november highlights.

If November wasn't crazy... December sure will be! I can't believe 2014 will soon be coming to an end. The saying is so true, "The older you get, the faster time flies." November was filled with so much good food, friends and family.

Here are a few highlights from the eleventh month of the year (in no particular order):

• Stephen's mom and step-dad spent a weekend with us! Sightseeing included: Dallas Galleria, Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine, a yummy Italian dinner, Sunday morning church, and the Christmas Tree Lighting at the Shops at Legacy.
• When we walked into Belk at the Galleria, there was a long line.. I thought everyone was real excited about seeing Santa Claus. Turns out it was JESSICA SIMPSON. My twelve year old hopes and dreams of being her best friend came rushing back in an instant!!! I used to adore her when I was little. I never missed an episode of The Newlyweds and saved every magazine she was on the cover of. Seriously, the best moment and surprise of my life.
• Stephen and I put up my Christmas decorations at my house and drank hot chocolate under the tree.
• I purchased new stockings from Heart & Home! They are perfect. Stephen claimed the red one with the snowman.
• Earlier this month Stephen played in the Turkey Bowl at church aka a flag football tournament. His team ended up placing third and he could barely walk for days! It was fun to cheer and watch.
• I baked the most delicious pumpkin pie cake from M Loves M for Thanksgiving dessert. Instead of 3/4 cup of almond flour I only used 1/2 cup and added an extra 1/4 cup of all purpose flour. I also did candied pecans instead of pumpkin seeds! I know everyone likes a good pecan. IT IS AMAZING.
• Some of my students wrote me "thankful" letters for their ASL class. The one above is from one of my students from last year. I had no idea I had impacted her life that way! Makes the job worth it.
• Hannah and I practiced yoga over Thanksgiving break. My standing splits is making lots of progress! #yogawillchangeyourlife
• Last, but not least, Stephen's mom took the picture of Stephen and I in front of the big tree in the Galleria. I love my country boy.

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!

october highlights.

I think I've decided October is officially my favorite month of the year. The weather is absolutely perfect and there are so many good football games (thanks, Stephen) -- because of those two things everyone is just happier!

Here are a few highlights from the tenth month of the year:

• My mom text me the throwback picture earlier this month and said "Happy Fall!" I haven't posted very many throwbacks and thought this one was too cute not to post. That is my sister and I in about 1995.
• Stephen and I watched the very exciting Baylor game against TCU. It was such a great comeback for our Bears, I wore my green and gold to church the next morning.
• My nephews had a joint birthday party, Slade celebrated his 5th and Holt his 3rd. I cannot believe they are already that big and adorable!! Happy birthday, boys!
• Stephen and I went to Shreveport last weekend to celebrate our friend's, Chelsea, birthday. I managed to not take any pictures (because I didn't keep my phone on me). The only one I took that wasn't of dogs was the one above of Stephen making his own rice dressing! Happy birthday, Chels!
• Jesus shows up everywhere. You just have to look and listen for Him :)

Not pictured:

• Stephen and I went to the local winery again and enjoyed an outdoor concert complete with a lawn chair, brick oven pizza and wine. Again, I did a terrible job of capturing all of this.
• Last night we had a double date with L Rut and her new guy from Louisiana! It was so much fun. I think Stephen may have met his match.

Happy Halloween, y'all.

arboretum adventure.

This past Sunday, Stephen and I took advantage of the (tad bit) cooler weather and sunshine and finally made a visit to the Dallas Arboretum. Yay for marking things off the bucket list! I had been wanting to go since last November -- Skye and I almost made it on Thanksgiving, but I remember the food coma hit too fast!

The really fun part about visiting the Arboretum in the fall is to get to see and experience their Pumpkin Town -- literally...I'm talking pumpkin houses. In the small town, there are more than 60,000 pumpkins! Unfortunately, there were large amounts of small children running around in every direction and about 200 moms snapping their Christmas card pictures too. It was hectic, but I did manage to get a few pictures.

The Pumpkin Town was the only part of the Arboretum that wasn't peaceful, haha. Everything else was so pretty and quiet! All of the landscaping was very well kept. Hopefully one day I'll have a green finger...

