Whistler

A trip for two.

Zach and I had a wonderful vacation last week.  We flew to Canada to hit the slopes, relax, eat and drink.  And most importantly, SLEEP!  It came at the perfect time.  We had a blast.  Whistler, Canada is a sweet town with great restaurants and shopping.  We really didn't do much shopping because we spent our days on the slopes, but after dinner each night we would walk around a pop in a couple stores.  We woke up early, skied until our legs felt like jelly, soaked in the hot tub, took naps, showered, and headed to eat a delicious dinner.  We are creatures of habit and it seems that any trip we take we find ourselves in a routine by day two, ha!  We loved our routine on this trip ;)  I slept all night every night and it was glorious!  

I sure did miss my babies though, coming home to them was sweet sweet sweet!

five years

Tomorrow is our five year anniversary!  

It honestly feels like just yesterday I met Zach at a TCU fraternity party, ha!  After that night the rest is history.  It was love at first sight for me.  People ask if you believe in love at first sight, well I do.  Because it happened to me.  This guy stole me heart from the first conversation we had, it included my all time love, Jesus Christ (and yes we were at a fraternity party!!) Pretty awesome.  That night we found out we shared a great love for the Lord and also shared a Theatre class. Every class Zach saved me a seat and lunch usually followed.  But our first "official" date was to Church one Sunday morning and Chili's afterwards.  I was so excited to be with him at Church, I'm pretty sure I missed the entire sermon!  haha!  I remember what we ordered for lunch, I had a salad (never wanted to eat with my hands on a first date, ha!) and Zach had a burger.  I really wanted a burger but had to play it safe.  Didn't want burger grease running down my chin on a first date ;)  Silly me.  

Zach is studying for his CFP and this weekend he has another course so we aren't able to do a date night.  We celebrate last Friday night though and it was so wonderful!  I felt like a freshman in college again on my first date.  I had butterflies and nothing could wipe the smile from my face.  Hannah spent the night with her cousins in Fort Worth, so we didn't have to worry about relieving a babysitter.  

First we went to Nobu, an amazing Japanese restaurant here in Dallas.  We had so much food and my tummy was very full, but it was all so yummy.  We had sashito pepper, seafood soup, lobster ceviche lettuce wraps, crab tempura, blackened sea bass, and two sushi rolls.  After dinner we headed to Perry's for their famous apple pie in a bag with vanilla ice cream.  We sat under this beautiful red glass chandelier. After dessert we were headed home but then like three really good dance songs came on the radio, and after a bottle of wine and a dessert drink, we got in the mood for some dancing.  I laugh when I think about this but we headed to a bar on Knox Street and danced like we were in college again.  It was a blast!!!!

The only picture we got together was in the car on the way to dinner.  

The peppers.  I was so nervous to order these but our waiter recommended them.  They were delicious!

Awesome red chandelier 

I am so thankful for a fun night out with my love.  He is such an amazing person and I am so proud of him. 

Saturday morning we were both really ready to see Hannah so we jumped in the car and had lunch with family at Yogis (a FW fave).  Hannah had a blast with her cousins.  She was so tired on the way home but we wanted her to nap in her crib and not the car so we could nap too ;)  Zach was on duty for keeping her awake.  It was a hard job, but he did great!  After a long refreshing nap we headed to the park and enjoyed the rest of our weekend as a family :)

Hannah and Dada at work on Sunday getting some things organized.

Here's to a bazillion more years with this crew!!!!

heart

"Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends."

John 15:13

About a month ago one of my best friends got engaged and some of us girls were

oohing and aahing over her ring. This got us talking about the nice pieces of jewelry that we own. In college we all pretty much wore costume jewelry from J.Crew, Anthro, Franchescas, ect. Occasionally in college after Christmas break girls would come back with a nice bracelet or ring from their parents, usually from David Yurman. Which, I still love Yurman. And lately, it seems, a lot of people are starting to work for Stella and Dot an in-home trunk show jewelry boutique. Some of their stuff is really fun and pretty reasonable. I have been to a couple of their trunk shows and am always really tempted to spend lots of money, ha!

