alma mater.

The past two weekends, Stephen and I have had the opportunity to go to both of our college Alma Mater's - Baylor and LSU - to watch a good football game! They were both special trips. Going to Baylor was special to me because it was my first game in the new McLane stadium. {And can I just say it was GORGEOUS?} Going to LSU was special to Stephen because it was the LSU vs. Bama game. aka the most celebrated college football game. Ever.

Two different colleges. Two very different expericences! I never realized the differences until visiting both campuses back to back. Haha.

The weekend befor last, we drove to Waco Saturday morning for some Baylor Homecoming tailgating and football. We met up with the Chabots and Lauren's family. Hannah drove in from Louisiana and met us there, too! Lauren's dad ended up having three extra box tickets so we got blessed with the best seats in the stadium! McLane seats 45,000... which is much less than LSU coming in at around 101,000, but it sure is prettier!

The stadium opens up to the Brazos River and a nice view of campus.

We had such a fun time!

Last weekend we went to Baton Rouge for a little bit of Tiger Football. Stephen insisted on leaving at 8 a.m. from DeRidder so that we would have plenty of time for tailgating. I'm so glad he insisted because traffic would've been awful otherwise. We had to park far from the stadium which was fine with me because I got to see the LSU lakes & some of the beautiful Louisiana homes.

We met up with friends and Stephen got to see his cousin, Reed, who is currently attending LSU. Hannah was there, too! Stephen was the happiest person in the world. He sang LSU chants the entire way to Baton Rouge. I don't know who he loves more LSU football or me... probably... LSU football. The game was fun, but also very aggrevating because the refs called some terrible plays. And... Bama took the W which was the worst part. I'm still glad we went though! Thank you, Stephen, for taking me!

LSU lakes.

In front of the Bell tower.

We snapped this after LSU kicked a field goal with 1 minute left. We thought we had the W in the bag..

Two great weekends at two awesome colleges. I am so thankful to have had such a blessed college experience. Baylor will always hold a special place in my heart - I love going back to my Alma Mater!

august highlights.

I officially said goodbye to summer on August 25th. It was a very sad day. I've never experienced such a bad case of the "Mondays!" I don't remember it being hard to go back to work last August, but this year was a different story. My first week of school couldn't have gone any better - I am extremely grateful!

Here are a few highlights from August:

• Stephen helped me get my classroom ready for the first day of school! He put together my lovely, new desk chair. I despearately needed his engineering skillz.
• My parents and I got to visit Katelyn for a weekend which never happens! It was so great to all be together as a family. Mom, Katelyn and I spend Saturday afternoon downtown for some coffee and shopping. Saturday night we did things real classy and had dinner at Whataburger!
• Stephen, L Rut and I went to a concert at a winery in McKinney. When we first pulled up, we thought it was going to be pretty redneck (and it was a little), but the jazz singer & wine were on point. It was a lot of fun!
• This Friday, Ashleyanne, Jenny & I had dinner at Zorba's. It was Ashleyanne's first week as a HS math teacher & she rocked it!! Back in February 2013 I visited her while she was still at Baylor and apparently I knew we would teach in the same school district one day. 
• Friday was National College Shirt Day and our math department had 100% participation! 

Not pictured:

• At the end of our last teacher work day, my co-workers convinced me to teach a yoga class. So Brittany and Kelli got to experience my practice first-hand. I loved every minute of it! (teaching yoga may officially be in my future :))

october highlights.

Y'all. The tenth month of the year has already come and gone. I cannot believe it! How fast the time flies. Here's a few highlights from the cool, sunny month of October.

• My cousin, Amber was in the DFW area for business and we got to have dinner!! It was fantastic to get to catch up with her about life. She is such a good mom, sister, daughter, friend, and cousin. Love you, Amber!
• I signed up for my first half marathon (that I've been wanting to run for four years now). Pumped about it.
• My precious friend, Ilianna asked me to be her bridesmaid! So excited to celebrate her and Andy's wedding festivities. 
• And another picture from my weekend at Baylor...just because it was much needed and I can't describe how much fun I had with my girl, Hannah. BFFs. For reals.

