Trendy Digits

I usually have my nails painted.  I enjoy painting them myself and take pride in my large collection of polish.  I love browsing at the grocery store for new colors and have been know to leave with my nails painted a multitude of colors from trying several on (a habit learned from my mom). :)  I have seen some interesting colors on the shelves lately which made me curious as to what the new trends are.

According to a a Refinery 29 Fashion article nudes, pastels, purples, gun metal grays, and unique top coats are all part of what's hot this year.  Nail polish is a relatively cheap fashion accesory, so I enjoy changing it up and trying new colors.  A fun pastel is next on my list to try... maybe mint green.  What's on yours?

Photos from Refinery 29

Glorious Girl Time

God gave us girl friends for a reason, and I am thankful for mine.  Friendships fill a place in a woman's life like nothing else can.  This place in my life was filled this week!  Sunday I got to catch up with Emily on the phone.  Em and I have been friends since we met in preschool and haven't missed much since.  We stood next to one another in each other's weddings and feel a lot more like sisters than friends.  Em and Brittan just celebrated their 1year anniversary and enjoyed an awesome anniversary trip in L.A.!  Congrats, Pittmans!  We love you.

Monday, Megan came in town to relive our tradition of Bachelorette Monday nights.  It was really fun.  She got in town right after work and we went to get our nails done, caught up on life, made dinner and dished our opinions of all the guys during The Bachelorette.  She spent the night and then Tuesday we had breakfast together, went to work, and then met at Marshall's during our lunch break to shop.  Let me just say, Marshall's on Tuesdays right after they receive a new shipment is a dangerous but glorious place! :)  We both did a little damage, but found some great stuff.

I got to have lunch with Dana, one of my college friends, twice this week!  Dana and I cheered together at Baylor and lived together for two years.  She is in law school at Baylor now and in town for classes and an internship in Waco for the summer.  We hadn't seen each other in quite a while considering we live in the same city, but it didn't feel like we had missed a beat.  We had a great time catching up and decided we needed to do it more often!  I love friendships that are so comfortable that you can just pick right back up where you left off.

Shay and I both work for the same organization, so we often talk several times during a week.  This week was no exception.  Shay called me about a work thing and we ended up talking for an hour just catching up on life!  We get to go on a trip for work together to Florida in July and get to room together.  It will be a lot of fun!  This is a picture of me and Shay at my rehearsal dinner.  We need to take some new pictures together!

So thankful for the girls in my life!

Feels Like Home

Have you ever experienced the feeling of being at home when you are with a certain person?  I experience that comfortable feeling of being at home when I am with Joey.  I think I probably knew that spending time with him was something that I enjoyed and even made me happy.  But, this weekend, having him home and getting to just do life together felt like home.  We didn't do anything terribly significant- just hung out at home, washed cars, went to dinner and saw a movie, went to church together...  I didn't realize when we got married that I would be able to love my husband any more than I already did, but I do. Of course these sentiments and reflections are probably amplified because we are apart during the week and only together on the weekends right now. But I am thankful for these sentiments, the comfortable feeling of being at home with Joey no matter where we are or what we are doing. I am thankful that God allows us to live life with another as one. How rich the blessing of marriage is.



Below is a blog post by Lysa TerKeurst that I loved.

The Moment
So familiar can some of our relationships be, we forget. We rush. We assume. We feel like we have forever.

And feeling like we have forever cheapens the right now feelings.

Each morning I have a routine with my man. It’s simple. Nothing profound. Nothing for which we’d ever stop and snap a picture.

It’s just a moment.

He asks me to help him pick a tie. He then goes away to fuss with this fixture of his professional job. Soon, he returns with a flipped up collar and a pressed down, knotted tie. He needs gentle hands to fold the collar over. No, he doesn’t need. He wants gentle hands to fold the collar over.

And I do.

It’s just a moment.

But it’s something I would miss with the deepest ache imaginable if today was the last of the moments.

If today.

Tears slip as I think about this. Dear God, help me think about this. Let me snap a hundred of these moments with the lens of my heart to be stored and appreciated and thought of as the great treasure they are.

Let my mind park there.

Let my heart relish there.

Let my mouth dare to whisper what a joy this is. “I love you. I love us. I love this moment each day.”

No, our relationship isn’t perfect. No relationship is. We’re two very strong willed people with vastly different approaches to life. And oh how easy it would be to list out all the differences. He likes the towel hanging in the same spot. I am more creative. But I stop the list here.

I stop because great love isn’t two people finding the perfect match in one another.

Great love is two people making the choice to be a match.

A decision.

To fold his collar and snap the heart lens and find myself grateful to the point of tears.

Tears of relishing today are so much better than tears of what was missed.

It’s just a moment.

Or is it?

Heavenly Home Inspiration

It's not new news to most of you that I love dreaming about what our house will look like one day.  So, after reading Shay's blog post about Pinterest, I thought it would be fun to start a couple of pinboards with home inspirations.  I'm always cutting things out of magazines and emailing pictures to myself of things that I plan to look back at one day when we are creating our own home.  In college I took a Housing class where we had an assignment to create a House Floorplan and a Design Board with samples of fabrics, finishes for flooring and countertops.  We also started a Style File to collect pictures of accessories and housing elements that we liked.  I thought it was a neat idea that could come in handy one day, so I update it occasionally. 