Anyways, long story short, somehow we started talking about gifts from our husbands. One of my friends mentioned how sweet it would be to get a heart piece of jewelry. The more I think about this the more I love the idea! Also, I have been seeing it everywhere. There really is something so sweet and kind about a heart. Here are some of the pieces I found...wrap your heart around these!

Tiffany's Open Heart Pendant necklace

Classic Tiffany Heart Locks bracelet...never got this even when it got really big after Reese Witherspoon wore the bracelet and matching necklace in the movie Sweet Home Alabama (great movie!) I still admire it.

Etsy special :)

Etsy special :)

Anthropologie heart

Yurman Cable Heart Chain

Yurman Cable Heart

talk about faith

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

I just read a really. good. book.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo has touched my life. I was told by family and friends to pick it up and read it, how great it was, and how much it would influence your faith. Boy did it ever!

This story is about a little boy who is rushed into emergency surgery. During this surgery he states that he died for three minutes and went to Heaven. After a successful surgery (really a miracle) he begins to tell his parents all about his journey. He talks about the people he saw, meeting Jesus and Mary, and the beautiful colors.

One of my favorite parts is when Todd Burpo (the dad and pastor) ends up having to take Colton (his son who visited Heaven) with him to a funeral home to bless an old friend and his family before taking his last breaths on Earth. The family of the old man gathers and Burpo says a beautiful prayer, all while Colton stands quietly. Then as they are leaving Colton turns back to the old man laying in bed and whispers in his ear, "It's going to be okay. The first person you're going to see is Jesus!" This part really touched my heart because it was so sweet and kind. In Burpo's words he describes his son as being, "a tiny tour guide for a departing heavenly traveler". What an amazing thing to read! I'm sure that old man's heart filled with such joy and calmness.

I found this website and thought it would be a neat one to share. It gives a good glimpse of the book, gives some excerpts, and also shows an interview of the boy and his parents many years down the road. Even though this site is filled with lots of information about the book, I really want you to go buy it and read it! It influenced me so much and added so much faith to my life :)

There's a lot to look forward too!!!!

breckenridge

For the past two weeks I have been in a beautiful place. Breckenridge, Colorado has to be just a little piece of heaven on Earth. I have been there a handful of times and loved it so much I decided I wanted to do a ski trip for my bachelorette party there. I have been wanting to go back ever since that fun trip three years ago! Needless to say, I was thrilled when my parents told us they were going to rent a house there this July! My entire family jumped on board and we had a great time!

I love love love winter in Colorado, but I have to admit, summer in Colorado has to be the best! There is so much to do and it's such a refreshing break from the Texas heat. We spent our days hiking to snow tops, biking from city to city, shopping the cute boutiques, and eating lots of sweets :) I think I had ice cream on a dipped sprinkle cone everyday!

The best part of the trip by far, was just getting to spend time all together for such a long period. Waking up in a house filled with your family and a cup of hot coffee waiting for you, really makes you feel blessed. I loved catching up with my sisters and watching the children play. The guys had lots of "boy time" too while playing golf in the mountains and fishing on the rapid waters. It was a trip filled with lots of activities yet many afternoon naps while listening to the river water behind the house.

Being home is wonderful, but I have to say, I was really tempted to stay!

View from our balcony

Breath taking!

Bike ride to Frisco! About 2o miles and we did it two times!

Sisters getting ready to bike!

Miss Mary is 7 months prego (looks so cute) but couldn't do the bike ride,

so we did a fun hike instead!

Sisterly Love

Brotherly Love

Happy flowers everywhere!

Poppie's the size of your head!

Baskets filled with the deepest blues :)

Best Friends :)

River pic, adorable cousins :)

Great Hike! See the snow!

Shopping the streets on a gorgeous day!

"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."

Genesis 1:31

birthday boy

Happy Birthday Zach!

This weekend has been so great! We got to celebrate Zach's birthday at the lake. God knew he was making something special on May 30, 1985. It was so much fun and we all loved showering Zach on his special day. The weekend was filled with yummy meals, lots of fun in the sun, and a morning of golf at Colonial with the guys. I hope he felt very loved!