Not pictured:

• My parents visited me the beginning of this month! We just spent time together and watched football -- it was great.
• I'm really starting to love my kids AND they are starting to love me too! Jesus answers prayers. O, how unworthy I am of His Grace. 

back to baylor.

that magical time of year.

Baylor Homecoming weekend truly is a magical time. Pigskin, Friday night bonfire, Saturday morning parade, Saturday night football game...there just isn't any other college HC like it! And getting to spend the entire weekend with one of your BFFs makes it that much more special and awesome. (warning: this post contains more pictures than usual) 

Hannah and I met in Waco Friday night and had dinner at our favorite hole-in-the-wall secret, D's Mediterranean. If you're ever in the Waco area this is the place to eat! Then it was off to the bonfire.

We ran into the Chabot's too:)

After the bonfire, we were pretty sleepy and if you know Hannah and I at all then you know we needed a good nights rest for our run early Saturday morning. So after meeting up with a few of my friends from BU, we went to Chloe's apartment at LL Sams (my old home!) to hit the hay.

On Saturday morning, we went for a lovely run, Starbucks for coffee and HEB for grapes! P.S. I can't live a day anymore without a substantial amount of grapes. Substantial meaning at least 25.

45 degrees was perty chilly.

Saturday afternoon I got to have coffee with my precious, Anna and got to see Sarah Long, Ryan, Philip and Alison!!! My long lost Highland church, CG, El Salvador friends. It was great. My heart was so full. :)

S Long & Anna. 

And Saturday night you know it was game time! Sic' Em.

BU vs Iowa State -- smoked em' 

Confession: we didn't stay for the entire game -- we were winning by a lot and we were starving so we figured it was time for dinner at our second favorite hole-in-the-wall secret, Baris Pizza. But we got salads, haha. They make their own special dressing and it's to die for so a salad is just as good as pizza.

We finished off our Waco Weekend with a Sunday breakfast at Cafe Capp and a walk through campus. Sundays are always the best for strolling through campus...it's quiet and there are more squirrels around than people.

Hannah and I were discussing on our walk how different Baylor's campus is from others we've been to. There is peace and joy that you feel walking along the side walks, swinging on the swings. We shared with each other that (we believe) it's because Baylor is rooted in Christian teachings.  A few days ago, Jesus lead me to a verse in a Psalm that I feel confirmed what we said.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is The Lord." Psalm 33:12 (ESV)

And Baylor has been a blessed nation.

It was such a fun, much needed, weekend getaway. Baylor will forever have a special place in my heart. After all, this is the place that Jesus captured my heart:) And I just loved my time with Hannah. We ran, ate, sang, laughed, cried, and prayed together. Incredibly grateful for her faithful friendship.

tempura.

YAY for Mardi Gras weekend. A.K.A. Monday and Tuesday no school = no work.

Where was I headed? West.

First stop. Waco. Baylor University. And I cried. Tears of joy. So many countless memories. So much growth. So many friendships made. Blessing after blessing after blessing after blessing.

I got to see my sweet friend, Ashleyanne!!!! She is still at BU, a senior this year majoring in the same exact thing as me:) Secondary Math Education. We went to my favorite Waco coffee shop, Common Grounds. And talked and talked. We had intended to walk the Bear Trail, but the rain didn't permit that. Then we proceeded to grab dinner at Panera Bread. I, of course, got the usual Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. It was yum. And we talked and talked. Ashelyanne has decided to most likely stay at BU next year and get her masters. She is such a smarty and I love her to death. We will one day teach together in the same ISD around Dallas. Just saying.

Ashleyanne.

After a wonderful hangout/catch up time with Ashleyanne, I headed to Hillsboro to spend the night with my Uncle Jeff. Let me tell you a bit about this dear old man. I have grown up spending weekends and holidays out at "Uncle Jeff and Aunt Louise's." My Aunt Louise passed away a few years ago so now it is just Uncle Jeff. He lives on a few hundred acres in the middle of the country with a herd of cows surrounding his house. In the 23 years I have known him, the only time I haven't seen him in blue-jean overalls is going to church or to a funeral.  His version of dressing up is putting a plaid button-snap shirt underneath his overalls instead of just a plain white tee.  As a little girl, him and I would always play tic-tac-toe. He had a little wooden tic-tac-toe board and gold metal x's and o's. He won every time until he finally showed me his "trick." His trick: always start by making your play in one of the four corners or the center first. Not until he shared this "trick" with me did I get anything besides CAT!

