our boat ride to Fort Sumter... my camera died during the boatride so all of the Fort Sumter pictures are on a throw-away camera since my charger was back at the hotel!

Fort Sumter from a distance...

The Battery... this is where all of the rich people live, the houses are gorgeous and bike route there was amazing!

My favorite house...

The avenues...



I now need to take a moment of silence for the food in Charleston... I just need you to know that it was the BEST food I have ever had on vacation! Everything we had was phenomenal and we even got a few recipes from the restaurants because we could not imagine life without it once we had it! We went on a witch-hunt to find the best "Shrimp and Grits" in Charleston. Now, this sounds gross... I was very skepical of it myself but then I tried it and my life was changed haha. Here is the winner of our witch-hunt!
It is called SNOB for short!


We went to eat a this very fancy place on our anniversary night called "Penninsula Grill" our concierge told us is was known as being the best restaurant in South Carolina. It was by far the best meal Ryan or I have ever had! (and the most expensive but hey- it was our anniversary!!)

Getting ready for our nightly walk to dinner...

My Meal...

Ryan's Meal...

Our dessert... it was bannana pudding. it was heaven.


We also went to see the "Festival of Lights" on James County island while we were there... i LOVE Christmas lights and these were the best!




We had so much fun in Charleston and can't wait to visit sweet South Carolina again soon! I have about a million more pictures of our trip but figured this was enough for one post! I will leave you with one last picture of us on our way into a restaurant called "Poogans Porch" it was named after a dog, precious Poogan greets everyone when you step on his porch!


I am so thankful for my sweet husband and to say the last year has been the best year of my life is an understatement. I am so excited to see what our future holds and feel so blessed to be married to my best friend :) Happy Holidays everyone!!

So much to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone had a great, relaxing day filled with tons of food laughter and great people! I love the holidays, Christmas is by far my favorite but Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart due to the fact that Ryan and I happened to have our first date 5 years ago today- the day after Thankgiving. I also love this holiday because it is the one day that people spend time just purely thinking about what they are thankful for. This year, I could not have more to be thankful for!

The past year has definately been full of surprises! I wanted to just list out a few of the things I am thankful for this year, I am so blessed!

1.My marriage- God has blessed me with such an amazing husband! I am so lucky to have found someone who understands me, loves me for who I am and pushes me to be the best version of myself everyday. I didn't have the best of luck when it came to boys before ryan, in fact I would go as far to say as I had pretty terrible luck! Although I don't regret dating anyone in my past as they somehow brought me to Ryan in the end, I am so thankful to have finally found someone who truly respects and loves me more than anyone else in the world. I am also so blessed to have married someone who loves God more than he loves me- this has made our first 11 months of marriage God-breathed and so much easier then I ever thought it would be!

2.My friends- God has taught me alot in the last year regarding my friendships. People I thought I would forever be close are no longer a part of my life and many of my friendships have changed- some for the better! One thing that has not changed however is that God is in control. He has put amazing people in my life for this chapter and for that I am so grateful- I could not be more blessed by my friends. They have helped get me through so much in the last year when I have really needed them more than ever.

3.My family- I am so lucky to have my wonderful family. They have always been a source of strength and even being 300 miles away still are! My parents continue to be such a great example of a healthy, Godly marriage and Ryan and I aspire to be like them after 29 years of marriage. My sister has always been my best friend but in the last year we have become closer than ever- not only did she help me plan every detail of my wedding but she stood by my side through a lot of hard things, my favorite thing about my sister is how loyal she is. She will be my friend no matter what. I am also so blessed by my new family- Ryan's family is so great and I am lucky to have them in my life. My Grandma is also doing so much better! She is starting to respond and recognize us, this is a miracle that I am SO thankful for. Please continue to keep her in your prayers, she is fighting this and doing great!

4.My job- I am SO incredibly blessed to be doing something I love and for a company I believe in. With the economy the way that it is I am lucky to be employed period. The last year has been a rollercoaster- so scary and so much fun! I love where my career is going and look forward to the future!!