Louisiana House-Birdhouses! 

Stephen freaked when he saw the sailboats... like a kid in a candy store! Can't wait for those lessons in the future!

It was a perfect day & we both loved seeing every part of the Arboretum -- the pumpkins were my favorite... I don't know if the rocks, trees or sailboats were his:). I'd love to go back when it's even cooler for an outdoor concert and a picnic on the ground!

september highlights.

Ah.....sigh. It's fall, y'all. The season of cool weather, football, gumbos, and pumpkin everything. The season that brings the most joy to my heart! I'm officially done with the most stressful month of work -- and it wasn't half as bad as last year. Praise!

Here are a few highlights from the ninth month of the year:

• I got to spend another fun weekend with my girl Hannah! We went to Dallas and had dinner with the Chabot's, did the usual yoga sesh and had dinner at our favorite Greek place. 
• L Rut invited me to the Women's Conference at American Airlines. There were so many great speakers (Jesus, help me learn a lesson from these wise women) and Matthew West even wrote all 11,000 of us women a song! It was great. 
• Before the conference, I got to go on a sunrise run and it was beautiful. Every morning run is always so freeing for me.
• Stephen and I made a quick trip to Louisiana for my high school friend, Jessika's, wedding! She looked so gorgeous and happy!

Not pictured:

• Stephen took me golfing with him one Sunday evening. And by "took me" I mean he let me ride around in the cart with him. My favorite time of day is the hour before the sun sets so it was fun to be out on the course. If only I could swing a club AND hit the ball....

There are so many things on my fall bucket list! 

Carve pumpkins, 

go to the Arboretum, 

make a good gumbo 

and an apple pie 

maybe even hit the Texas State Fair again...

Oh, I hope we can make it all happen :) 

icemageddon.

You can have all the plans in the world. You can train for a half marathon for months and be so excited to run it. And plan on race day being a blast. You can plan on your brother and sister-in-law coming to visit and doing fun things. But when an ice storm hits all your planning goes kaput. 

This is what happened last weekend. Everything in north Texas was frozen solid.

Icemageddon day 1.

Friday. School was canceled. JOY.

My brother, Shelley and I woke up to see everything was as white as snow. At first, it was kind of cool. We got out and there wasn't another soul out on the iced-over roads (the four-wheel drive truck came in handy). We went to Target and the mall. They were both so quiet! The best day ever to get your Christmas shopping done. While going down the escalator in Nordstroms, I got the official email informing me my half was canceled. I cried. I had worked so hard for it and was super pumped about running it. But I guess I'll just sign up for another one! I'm thinking CowTown in February. :)

          







My friend Abbey was without power and joined us at my house! Surprise sleepovers are always the best. I made a pallet on the floor (something I haven't done since I was a child) and we watched "It's A Wonderful Life." My new favorite movie! I had never seen it and it was so sweet.

real professional photograph.

Icemageddon day 2.

Saturday. No school.

I had to get out of the house. Yes, the roads were covered with a thick sheet of ice, but I couldn't stay cooped up all day. The gym was open, yoga classes were in session, and I was going. I'd never driven on ice before so after helpful tips from Abbey and Grant, I felt confident enough to brave it out. It's hard to do anything real scary when you're going 7 mph. I made it to the gym! I did almost bust it walking through the parking lot. Geez walking on ice is hard. A kind young gentleman actually gave me a ride to my car after my workout. Haha. That was interesting.

Day 2 was pretty chill. I got Pizza Hut for dinner and ate way too much. Really hoping I'd wake up to all the ice being melted...

Icemageddon day 3.

Sunday. No school. Church was canceled.

Church was canceled?! Who cancels church?? Everyone cancels church when no one can drive on the roads. Luckily for me I had disconnected my cable TWO days before the storm so I had a lot to keep me entertained at my house. Not. So it was off to yoga again. Thank goodness for the gym!

A few hours later, I was back at home debating what I could do with my day...I thought about blogging at Starbucks but the ice storm wasn't over so I couldn't write about that. I could go to the movies...by myself? Do people go to the movies by themselves? I didn't have a choice. Most of my friends were too chicken to drive on the roads. "The Book Thief" was an excellent movie.

just me and my Starbucks to keep me warm. 