Saturday night him and I visited and caught up on life. I hadn't seen him since May. When I lived in Waco I would always try and visit a few times a semester so it had been a while since our last visit. We had planned on going to his Sunday school class together on Sunday morning, but he wasn't feeling up to it. Instead he cooked his usual breakfast--fried eggs, bacon and toast.  I sat with him and drank my cup of coffee and we chatted and listened to the roosters crow.

I decided to go for a hike on his property. Reminisce on my childhood days at Uncle Jeffs.  I have grown up and moved from place to place and done this and that, but one thing has never changed---that old home place. And I am grateful. When I first transferred to Baylor, I would come visit and head to the pasture bringing along with me my journal, a good book (the Bible) and a beach towel to spend an afternoon.  My hike through the hills was much needed.

After I got back it was close to lunch and Uncle Jeff wanted to go out to grab some food. I drove his truck and we headed to the truck stop restaurant about 20 minutes away. I had to hurry back afterwards because I had a coffee date with another sweet gal right after lunch! It was so nice spending quality time with Uncle Jeff this past weekend. I love him. He is like a third grandfather to me. Dear to my heart.

Hiking.

Listening to this old thing on Sunday morning. :)

He isn't a fan of pics, but I snapped this one while he was watching the news.

Who was the next gal to see??? Hannah of course!

It is crazy cool how the Lord works. Never what you expect. Hannah and I had originally planned on going to Baton Rouge together for MG weekend, but I decided to head to Texas and she ended up getting to shoot with one of her favorite photographers in Dallas for the weekend. So where do we end up meeting? Starbucks in Hillsboro, Texas, y'all!! There is never a DULL MOMENT with the two of us. Nuff said.

cool cat right here. 

Yeah, I am just a world traveler. So after my date with AA, Uncle Jeff and Hannah, I was finally headed to my actual destination: Dallas! To see Mrs. Lauren Chabot (and Mr. Logan Chabot too). On Sunday, it was cool and sunny--the perfect weather for a walk in Highland Park---the most beautiful neighborhood in all of America. It was so fun! We grabbed dinner at this neat place called "Eatsies." I don't even know how to describe it. Heaven would maybe be a good description. You walk in and there are different sections--salads, sandwiches, the grill, fish, italian, and wine everywhere! You get what you want and take it to-go. So we got sushi and took it back to Lauren and Logan's apartment. Apparently, I pronounce "tempura" wrong according to Lauren and Logan. But Logan is Canadian (what does he know?) and Lauren is from the Bayou like me so she doesn't know anything about pronunciation either. We were in our pj's by 8 pm and I was perfectly okay with that.

On Monday, Lauren had to sub for a teacher at an elementary school in HP ISD and I had a few things to do myself. We met up after she got off and grabbed coffee at a hole-in-the-wall place called the "Crooked Tree Coffeehouse" and shared a piece of delicious pumpkin bread. We drove around and killed time looking at different things around downtown Dallas before heading to the apartment to cook dinner. On the agenda that night was spaghetti and the Bachelor. I usually am no fan of the Bachelor, but we watched four episodes Sunday night so by Monday night I was excited to watch the newest episode. We were actually in our pj's by 7 pm Monday night and I was perfectly okay with that.

On Tuesday, I got up early and was soon headed back east in the pouring down rain. This past weekend was a little vacation that I needed. And I love Lauren. I hope that one day we can live close to one another again so that we can grow old together.  :)

HP house. I'll never be able to afford it, but I can dream.

Lake in HP.

walking.

Sushi & chicken wrap. yum.

coffee date. 

After 3 coffee dates. 3 dinner dates. A weekend full of people that I love my heart is full.

"If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge." Job 35:11 (NIV)
(A verse from the Lord on Saturday night)