Thanks God.

I know I have renounced blogging for a while b/c I need to be focusing on more important things but I just had to share a quick thought. I got up this morning at about 6:15 to start studying. I sat down at the kitchen table and prayed....."God, please be with me today. Like literally give me a physical sign that you are with me because I am starting to feel really negative and need a change of heart." Anyway, about 45 minutes later I went outside to check on the weather b/c my apartment was freeeeeeeezing and the sky was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! Lubbock is completely flat, and when I looked up all I could see was the most beautiful sunrise stretching across the sky as far as you could see and lighting up the ground under it as far as you could see, leaving everything a pretty shade of orange and pink. Amazing.

Thanks God!!

Baby Shower.....and short blog hiatus!

My friend Carli & I had a baby shower for a friend last month. I am a tad late on posting pics but needed a short mental break from studying & thought blogging would be a good "break". The shower was for our friend Stacy who we are in grad school with (who by the way had the baby and still has to take all tests that I do the week after Christmas....YUCK!). Below are the pics of our shower that we did on a TINY budget and if I may say so myself it turned out pretty darn cute. I was super sick with some mystery illness that was making it really hard for me to breath and I was running a 101 fever. But when you are 1 of 2 hostesses you can't really decide to stay home! Aside from the sickness, it was a huge success and we were both a little shocked we were able to pull it off with our crazy schedules! Carli, Mindy & I. Mindy is in grad school with us and is Stacy's sister. I am SO jealous that they are in school together. I think I could possibly enjoy grad school if Betho was in it with me!!
Cute little blocks

Some of the guests. All of these girls are in school with me. I am going to miss them when I leave in May!!

Carli showing off her balloons!

Me posing by the balloons and our tissue paper balls (thank you marthastewart.com)

Me & Carli waiting on the guests....looking a little sleepy!

Our homemade mobile!

Didn't really go with the theme or blue/yellow & planes but I thought it was too cute to pass up!

Some more of the table

and some more table......the end.

I am probably not going to be back to blogging until after my COMPS on January 14th. We are going to Costa Rica which I am extremely beyond pumped about but it means double time on the studying until Christmas and triple time when I get back. But don't you worry I will return!!! :)

Thanksgiving!

So this year was our year to have Thanksgiving with Lance's family in Belton and it was so much fun! We both managed to get a good amount of time off school & headed down to Belton after class Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. We got to spend time with both sets of Lance's grandparents and pretty much spent 5 days eating! On that note, I am going to be in a swim suit in T minus 21 days for our Christmas trip to Costa Rica so that was definitely my last hurrah (if you are reading this Ellen I am not happy that I have a pie in my fridge right now)!

My life has been pretty consumed with school and studying for the 13 comprehensive finals I have a week after Christmas (thanks Texas Tech!) so it was SOOO nice to take a break and just relax with family. Below are a few pics from the weekend. As usual I am super lame and NEVER take any pictures. My poor little camera rarely sees the outside of its case! I promise to be better and put more pics on my blog next time I post.

I have pretty much resigned myself to studying from tomorrow until Jan. 14th.....except for Dec. 25-Jan 2 when I will be basking in the Costa Rica sunshine!! However, if I don't post much that's why. But come January 14th at 3pm I am a free woman and may just post every day!! I hope everyone had a great time with their families this Thanksgiving. BRING ON CHRISTMAS!!

Lance & Jake. Jake is one of Lance's best friend from growing up and ACU. Jake and his wife Emily live in Belton and we got to hang out with them a little one night!

This is on a walk to find Lance's grandma's Donkey "Spot". They live out on the country and have a donkey that is over 40 years old!! We searched for FOREVER trying to find him to feed him and were a little worried he may be dead! :(

Here is Lance's cute little grandma once we found him. Priceless picture!!

Late Wishful Wednesday!

I wish I could re-live my wedding reception over and over again!!!!


I don't have time to say a lot but this came right to mind when I read this weeks topic!! I know everyone thinks that their wedding is wonderful so I am going to sound a little cheesy, but I had SO much fun at my wedding reception. It was perfect in every way and we danced and danced and danced the night away until almost every single person there was drenched in sweat! I know that is kinda gross for a wedding, but to me it meant we all had fun!! It was the perfect night and the perfect way to start my life with Lance! :) Please excuse the terrible picture quality. I didn't get my pics on a CD so these are just some random ones from Lance's computer that ppl took.

Must read!!

My mom sent this to me and it made me so happy.....it's a must read!
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends andparents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. "Agree to disagree".
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what theirjourney is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a "secret", you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; Godnever blinks.
16 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one isup to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take "no"for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years,will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you didor didn't do.
34 Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'dgrab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Thoughts for the day......