I just knew we would have school on Monday, the roads would be drivable and life would be back to normal.

Icemageddon day 4.

Monday. School was canceled. JOY?

Four days of nothing but ice, cold, clouds, cold, and nothing to do is not fun. I couldn't believe this was still happening! Sweet Abbey had the marvelous idea to decorate Christmas cookies. So Caitlin and I headed to her house for the afternoon.

Abbey doesn't take her Christmas cookie decorating lightly. Check out the photo below of her setup. I was impressed. Very impressed. My childhood Christmas cookie decorating consisted of one red tube and one green tube of the 99 cent Great Value icing and maybe a few green sprinkles. Abbey on the other hand had an art studio of cookie decorating! It was so fun.

I stayed at Abbey's house for the remainder of the day. We ended the evening with the good ol' Tim Allen movie "Santa Claus." I forgot how funny he is. 

Thank GOD Icemageddon day 4 was our last day of ice, cold, ice, cold, and more ice. It was fun while it lasted {mostly}.

november highlights.

 

November. I loved seeing all the colors of this month in Texas. The leaves were every shade of yellow, orange, red, and brown. The sky was gray on more days than it was blue. Fall. I love ya.

Here are a few highlights from November.

• I went home for the first time in over 3 months. It was a much needed restful weekend. I got to watch Alex cheer, Hannah & I did a 10.7 mile (!!) run, I met Ella Jane, and my parents & I ordered Thai food takeout. It was so great. Never have I appreciated my hometown so much. 
• I ate my first satsuma! For those of you that know me know this is huge.
• Some of my darling students wrote me thank you notes for their ASL class. Melted my heart.
• My first Christmas tree is now standing in my living room! It was my Mawmaw's - needlessness to say, it has a bit of sentimental value. :) 

Not pictured (are the two things I wish I had pictures for):

• My small group, Catalyst had our Thanksgiving dinner at Babe's!!! Endless biscuits and sides. Yum. Oh how thankful I am for Christian community.
• My best friend, Eleni visited me! Of course, we didn't take a single photo. But we did cook a delicious butternut squash chili, drank coffee, shopped, laughed, played. It was a beautiful time to have her here!

harvesting memories.

This is how you know you're an adult: everyone comes to your house (that you own) for Thanksgiving!

Okay...maybe there are other circumstances that make being an adult evident, but this is one... My family and Skye all came here for Thanksgiving. We had such a wonderful time. Skye (hasn't made an appearance on my blog because I hadn't seen her in a year!!:() arrived on Tuesday and my parents and sister arrived on Wednesday. Skye and I were in charge of desserts. We baked a chocolate pumpkin bundt cake. We wanted something pumpkin & festive, but also chocolate. This cake ended up being the perfect combo!

Katelyn: MK attempting to be Aunt Jemima.

 
Our TG couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining and the skies were blue. Katelyn's friend Erin also joined us along with the four dogs, Skyler, Chloe, Pita, and Brody. It was a dogsgiving as well as a Thanksgiving.  My momma did a fantastic job on our meal. Complete with ham, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, dirty rice, and rolls. Mmmmmmmm. Thanks momma!

And of course we had to get "holiday pictures."

             

 

After our food coma, we took the pups to the park!

After these past few days, I am overflowing with thankfulness. I am most thankful for my Jesus, my family, my close friends, my home, my church family, my job, and my salvation. Jesus has given abundantly to me this past year. Today I make the choice to be thankful for what He has provided and blessed me with, instead of comparing myself to others and what I don't have. I choose to eat from all the trees in the Garden of Eden, instead of focusing on the one tree Jesus has not provided me the freedom to touch. 

He is so gracious! 

P.S. Skye and I found the most affordable Nativity scene the other night after we ate IN-N-OUT BURGERS (it was Skye and I's first time to eat there>>>"harvesting those memories"). 

Skye: I'm waiting on some guys to come ask us out.
Me: Skye, we are at In-N-Out & we just stuffed our faces. 

Me: Isn't baby Jesus so handsome?!
Skye: I can't see him.
Me: Neither can I. 

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.