Pinterest can be used much like a design board, so I have created a couple.  There are small pictures of my pinboards below, but to better see the pictures you can check them out by clicking here. 

You too can create and account and start pinning!  It's really a handy way to save things that you like and want to be able to look back at.  I also like that you can follow friends to see what they're pinning and browse pins of everyone using the site to repin items you like to your own profile.  Thanks, Shay for sharing!  I think I will get a lot of use out of this fun tool.  Happy pinning!

Memorial Day Weekend

This was a nice long weekend with Memorial Day on Monday.  I got half of the day on Friday and all day Monday off from work, so it was a great time for a short trip.  I left Thursday night and got to Dallas just in time for dinner with G-Ma, Howard, and Joey.  Joey has been staying with G-Ma and Howard in Dallas while he works in Fort Worth for the first half of the summer.  They have loved having him so far and I was glad to have a chance to visit.

Friday, Joey and Howard went to watch our friend, Martin, play in the Byron Nelson golf tournament in Dallas.  I worked in the morning and then G-Ma and I spent the afternoon at the galleria.  G-Ma got some new sandals and I got a cute grey cropped jacket that I actually wore to work today.  We came home to freshen up, meet the boys, and then G-Ma took us out to a great dinner at The Ranch Steakhouse.  Yum!  The food was amazing.

Saturday, we went to see the Roush's new apartment and they took us out to lunch and gave us a quick tour of Coppell.  Then, we all headed over to Shay's parents' house to hang out by the pool.  It was great to spend time with our Dallas friends.  Rich and Megan had plans to meet some of their other friends for dinner, but me and Joey stayed over and grilled burgers with Adam and Shay.  They were great hosts and we had a fun time catching up.

Sunday, we went to church at Valley Ranch and got to see how much Rich & Meg's new church family already loves them.  Shay came and met us there too since VRBC is the church she actually grew up in.  We had lunch at a fabulous pizza place in Coppell and then hit up the local TJ Maxx & Home Goods of course! :)  G-Ma and Howard had never met the Roush's, so G-Ma made a big dinner for all of us that night.

Monday was filled with more relaxing and quality time with family.  I don't have any pictures from this weekend.  I did bring the camera, but guess I was having too much fun to be bothered with snapping any shots.  Whoops!  It was a very much welcomed time to catch up with some of the people we love and reflect on the freedom we are blessed to enjoy because of the many people that serve.

Thankful Reflection

This was a challenging week.  Joey is in his second week of work in Fort Worth out of six for the summer, and our best "Waco friends" officially moved to Dallas on Monday.  The two combined have made it feel like our life is in transition right now.  With one more year of school left, and the hardest year at that, I have spent a lot of time thinking, and sometimes worrying, about where we will end up and what God has in store for our lives. 

Joey and I are reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren together this summer while we are apart, and the thing I keep coming back to is God telling me that life is not on hold because I feel like we are in transition.  We are to live fully where ever we are and in whatever we are doing.  I am such a planner and think so often about the future that sometimes I get too concerned about what is to come and loose sight of being thankful for where I am now.  I like my ability to dream and think ahead, but sometimes I think Satan uses it to distract me from opportunities God is giving me now.  In the book there is a poem by Russell Kelfer that inspired me to focus on the sovereignty of God.

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God.

So, in effort to focus on the purpose God has for me right here and now, I have challenged myself to focus on the things that remind me how blessed we are.  My goal is to just take it week by week- and sometimes day by day, and to be thankful for the little happy's that God gives me along the way.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with fear of the unknown.  So, in focusing on the little things that I can be thankful for right now, I plan to stay positive and hopefully not miss opportunities He is giving me now.


These are the things I am thankful for this week:
1. Time we got to spend in Brenham on vacation with Joey's mom and sister.
2. Joey took care of as many of the manly house chores that he normally handles as he could before he left on Sunday.
3. Shay Bear sent me an early birthday present in the mail with a sweet note of encouragement.
4. Mom texted and called to check on me a few times. :)  I felt loved.
5. Dancing with the Stars finals was on Monday and Tuesday and Hines & Kym won!
6. Season premier of the Bachelorette was on Monday night!
7. Text messages this week from Megan letting me know she already misses me and is excited about us visiting this weekend.
8. The book I'm reading right now, The Rainmaker by John Grisham, got really good!
9. A productive week at work and a job that I enjoy and challenges me to grow.
10. I got to spend a lot of time with Harley after work this week, and I am very thankful that she is part of our family.
11. This is a long weekend for Memorial Day.  I am leaving tonight to be in Dallas Friday through Monday to spend time with my hubby, grandparents, and friends!  Yay for long weekends! 

Hope your holiday weekend is filled with a chance to relax and spend time with family and friends!