My thoughts right now.......

**First let me explain the pic: We went to Lyndsay "Reed" Miller's wedding last weekend and didn't realize how fancy the rehearsal dinner was. So, Betho's boss let her borrow an $800 dress that she loaned me! It was SO not my style and I felt weird in it all night but it was really fun to wear something so fancy!! Betho had on a super pricey dress from her too that was NOT her style either! I had to post some pics! (not that you can even really see the dress here)

1. 2 weeks of midterms have finally come to an end! I will now be able to sleep more than 3 hours a night and not look like death everyday by about 4pm!

2. I am officially 5 months away from taking my licencing test that will make me an official speech pathologist!! It's about time, I am getting exhausted.

3. I know over 20 people with the swine flu! 14 of which are my students I work with on Wed/Thursday, and 2 are my friends that I am in close contact with every day. Should I be worried??!!

4. I am completely in love with little Josiah and can't believe I missed his 1st b-day party.

5. I am also completely in love with pregnant Lindsey and can't wait to meet Ava. I will be missing that shower this weekend too and am SOOO sad about that!

6. Speaking of missing everything, if I have missed a big event in your life b/c of grad school I am going to make it up to you when I get out!! I am not sure how yet but there are LOTS of you out there.

7. Lance is applying for internships right now and they range from right here in Lubbock to Connecticut! It is crazy how up in the air our future is right now. I HATE the idea that we may live apart for a few months but I LOVE the excitement of not knowing where we will be next year! I love change!!

8. I am loving Glee and Flash Forward!

9. God has given me energy that I didn't know I had and I am so thankful for that! I have been going 1,000 miles a minute the past month and my still intact sanity is definitely due to a higher power!

10. My husband has started to become a cook (probably out of survival) but I am SO proud of his skills!!

11. We actually have real friends here in Lubbock and that is such a blessing! We are really getting connected with some people at church and it's great. Ironic since we will be moving again soon, but nice for now. This happened to us in Houston too. Right when we were finally connected with great friends we moved. Hopefully our next city will be more long term!

12. Ok.....off to eat a weight watchers snack. Oh yeah, I have been on weight watchers for about 4 weeks now and I am hungry!! Like for real HUNGRY!! I am thinking of having a "I'm done with midterms" splurge meal in the form of queso smothered burritos! Yep, I think I will!

13. If you are reading number 13 you are too nice and didn't need to listen to me ramble on and on about nothing!

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Memories in an old t-shirt!

So....I was cleaning out my t-shirt drawer today to try to make some more space and I found this! It's funny how many memories can come back from one tacky little t-shirt! Here's the story, freshman year at ACU a bunch of us decided that we should form a flag football team and play in the intramural league! Could we play football? NO! Did we have any idea what we were doing? No! But we decided to form a team anyway and it was so fun! We were pathetic and horrible and didn't win one game. I remember sitting in the dorm freshman year trying to decide what we should call our team and we had nothing so we just became, "The Flag Football Team"! Jason Campbell (before he was Lindsey's hubby) was our coach! If you look closely you will see lots of familiar faces on this little football team! I am on the far left...not looking great I might add! This is definitely one thing I love about old t-shirts sometimes! I don't think I am going to throw this one out!! :) Creative right!?

This is the back! We were very matter a fact!

I think this photo was taken 6 years ago!!! Half the people in this picture have babies now!! We were so young!!!

Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat....Go Asher Go!!

I am a bit late on the post but my life has been kinda crazy lately to say the least. I actually just unpacked from this trip I am posting about and it was a week ago so you get the idea! But last weekend we flew to Houston to see First Colony Church of Christ's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!! It was so great, the props, costumes, set, singing everything was really impressive and Asher (aka my super talented Dad) was AMAZING too!! He had a solo and it was so funny! He had to sing it with a french accent and definitely nailed it! I was chuckling in my seat the entire time (in a good way...of course)! I was also impressed with the dancing. For the most part the "brothers" in the show were between the ages of 40-60 and they had some definite coordination! In addition to the show, we also got to hang out with Betho, Cody and my parents for the entire weekend! We all got up and had a huge yummy family breakfast Saturday and then went to Brazos Bend for a picnic (which was fun but HOOOOT)! Overall it was such a GREAT weekend! Good job in the show Dad!! We all LOVED it!!

I know it's a little fuzzy but we couldn't use a flash and it's all I could get! This is mid-solo!


Me & Kara after the show. Her and Ben were SOOO sweet and came to watch the show!

"Asher" and Kara!

The entire fam with the star afterwards!

Awesome end of the show!!

This one is a little better of "Asher" singing his solo! Can you see his little beret!?

