march highlights.

March may be my favorite month of the year. Yes, it's my birthday month, but that's not the only reason it's my favorite. I also love that in March I get to see flowers in bloom, Spring arrives (as well as Spring Break!), I get to celebrate Pi Day (#mathnerd), and I cross the halfway point of the second semester of school which means t-minus 9 weeks until summer!

Here are a few (birthday!) highlights:

• My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year which is actually great because I get to celebrate it the weekend before and the weekend after! The weekend before my family came in town which was a-mazing! Mom cooked my favorite, chicken and rice and red velvet cake. Katelyn, mom and I got pedis...It felt like Christmas because we all got to be together!
• There are no words to describe my actual birthday. I got numerous phone calls, voicemails, text messages, and SURPRISES! Skye, Lauren and Chelsea all surprised me with little unexpected gifts! My students were extra sweet and sang me "Happy Birthday." Stephen took me to dinner at my favorite restuarant, Carrabba's. I felt so loved and cared for. Thank you to everyone that made my special day extra special. :)
• The weekend after my birthday my precious friends from Catalyst threw Carrie and I a joint birthday dinner celebration at Blue Goose! Jenny and Kristen even got us a cookie cake that was to-die-for! I am so grateful for my friends that I've made in Dallas. Their hearts are golden!

Hannah & Lauren posted these to IG and I loved them too much not to add here!

 Here are a few more highlights:

• Stephen and I went to a Mavs game!
• I mentioned above that Spring Break came and went this month. It. Was. Heavenly. I got to do extra yoga, read an entire book, cleaned my house, and laid by the pool. No words.
• I also celebrated my friend, Jenny's, 30th birthday with the best theme ever, "Cosby Sweater Party."  We had dinner at her favorite, Cracker Barrel and then played games at her house. Jenny is now thirty, flirty and thriving!

january highlights.

January. I was happy that January had a hand-full of warm, sunny days which allowed me to read in the park, run without my fingertips freezing, and sit outside for dinner. It was a laid back, fun first month of the new year!

This month I...

• Got talked into going to the Josh Abbott band concert after church one Saturday night. Really glad Jenny ended up convincing me it was worth it to stay up late -- I had a blast!
• Booked a trip to Italy this summer!!!! Yes, my sister, Katelyn & I are actually going. Cannot wait.
• Ordered my first pair of Warby Parker's. Extremely pleased with their product!
• Had dinner with that beautiful gem above! Celebrated Hannah's birthday over some hummus, pita bread & Yia Yia's chicken at one of my fave Greek restaurants.
• Cooked spaghetti squash spaghetti (see recipe below) for Stephen for dinner one night. He was fascinated that the squash actually looked like spaghetti noodles. I was fascinated the first time too! He insisted upon adding the hat, remote control, and wine bottle to the photo. 

Dallas really feels like home now. Happy heart.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti:     serves 5 to 6

• Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, at least 3 lbs
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce
olive oil for cooking
salt, pepper and Tony's to taste

• Directions:

1. Bake spaghetti squash on 350 for 45 minutes (this softens the squash so you can cut it in half).

2. While squash is baking, cover pan with olive oil and brown meat with onion.

3. Take squash out of oven, cut in half, remove seeds. Place back in pan face down, add water in pan to avoid it being too dry and cook for 30 more minutes (or to your satisfaction).

4. Add sauce to meat and stir on low.

5. Remove squash from oven, scrape the "spaghetti" out and add it to meat/sauce mixture. Salt, pepper and Tony's to taste.

6. Enjoy!

september highlights.

September was full of a lot of work and not enough play. Although, I did get to squeeze in a couple of fun things. Here are the highlights.

• Some quality time with Lauren Rutland consisted of yoga, church, lunch dates, & dinner dates at grocery stores (P.S. The grocery stores around here are suitable for dinner dates).
• I bought a "love" ring to help remind me that my Savior loves me unconditionally & I am called to love others the same. 
• Prestonwood hosted "Harvest America" with Greg Laurie and Third Day lead worship! Somehow Caitlin & I ended up on the front row because apparently Luke has connections?! We weren't complaining!
• I started a book called "Calm My Anxious Heart." But this isn't just any book. Earlier this summer I went to Boston & on my flight home ended up sitting by one of the most Christlike women I've ever met. We talked about our walk with Christ the entire 3 hour flight to Dallas. I received this book in the mail from her last week. Jesus is literally the coolest. This book is about finding contentment & that's exactly what I've been working on! Monica lives in Massachusetts and I don't know if I'll ever see her again on earth, but we'll be in Heaven forever together one day. :) 
• Courtney had baby Ella!!! Isn't she beautiful?! I cannot wait to meet her. Congrats, Courtney & Nehemiah! 

