Rise

I attended a Women's Bible Study event tonight at my church with Beth Moore and was so blessed by it.  JW and I have been attending Bayou City Fellowship, a church I first learned about the Living Proof Ministries blog, since we moved back to Houston this summer.  We tried a few others, but really felt led that BCF is where God wanted us.  Beth's son-in-law, Curtis Jones, is the pastor, and he is such a powerful motivator of faith.  The church is only a year old, and has already grown so much. 

Rise is BCF's quarterly women's night of worship and teaching by Beth Moore.  This was my first time to attend and my mom got to join me.  It was a powerful evening.  The Bible study was on 2 Kings 5:1-14 and we talked about God's power to heal us of the things holding us back from truly living for Him. The healing that God offers is sometimes hard and requires much of us, but we can be mighty women of valor living for Him if we allow the Spirit to help us.

One of the worship songs we sang was so moving and powerful to me.  The lyrics are below.  I don't want to forget the impact they had on me tonight.

"Beneath The Waters (I Will Rise)"
by Hillsong United

This is my revelation
Christ Jesus crucified
Salvation through repentance
At the cross on which He died

Now hear my absolution
Forgiveness for my sin
And I sink beneath the waters
That Christ was buried in

[Chorus]
I will rise, I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him, now in Him
I live

I stand a new creation
Baptized in blood and fire
No fear of condemnation
By faith I'm justified

[Chorus]
I will rise, I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him, now in Him
I live

I rise as You are risen
Declare Your rule and reign
My life confess Your Lordship
And glorify Your Name
Your Word it stands eternal
Your Kingdom knows no end
Your praise goes on forever
An on and on again

No power can stand against You
No curse assault Your throne
No one can steal Your glory
For it is Yours alone
I stand to sing Your praises
I stand to testify
For I was dead in my sin

[Chorus]
But now I rise, I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him, now in Him
I live

Fall Polish

I love having my nails painted.  It's not often that you'll find them bare.  I love all the new colors I can where when the seasons change too.  So, even though it doesn't feel like fall outside, and I can't wear fall sweaters and boots, (I've tried to wear boots and my feet just end up hot all day), I can wear fall nail polish. 

JW and I had date night last night, and before dinner stopped into Target to pick up a few things.  I needed some things in the cosmetic section and ended up trying on nail polish.  JW was patient with me, and here's what I came home with.

I have never worn anything like this copper color, and probably wouldn't have picked it out off the shelf, but a co-worker had it on last week and I loved it.

This is a deep golden bronze color.

Via

 I didn't buy this one, but will next time I see it.  I think it's a cool fall neutral.

Essie: Sand Tropez

Via

 Apparently, I am liking metallics this fall.  What are you wearing?

P.S.  Shout-out to my talented friend, Shay, who just started a neat "techy tips and tricks" blog called The Pocket Buzz.  That's where I learned how to add text to my photos from my iPhone for this blog.  Go check it out!  I promise you'll learn something. :)

Spice it Up: Signature Chefs 2012

I have mentioned work has been crazy over the last couple months, and that is because we were leading up to our fall event, Signature Chefs.  It is a really fun food and wine auction event.  I did this event in Waco, but this was my first year to be a part of Houston's event.  Needless to say, it was on a much larger scale.  Houston's Signature Chefs Gala is the largest in the nation for the March of Dimes.  We had a team of people working on it, so that was nice compared to me being the only staff person in Waco.  Here in Houston, I was in charge of the auction and culinary aspects of the event.  We had close to 100 auction packages and 25 chefs that were a part of the evening.  It was a huge success!  There were over 750 guests in attendance and we hit our million dollar goal!  Check out this article in a social publication about our event: Culture Map article.

It sure was a lot of work, but was so rewarding to see great results and a successful event Thursday night.  I am honored to work for an organization with a great mission to help moms and babies.  I didn't do a great job getting pictures since I was running around most of the evening.  I'm kicking myself and will do a better job next year.  Here are the couple I got.  My mom and JW both came and worked a Big Board auction for me.  I am grateful they were there. 
 