5.Fort Worth- can I just say that I love this place?? It is such a fun place to live! There is always something going one and I love it! It has been such a great place to live in my mid-twenty life. I am SO thankful for the confidence and drive God gave me to get here. I love love love our life!

Well, those are my top 5- again I just have to say that I am so blessed!

Where to start?

I feel like everytime someone asks me how things are going lately I have to answer with "Things are SO busy and crazy!!"

I drove home this past weekend so that I could visit my g-ma in the hospital, her status is pretty much the same- I do have to admit it was super hard to see her. I knew it wasn't going to be easy and had thought about it on my 3.5 hours in the car- trying to prepare myself but when I walked through the ICU doors and saw her I knew there was nothing I could have done to make this easier. Her eyes are open, she moves around quite a bit but just doesn't recognize us at this point. It was just so weird, it didnt even seem like it was my Grandma and the fact that she couldnt respond to me made me feel like I was talking to a stranger.

One thing about my Grandma is that she is a fighter and she is a survivor. She has had a difficult life since childhood and somehow finds the good in everything. I see that trate in my Mom- it's one of the things I love most about both of them. Even in the worst situations, when the people in her life have been selfish and not given her the respect she deserves she continues to love them unconditionally- never thinking of herself. She was a single mom at a very young age and somehow kept it all together with 3 kids! My favorite memories with her were our family Christmas eves at their old house- her Christmas tree was always decorated perfectly and had these lights that had colored water that made a bubbly sound inside it- I will always remember Santa coming to see us at her house and the fruit salad she makes!

Minutes before she was taken back for surgery she called me because she wanted to tell me how proud she was of me and how much she loved me. This is my grandma, even when going into surgery she is thinking about everyone else and now she is in ICU, unable to respond. I can't even imagine what my Mom must be going through everyday, I was in Houston for a weekend and was so drained by the time I left. My Mom, Dad and Grandpa are there day in, day out visiting, talking and reading to my Grandma just hoping she will wake-up and recognize something. Your continued thoughts and prayers mean so much- I pray that she will fight again and come back to us soon.

A few happy things did happen while I was in Houston, my friend Michelle had her baby! Logan Thomas is PRECIOUS! I got to see her while she was still in the hospital because he came early so that was very exciting! We also threw my friend Rebekah's baby shower on Sunday afternoon and it was great to see her and the girls from home, I don't get to see them very often so it was fun! Rebekah looks great and the nursery is so cute, she is doing a safari/sports theme and everything is coming together nicely :) I was able to help set-up and decorate with the girls, it was alot of fun! I can't wait to meet baby Everett and was so glad to be apart of everything.

I also got together with Lindsee and Laura Saturday night and it was just what I needed after the difficult hospital visits. We had dinner and closed the place down! It made me miss our college days oh so much when we could hang out everyday! I am so glad to say that even though we aren't in college anymore and I am 4 hours away- nothing has changed! We laughed until we cried, covered all that is in our lives and the 5 hours we were together seemed like 30 minutes! Thank you for being there for me this weekend and for driving to see me :) I love you both!

I wanted to put something happy in the middle because what I am about to write about is something that has been so heavy on my heart that I honestly can't even believe has happened. Late Wednesday night, I got a call from one of my besties from college informing me that one of our sorority sisters was in jail for something that broke our hearts. This is not just someone I knew in college, this is someone that I had very many sleepovers, late nights and crazy times with- someone that I love very very much, someone that I consider to be a very good friend, someone that is part of who I am today. She is an amazing person with a great heart that could make me laugh like no other person on earth and has prayed with me and for me more than I can count. Although she has made a mistake that has turned her life upside down I know that God is in control. I don't know what the future holds for her but I do know that I love her and that she is my sister and my friend. I am so heart-broken for her but I know that the best thing I can do is just pray, pray, pray and be there for her- unconditionally, just like she has done for me so many times. I think it's easy in times like these to go mia because it's difficult. I'm not going to lie, it is clearly going to be hard seeing her, writing her and not having a sleepover for however long it ends up being but in the face of difficulty your friends are supposed to stand strong and hold you up when you can't do it alone anymore. I know this is going to be a different friendship then it was before but she is my friend- good times or bad. We all make choices, some are good and some are bad and right now my choice is to be the best friend that I can be. I ask that you pray for her and her family during this time, I can't imagine how they are feeling right now but my prayer for them is that they stand strong and support her.