Not pictured:

• I joined a gym just for the a-mazing yoga instructor.
• Linnette and I had a fun day hiking Arbor Hills Nature Reserve!
• I became a member to my new home church, Prestonwood Baptist (beyond thankful, blessed & excited about this!) and found a Sunday school class that "fits."
• A few fun, dinner nights with Stephen before he left to work in the field until February. 

I have a lot more activities planned for October. I'm determine to not let work get the best of me!

red, white & blue. i lurv you.

 Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday was such a fun day filled with food, family & friends! All of my family was together which was awesome -- even Katelyn got to come home!! My mom cooked us a "throwback meal," as she called it. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and sweet corn. I think the last time I ate fried chicken was when I was about 14 years old. It. Was. Awesome. The only time my family is all together is usually on Thanksgiving or Christmas so it was such a blessing to spend time with each other on Independence Day. After we ate, we visited, played with the kiddos and the new puppy, Skyler. 

Later that night my sister and I went to L'Auberge in Lake Charles to see Eli Young Band play (yay for Texas musicians!). It was such a blast! We got to meet up with one of our old friends from high school, Shelby and I got to see my precious friend, Breanna, that I met as a freshman at McNeese. It had been years since I'd seen their faces so it was awesome to get to catch up. 

I hope you had a blessed 4th of July celebration too!

Eli Young Band.

Sister!

Breanna & Shelby!

festival international de louisiane.

This past weekend was my first Festival International in Lafayette!

Eleni and her husband, Colin, have gone the past three years together and they invited me this year (along with many other people)! It was so much fun. The bands that perform at festival are from all over the world. There was more than one occasion that I had no idea what the singers were saying, but they were all extremely talented.

I got to Lafayette early Friday evening just in time to listen to some eccentric Canadian guys wearing kelts. We weren't exactly sure why the Canadians were wearing kelts, but they were pretty awesome! (you can visit this website to see the line up from the whole week) After that we went back to Colin's parents house (they live right downtown where the festival was being held which was super convenient!) for some yummy sausage and shrimp gumbo. It was delicious. I hadn't ever had the seafood and sausage mix, but it worked!

Marc Broussard, who is actually from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, performed later Friday night. I had never heard him live---he was legit! Austen (Colin's little bro) and I even did a little jig to one of his songs or shall I say Austen did a jig and I just tried to follow. After Marc performed we went back to the house and hung out with a bunch of family friends and I got to catch up with Eleni and Maria (her little sister and my friend:)).

On Saturday morning, I got up early to run the Festival 5k with Patrick (Colin's other little bro). Poor Patrick only got 2 hours of sleep and was not feeling well at all. His goal was to just finish. Just finish? He ran it in 21 minutes......despite lack of sleep, a cold, and the 130% humidity. I came trailing behind him by a mile finishing in 27 minutes. Not as fast as the 5k I ran last year, but thankful for being able to run it! Colin even woke up and cheered us on on the sidelines--such a sweetie!

We all had coffee afterwards... visiting and enjoying one another's company. At noon we went and saw some good ol' Gospel singers. They were actually from a church there in Lafayette. We sang some worship songs to the Lord with them! Colin's dad had Greek food catered for his friends and luckily there was enough for us as well. It was delicious and fresh--sandwiches, pita and hummus, and other dishes that I do not know the name of--I need to ask the Greeks, Eleni and Maria! Later Saturday afternoon Stephen and another friend of mine, David, drove in from Baton Rouge and met up with us. The three of us went around to various bands and hung out for the rest of the night! It was so good to catch up with them:)

Eleni, Maria, the gospel singers, & I at the main stage.

rockin' out with S//dancin' away with DBlank.

Stephen & I later that night at the main stage.

It was so good to see and spend time with Eleni, Maria, Stephen, DBlank, Colin, Patrick, Austen, and tons of other sweet people.

Thankful for a weekend away to relax and play. Love and laugh.