I am pretty exhausted, and we plan to spend most of the weekend resting.  We are looking forward to a normal week next week... no more 12 hour work days and 8:30 dinners!  Happy weekend!

Happy Birthday to JW!

Last Sunday, JW turned 27 years old and we spent the weekend celebrating.  Friday night we went out to eat at Outback, just the two of us.  It was nice to sit there and talk.  Work has been crazy lately, so it was good for us to get out and spend uninterrupted time together.

Saturday, we celebrated with friends and family and went bowling and then have everyone over to our house for dinner and cake.

Sunday was JW's actual birthday, and as a gift last year, my parent's had given JW Texans tickets to a game of his choice for this season.  He had chosen the Texans vs. Packers game this weekend, so we took an attorney JW works with and his wife.  Neither of them had ever been to a Texans game before, and even though the Texans lost, it was a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday, Joey!  We love you!

Dakota's Puppy Party

After work on Dakota's birthday, I went to watch Claire cheer at a middle school football game.  She is in eighth grade and did a great job!  It brought back Viking cheer memories for me.  So fun!

After the game we headed back to our house for dinner and cake (both for the humans and pups).  We love to celebrate around here, so even a doggie birthday is a good excuse to all get together.  Momma Hance was so sweet to make lasagna for dinner and bring it over since I was working all day.  My mom brought a bundt cake for the humans, and I made cake for the dogs.  I made the same peanut butter dog cake that I made Harley for her first birthday.

 JW and me with the birthday girl

 Family that came over to celebrate with us

The dogs were more challenging to get photos of, but the dogs in attendance were Maximus and Calamity Jane (with Momma Hance) and Noel (with my family).

 We ate in peace with the dogs all in the backyard.  It was pure puppy chaos when we let them all in.

Yes, we even sang "Happy Birthday" to Koda, and then moved the party back outside for the dogs to enjoy their cake.

 

Happy Birthday, Koda monkey!  We love you.

Happy 1st Birthday, Dakota!

Dakota is one year old today! We had a fun evening with family and puppies over to celebrate, but I'll have to post more on that later. I am just stopping for the first time since before 6:00 this morning. Work is busy right now, but we are so thankful for the opportunity to celebrate and spend time with loved ones. 

Dakota brings a lot of fun and joy to our lives, and we are grateful she is part of our family. Happy birthday, Koda Bear!

Taking the Plunge

JW and I are a little in the dark ages when it comes to cell phones.  We've never had smartphones or a data cell phone plan.  Well, we have decided to take the plunge...

 A couple of weeks ago we ordered the new iPhone 5.  I don't know anyone who doesn't love their iPhone, so we are joining the club.  Our new phones were not supposed to arrive for another week, but I received an email today saying they had shipped and should be in tomorrow!  We are pretty excited.

You know I already started looking for cases to make mine look stylish.  Here's the one I ordered.

Source

Watch out world... the Hance's are getting tech savvy! :)

Working Man

As a law school graduation present, my parents wanted to give JW a briefcase.  He wanted to get a few weeks of work under his belt to better know what he wanted.  This weekend, we met them to shop for one.  The whole Mullings crew came, and JW appreciated all the help. :)

Here's the one he ended up with. 

Manly and lawyerly, right?

After brief case shopping, we went to show them JW's office.  I should have taken a "before" picture, but, JW inherited an office with mismatched furniture that was also pretty poorly arranged.  A few attorneys had their last day with the firm last week and their offices were newly empty, so we went furniture shopping too.  Dad helped JW switch out furniture with an office on the floor above... no small feat!  Thank goodness for the freight elevator.  And me and mom rearranged.  Here's what it looks like now.  Still need to hang a few pictures and add a few things, but it's on its way.

Momma Hance, as a law school graduation present, wants to frame JW's diplomas for him.  Those will go on the wall along with a big world map.  We haven't found one yet, but JW wants a large old looking map in his office as well.  Stay tuned for pictures of the final product.  My hubby is a working man! 