This is Pharaoh....aka Meredith and Megan's dad! He was sooooo cute as Elvis and did AWESOME!!

Blog Makeover Help!!! Please! :)

Ok....so I have an ugly blog and I don't know how to make it cute! I downloaded some program that was supposed to help (paint.net) and it didn't! I don't have much time to sit and mess with my blog....and I don't want to pay someone!! Does anyone have some (quick & easy) advice on how I can make my blog cute with a cute background???? ANY help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Wishful Wednesday....a little late!

'I wish' .... I got paid $1 million a year to

BE ON BROADWAY!

You have NO idea how obsessed I am with the idea of dancing and singing on Broadway! It is like an ultimate, although 100% unattainable, dream of mine! I hear a song and can instantly imagine myself dancing & signing on some big state in NYC wearing an amazing costume. I have had many a work out sessions listening to Broadway songs on my ipod pretending that the voice coming through the speakers is me!

A girls can dream!!

Wishful Wednesday!

I finally remembered to participate in my friend Kelsey's "Wishful Wednesday". This week it is,
'I wish' .... I could be ________!
(Name that TV star!! Post a picture and tell us why)

I would definitely have to say:

Julianne Hough

from Dancing With the Stars

She is so cute! Not to mention completely in shape, amazing dancer & now she is a singer and actress!! Jealous! :)

Fall=Pumpkin Pie!

So it's almost time for one of my most favorite times of year! I never thought much of fall until moving to Lubbock where there is a BIG weather change come late September/Early October. And this year it seems to have hit us all of a sudden and is so nice! Lance & I went to early church today and it was so "Fall"! Probably in the 60s with a nice little breeze. Perfect way to start a Sunday morning.

Since we have been married I have started a tradition of making a pumpkin pie on the first day of fall. It is my favorite pie and I love the way my house smells when it is baking! Well, due to the perfect weather and premature feeling of fall I made the pie just a tad early this year! It was so yummy and made our little apartment smell so happy & homey!!

Writing this post makes me laugh b/c I can all too easily remember almost writing this exact post last year but literally being on the verge of a grad school induced nervous breakdown. I hated the cold weather, I had broken out in to hives and was studying for like 5 different tests at the same time! Oh how it is a good feeling to look back on that horrid time and know school will never be that bad again!!

Ok, I am off to watch the Cowboys with my hubby & am actually looking forward to it! No, I have not come around to liking football but do like spending a day lounging on the couch with my hub!

Awesome guy!

So I definitely don't like to make sports a common occurrence in my blog. However, considering my husband....the die hard sports fan, who is getting a masters in Sports Management, you can see how it is literally impossible for me not to form an opinion and be involved in some sports stuff! Last night we were watching the Basketball Hall of Fame induction and I was SO impressed with David Robinson! He's the man.....such an awesome christian that brought Jesus into his entire acceptance speech which was not the norm at all. It is so refreshing to see someone like that, with such a big influence on people of all ages, talk about his faith in this kind of venue! Here is his video.....you will love this guy too after you watch it!

Our Husbands are good sports!!

So this past weekend Betho & Cody came and we had SO much fun. It was so fun to have them here every night and morning and get to spend lots of time with them! We did a lot of fun stuff but mainly just hung around and watched movies. Betho & I drove to Abilene on Saturday & hung out with the Curry/Goforth group & even got to see cute little prego Lindsey! She is still so cute and fit looking! I hope I can look like her when I am pregnant!

So here is the story behind the title of this post. I became somewhat obsessed with the FOOD Network this summer and love that show where you get 1 secret ingredient and have to cook with it. We went to dinner with some friends Friday and had planned to go out afterwords. Well, they were really tired and wanted to go home so we were really bored and decided to do our own "Food Challenge". Well when I say "we" I mean Betho & I decided and told the guys the plan. Anyway, our secret ingredient was marshmallows and marshmallow cream. The rules were that you HAD to use those two things and then could use whatever else you could find in the kitchen!

Here is how it turned out!

This is the guys little creation. It is the beach with a sea wall and everything. I have no idea what exactly is "in" this and I was afraid to ask! I think the toothpicks with the little marshmallows are sails & the green blob is a fish! Creative huh?! Such good sports!

This is Me & Betho's creation. we named it "Mellow Mountain". If you can't already tell by this amazing work of art, it is a mountain! The grass is buttermilk, green food coloring and hot chocolate mix, the flowers are from outside, and the trail head (bottom left) if dark chocolate sticks. And I'm sure this will be a shock to everyone but it tasted a little....how do I put it.....DISGUSTING! But isn't it pretty! :)

As wierd of an activity as this was it was really fun! Oh to act like a 5 year old again and play with food!