Whew! I need a break after that long post! Thanks for reading and all of your thoughts and prayers! Life is a beautiful mess right now!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while again since I have updated... life has been crazy! My Grandma has had some hard days and most recently we have had a few good things happen. Yesterday she opened her eyes and smiled at my Grandpa and my Dad also got a half smile out of her when he was talking to her a few days ago. She is moving both arms and legs now which is a HUGE deal but she still hasn't actually woken up. My mom and Grandpa have been able to get a few hand squeezes in response to things they have said to her but we aren't sure how much she is actually understanding. The doctors have said its really just a waiting period and we have to stay positive and keep praying! We do know that her stroke was pretty serious and that if she makes it through all of this she will walk before she talks. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. It's still so hard not being there during all of this but I am getting to go down this weekend so it will be good to support my family. I know alot of you who are reading are friends with my mom- thank you so much for all you have done to help her during all of this!!

On less important notes, I had a really fun weekend- Ryan and my friends have been amazing in getting my mind off of things lately and I really needed it! Friday night Katie, Raven and I went to see "Whip It" and we all LOVED it! Such a cute movie and of course I loved the skating :) Then on Saturday Raven and I took a little road trip to Athens, TX to see her god-sister perform with the Rangeretts! They are the first drill team ever created and are pretty famous here. After seeing them perform, I can see why!! They were precious and did a great job!! Raven's god-sister is so sweet and I was so glad I got to meet her! It was great to just get away and have a day together, the little town was so cute and quaint- it really was a bizarro huntsville, where we went to college so we loved seeing the littl square!! Then, on Sunday Ryan and I went to meet his family for brunch at this great place in Dallas- The Original Pancake House, the food was fantastic and it was great seeing them! Our niece is growing-up and talking so much!! She is the cutest thing :) After brunch we headed to the fair to meet some of our friends for the day. It was TONS of fun!
Everyone bought a different kind of fried food so we could try a bunch of different things, we all tried fried peaches and cream, fried cheese on a stick, corn dogs, fried corn, fried apples, fried snickers and fried oreos!! I would have to say the best thing was the fried apple! Luckily i didnt have a whole of anything except a corndog b/c im pretty sure i would have thrown-up if I would have eaten all of that!! Here are a few pictures of the fair:

Our Group, minus the photographers- Ryan and Curt


Not the best picture of us...


Trying some of the food!

G-ma Update!

Unfortunately I don't have the news I was hoping to post on my blog... my Grandma's surgery did not go well, they were unable to do a full triple bypass because of the condition of her heart and ended up having to just do a double bypass. She has suffered a very serious stroke since the surgery and has still not woken up. Neurologists have most recently been brought in to run Cat scans and MRI's to try to see what kind of brain damage we are dealing with at this point. It seemeed to them that her right side was responding but her left was not responding at all. Up until tonight she had not really moved at all and was not responding to anything... everything has obviously been very difficult for my mom and we are just all praying for a miracle!

Well, tonight we did get a little bit of hope, she started kicking both legs which the doctors have said is a good sign b/c this means that both sides of the brain have hope. Now as we all now things in ICU can change by the day, minute and even second so we are just waiting to see what is to come. The doctors have predicted that she will be in ICU for at least 3 weeks, this is if she wakes up and survives and will probably be in the hospital for a few months after. Our prayers are that she comes out of this and that she has her motor skills, there is a chance that the brain damage will be extensive enough that she will not walk,talk or swallow again on her own meaning that she will be on a feeding tube. However, I know that my God is faithful and stronger than all of this and HIS plan will be done regardless of what the doctors say. Although we do not know what is going to happen we are trying to keep positive and are praying that we still have many more years with her!

I do have to say that working at the American Heart Association has never meant more to me than it has in the last week, I am thankful to be apart of the organization that has done the research that is keeping my grandma alive right now. Your continued thoughts and prayers are coveted!! Thank you so very much!