Working like a dog

It's been awhile since I published a blog post, and it's been in the back of my mind that I needed to write one, only nothing notable or interesting has happened around here lately.  I asked JW tonight when we were both finally home from work what I should post about, and he said work.  How boring, I thought.  Only he's right... we have both been working a lot lately.  I've always said that I write this blog to document what is going on in our lives, and well, sometimes it's not glamorous.

My Signature Chefs event at work is only a month away and we are all starting to feel the pressure at the office.  I worked some this weekend, started working a little early this morning, and got home late today.  I wake up thinking about my to-do list and have a pretty constant knot between my shoulder blades. I should probably be doing my yoga, but don't feel like waking up early to do it and by the time I get home, I just want to sit on the couch.

I love my job and don't intend to complain.  I usually make an effort to leave work at the office and to not work or be thinking about work while I am home, but there are just some busy seasons, and this is one of them.

JW is in his third week at work and has stayed pretty busy.  He is waking up early to work out before heading to the office.  I know it's been a tiring routine to get used to, so I am proud of him.  JW's firm has had plenty of work to occupy their staff and then some over the last year.  So, they have welcomed the new associates and the opportunity to share the workload.  Late Friday night, JW got an email from an attorney at the firm with a last minute research project he needed help with for a law suit that had to be filed on Monday.  So, JW went to the office on Sunday after church and worked until dinner.  Working on the weekends shouldn't be a usual occurrence, but as Joey said this morning, at least he is staring the week with four billable hours already. :)

Jennifer closed on her new house this week and enlisted JW to help her move on Friday night and Saturday.  They did all the heavy lifting to load the U-Haul, and then I helped JW unload while Jenn ran some other errands.  Needless to say, JW did a lot of the work, but I wish I had a picture of me carrying one end of a couch. One of Jenn's neighbors walking by brought over a dolly after he saw us struggling through the front door. :)

 

In other news, Papaw was in town this week on Wednesday and Thursday night.  JW and I had Community Group with our new church on Wednesday night, so we went over to my parents to see him on Thursday.  Mom had a girls' night out planned, so I brought over some things to cook for dinner.  It was a fun evening. 

JW's Aunt Donna and Uncle Jimmy were in town this weekend too, so we went over to Nana and Papa's to see them on Saturday night.  They live in New Jersey, so it was neat to get to spend time with them.

We have been working a lot around here lately, but life is good.  It's a busy season, but we can't complain. Hopefully I don't go missing here on the blog, but if I do, you'll know why!

Labor Day Weekend

We enjoyed the long Labor Day weekend.  It's amazing the difference one extra day can make.  The month of August was "Restaurant Weeks" in Houston.  This is basically four weeks that over 150 nice restaurants in Houston offer special value dining and part of the proceeds benefit the Houston Food Bank.  It's an opportunity to eat at really nice restaurants for a great price.  I went to Del Frisco's with Em and some girl friends on Tuesday earlier in the week, and then JW and I had date night at Flemings on Thursday night.

Me and JW at dinner

Saturday we drove out to Montgomery to visit Joe, Angie, Matthew, Macie, and Jenn.  Matthew was home for his first visit from college, so we spent the afternoon with them.  Papa Joe grilled out for lunch, and the girls ran some errands while the boys watched football.  It was a good afternoon.

Sunday we went to church and met Momma Hance for dinner and a movie at Studio Movie Grill.  And then Monday, we went to the Houston zoo for the first time in years.  I didn't remember it at all.  I haven't been since I was a kid.  It was hot, but the zoo was pretty cool.

This momma lemur had a little baby on her back... so cute!

They fed the orangutangs frozen berry popcicles while we were there.

JW liked the snake guy.  I kept my distance.

Pretty jelly fish

Momma and baby elephant

Monday afternoon we were really productive and did things like grocery shopping and cleaning the house getting ready for our first week with both of us working. It was a good weekend!