I love you so much babe! I know this year will be a great one for you :)

Gavin just knew that Zach would love a dinosaur cake! It was a great idea and went perfect with the homemade Heath Bar ice cream!

Gifts for the birthday boy!

Happy Birthday! Love you!

great date

Six years ago when Zach and I first started dating we went on one of my favorite dates, still to this day. Don't you just love those nights when everything goes perfect?! That's how this night was, for sure!

It was really last minute and we just randomly decided to try out the Concerts in the Garden at the Botanical Gardens. We went to the mall and bought some awesome wine bags, made by BUILT (since then we have bought more of these awesome wine bags, but that's another post), a blanket, and we quickly ate at Chick-fil-A. Then we headed to the Gardens, not knowing who was playing or what to expect at all. Luckily for us it was a refreshing summer night and the band was a Beatles cover. We drank both bottles of wine, the conversation was going, and we danced the night away. I will always remember the night!

Since being in Dallas we recently just heard about "Cool Thursdays" at the Arboretum. On the lawn, picnics, wine, dancing, and a great band, same idea. This season we bought a package deal and I look forward to it every time. The only difference now as a married couple, is that we are way more prepared and organized. Last week we went and I wanted to document the night, so I took lots of pics.

You'll need a picnic basket (here are some from Brookstone that are neat). My parents gave us this one the night of our wedding. When we got back to the hotel it was filled with little samples of the foods from our wedding, champagne, and pieces of our cakes. I love this basket.

Fill it up with dinner, napkins, utensils, cup, water, and wine.

A blanket and chairs. I got our chairs at Dick's Sporting Goods. They sit really low to the ground and have cup holders. Plus you can wear them as a back-pack!

Before the next concert, I am getting these! They are called Steady Sticks and hold your wine glass and are super cool...

And once you get there, this is your backdrop. Gorgeous huh? God is good!

Stage at the bottom of the lawn hill.

One happy girl :)

If you haven't been to a Concert in the Gardens, you must go! It is so laid back and wonderful :) I love being outside, talking with the ones you love, and enjoying great scenery, it is awesome!

february scripture

It's the end of the month, wow, time flew this month! I feel so bad I have not posted my two bible verses for this month's scripture challenge with Beth Moore. However, there have been two verses that really stood out to me this month and I have been memorizing them.

One morning I sat down, opened my bible, prayed it would touch me, and started reading. It was so awesome how the words I read applied to my life so perfectly. I love doing this! Here are the two verses that really stood out to me and I have been praying over all month.

I love this first one because it reminded me that His love and faith stands strong always for us, just like our love and faith in Him should stand strong always. This faith will give you a glorious joy. So wonderful!

"Though you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9

This second verse reminded me of how things will change and hardships will come but his love and his glory will stand forever and make us strong!

"All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."

1 Peter 1:24-25

This weekend we are rejoicing! We have been trying to find a Church that we love and are involved with. After about two years of bouncing around, the past couple of months we have been visiting Highland Park United Methodist and we could not be more happy! This morning we visited a Sunday school class called "The Knot" (so cute!) and felt right at home. Everyone was so welcoming, it was such a great experience, just what we have been praying for. I am beyond excited and can't wait until next Sunday to go back! Finding a Church community is so powerful and I feel peaceful about our new home! :)

my love

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13

Tomorrow we are celebrating our two year anniversary. I can not believe this! Really, at all! It seems like just last weekend we were dancing the night away at our wedding reception. The past two years, I have changed and grown up so much. My husband has helped me to see that life is about seeing the good and spreading the cheer to others. I absolutely love him for this. He has also helped me feel confident and comfortable in so many situations. When I am anxious or shy, I think of him and his love. He makes me feel so special every single day and I am beyond thankful for our marriage. It has been such an amazing blessing and I thank God every single day for the love of my life.

I pray, that all people have someone in their life that makes them feel like this. Makes them feel so special and loved. I love you so much, now and forever!