DWTS Finals

Tonight was Part 1 of the Dancing With the Stars finals, and I am finally decided!  I have really had a hard time ranking my top three.  They are all so different, so it's been hard.  I like all three of the stars that made it to the finals, but Hines and Kym have risen to the top as my favorite!  I just love the energy and genuineness they always bring, and their free-style dance tonight was really fun!  The judges have Hines & Kym and Chelsie & Mark tied at first, so the viewer votes will determine the winner.  All my votes went to Hines.  The results are on tomorrow night, so we'll see!

Weekend in Brenham

We enjoyed a fun little get-away to Brenham, Texas this weekend with Momma Hance and Jennifer.  Carol planned this weekend vacation for us to all get away and relax together a few months ago, and it was fabulous!  She rented the cutest country house for us all to stay in right outside of Brenham.  It had all the personal touches of southern hospitality that made it a really neat place to stay.  They even stocked the refrigerator with breakfast fixings before we got there including these homemade Pecan Pie Muffins that were very yummy!  See the recipe below.  Scenic Hill Vacations has many cabins that they rent out to guests.  We stayed at The Farmhouse.  See pictures of the cute house here.  It was the perfect place for a family vaction.

We all arrived on Friday afternoon, and after exploring and doting about the house we went to dinner at BT Longhorn Saloon & Steakhouse in downtown Brenham.  Yum!  Then we went to the movie theatre to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie that just came out.  We finished off our first day of vacation enjoying a glass of wine on the porch at our house.  I'm feeling relaxed just thinking about it!

Saturday morning we slept in, had breakfast, and headed to downtown Brenham to enjoy local shopping.  We had lunch at a cute diner called "Must be Heaven", and it certainly was heavenly!  Great sandwiches and homemade pie... We left there a few pounds heavier for sure, but it was well worth it!  We shopped a little more and then went to the local "Pleasant Hill Winery" for a tour and tasting.  This was my first visit to a winery so I enjoyed it.  Then we went back to the house and enjoyed a few hours of reading in the hammock out front and playing games.  This place had several perfect spots for kicking back with a good book, but was also stocked with every game you could want to play which made it perfect because Joey doesn't sit still very well on vacation, and I love to get lost in a good book with beautiful senery surrounding me.  That night we headed back into town for dinner at this amazing little Italian place called "Volare".  To say that we ate well on this trip would be an understatemnt.  The night ended with an air hockey tournament back at the house that got a little rowdy to say the least.  Hance's are competitive in case you didn't know!

On our last day in Brenham we made it to a few of the little stores we didn't get to the day before and enjoyed another good meal at the "Bread Basket Cafe".  I decided to buy a antique trunk that we had spotted the day before on sale for only $25. 

It has a lot of character and is a perfect momento from our great weekend.  We brought it home and found a newspaper in it from Missouri dated in 1973.  How cool!  We ended the day with another visit to "Must be Heaven" for one last sweet treat before we packed up and hit the road.

Thank you, Momma Hance, for an amazing weekend!  We enjoyed it very much and loved spending time all together.

Jennifer, Joey, Me, and Carol

Pecan Pie Muffins

recipe courtesy of Scenic Hill Vacations

2 eggs

1 1/2 sticks of melted butter

1/2 cup of flour

1 cup of chopped pecans

1 cup of light brown sugar

Mix together sugar, pecans, and flour.  Blend the butter and eggs, then add to the dry ingredients.  Use a mini muffin cup pan.  Grease and flour each cup, and then add the batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

A Bittersweet Week

This is the Roush's last week before they move to Dallas and start a new journey with a church in Coppell.  We have known they would be leaving for several months, but I can't believe the time has come.  Joey and I love the Roush's and count Rich and Megan as some of our closest friends.  Our friendship began about 2 years ago when we met in the same premarital education class.  From the beginning we shared many things in common preparing for summer weddings, being newly weds, Joey and Rich being in school, and Megan and I both working for non-profits.  Not only could we relate to being at similar stages in life, but quickly learned we watch several of the same shows on tv, were both getting high-energy puppies that have since become best friends, and attend the same church in Waco where we became part of a newly wed Sunday School class together .  Our time spent together with the Roush's has been marked with so many great memories.  Though they will be in another city, I know we will remain close friends. 

Megan and I have had to take turns reminding each other to focus on God's goodness through this transition.  The decision to move and begin this new journey of ministry has God's handiwork apparent all over it.  I know the Rosh's will do amazing things in their new community, and I look forward to hearing about the lives they touch.  I look foward to our continued friendship, though it may look a little differenly than watching The Bachelor together every Monday night and Grey's Anatomy on Thursdays, and letting the dogs play together on nights when they have way too much energy for us to handle.  We may not take turns cooking for each other every week or get to go on double dates quite as often, but you can bet our cars are going to have a few extra miles on them and our phones are going to get a little more use because our friendship will continue.  We are so blessed to know Rich and Megan and look forward to many more memories in the future.

First Kiss

This is too funny! I think mom and dad have a little player on their hands... I saw this on Good Morning America this morning and had to share.