Week of Visitors!

We have been lucky to have lots of visitors lately. Some of our friends from college (Jake & Brandon) have been in town for the past 2 weeks on business and it has been fun getting to hang out with them. Lance & Brandon were roomies for most of college and I know he has been having a great time getting to see them quite a bit. It has also been fun hanging out again with all my Lubbock friends. It has been close to 4 months since I have seen some of them and it was fun to catch up! The best news of all however is that BETHO AND CODY ARE COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND AND I AM SO EXCITED!!! They are staying until Monday afternoon and I can't wait to take them to our church, introduce them to some of our friends and just hang out. Lubbock actually has some really fun, unique things to do in the fall so it is too bad they are coming so early in the year. However, I bet we still have a great time! We are also driving down to Abilene Saturday to see Riley Curry play football and the entire Curry fam and the entire Bradford clan will be there. I can't wait to hug baby Aves and her mamma! My aunt and uncle are also gonna be there to see Lindsey and Jason so hopefully we get to spend some good time with them too!! Ok that's all for now. School is officially in full swing tomorrow so who knows when my next post will be. As of right now I am trying to pretend I am not going to my internship in the morning at 7......going to a meeting from 10-1 and then sitting in class from 1-5:30. Yuck is seems even worse when it is all written down like that. Oh well. What can you do. The weekend is NEAR!!!!!!!!

p.s These pictures were all taken at a restaurant where we sat outside for almost 2 hours and never as much as perspired an ounce. It was probably in the 60s with no humidity. After spending an entire summer in Houston this was absolutely amazing!! Although, I had to ignore the fact that their mexican food didn't compare at all to my favorite Houston spots! Oh, and my hair never turned into a fro! God Bless no humidity!

It isn't a night out if you don't have one of these "hand out" pics! This is my friend Ligon who came to Tech from UT. We are some of the only "non" Tech girls!
Me with the boys.

Me and my super cute hubby!!!


Lance & Lindsey. She is another one of the girls in my program.

It is hard to believe but this is the best picture I have of the 3 of them!

Blogging at work???

So this is probably the most frowned upon thing in the world but I am at work and have nothing else to do. I started work as a speech assistant 1 day a week in Plainview Texas.....yes, I said Plainview! It is about an hour north of Lubbock so you can imagine it is not the most hopping place. However, they have TONS of kids and I mean tons of kids who need speech therapy and they are paying me really well for the mileage so I thought, why not! The only downside is that I don't really know what to do yet and the girl that is doing all of the scheduling isn't here yet so I am literally sitting here with not a thing to do! Oh well I am sure when she gets here we will be more than busy enough.

It has been nice to be back in Lubbock, sleeping in my own bed and cooking in my own kitchen. The cool weather is AWESOME too! I forgot that it is actually nice in the summer in some places! School starts back for me next Thursday but my internship number 2 is in full swing and so is my job. I am hoping that once I throw school into the mix I don't freak!! I have been super spoiled and haven't worked at all since I have been in grad school until now. I think it will be a good thing for me to have to prioritize my time and be super organized.

Next up on my agenda is a bachelorette party in Dallas for a close friend and I am super excited! More to come later....but I am feeling guilty for my work blogging and think I need to do something else! I will leave you with a pic of Plainview so you can visualize the country life I live on Wednesdays!

Goodbye summer....see you next year!

I cannot believe it but today was my last day of my internship! It was a little stressful at times but was an overall GREAT experience. I learned so much and had such a good time with all my co-workers. I was sad to say goodbye today! We are leaving a week from Saturday to move back to Lubbock where we have about 8 months left of school. I am really excited to see where life takes us next. As expected, we have about every night booked with seeing people and getting some last minute hang out time with people before we head west! I have had so much fun here this summer and am so glad things worked out like they did allowing us to be here.

On a different note: This is probably old news to a lot of people but I just read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and it was AMAZING! Probably one of the best books I have ever read. It was such a great reminder of God's love for us. We haven't really been that connected to a small group or anything this summer and I was craving a bible study! I was really needing a good book like that!

Bethany and Cody came last weekend to hang out with us at my parent's house (they have been out of town for 2 weeks) and we had SO much fun! We laid out......played games....went to a movie....went to brunch and lots of other fun stuff. I love them and WILL find a way for us to all live in the same city someday. I cannot imagine life for too much longer without the Girods being in it.

I will leave you with a few pics of out weekend with them. I didn't really think to take any pics until they were leaving so these aren't really interesting at all. Enjoy. Me & Betho right before they left. SO sad so to see them go! Betho & Cody about to leave.

I made the guys take this cheesy little pictures.....they got back at me by giving me those cheesy little smiles.