Hope Now...

It has definitely been a hard couple of weeks.  Have had a heavy heart for so many families lately... as well as ours.  But - we have hope NOW in the Lord.  We look to the cross. 

I, like many others around me, have seen the body of Christ more fully lately.  To see people all over this metroplex... this state... this nation... this world... rise together to pray.  This is the way it should be - even when everything is going "fine".  How quickly we forget that we are not on this journey alone and we don't have to be. 

I heard this song yesterday on the way to work.  Just a reminder of who is carrying us through these days...  who has carried us through ALL of our days... who knows all the joy AND the sorrow in our lives... who is loving us thru it all. 

Hope Now by Addison Road

If everything comes down to love

Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours


I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life


Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free


When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm


Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

I am not my own
I've been carried by you all my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

day 1

When I bought my house almost two years ago, I was told by the previous owner that the yard was "low maintenance". I guess by that she meant little to no grass. WELL, she didn't know that , I have no green thumb. Before getting married, I never went in my side yard. After getting married, I was afraid to go because that was the only place that Kota could go do her business.... on the ROCKS. Talk about watching where you stepped! Plus, if I didn't see how bad it needed pruning, then it didn't exist.

Well, a week ago, a new family member joined us... an 8 week old yellow lab Riley. Pretty sure that dog needs some place to run!! Since neither Steven nor I really kept up with the trees, holly bushes, rose bushes, etc., we decided it is time to lay some sod!

So.... today was "Day 1" of this big house project. (On a side note, do NOT go into Home Depot roaming the aisles. You will find WAY more things that you want to do to the house... that you can't afford!!! Sad. Really. It can make you a little depressed if I am being honest...) Anyways. Back to our project.

Here are some almost before pictures: Notice the overgrown bushes and tall rose bushes... I'm almost embarrassed to put them on here. :)










We had a helper... Haha. She was THRILLED. There were sticks and leaves EVERYWHERE. Wow. Heaven.




And somehow this is where she always ends up... under the grill. And she doesn't just do this at my house... right Mom? Hahahaha. Weirdo she is.


Some "right now" pictures. There is still a lot to do... we need to pull out the trunks of the trees and bushes... somehow get rid of all of that rock... and then get the ground ready for sod. Makes me tired just thinking about it.






(Now don't get me wrong... it was a pretty side yard. If only I was someone that could manage it. As you can see, the yard is pretty small but Steven is already liking the space we have now... and I am too. Just can't wait to see the end result!)

And finally, here is my husband showing off his "guns" after his accomplishment. (and yes, I did help Mom)

the other woman...

Let me introduce you to Kota, the "other woman".

(My husband wants everyone to know that our dog DOES have back legs... Sorry. She wasn't feeling photogenic.)

When I first met her, I was pretty nervous. Steven had told me about her and how much she meant to him. He got her at a shelter when she was a puppy... and she is 12 years old now. He even carries around a picture of her in his wallet. (Shhhh... I'm not telling you this. :) He told me she was a weird dog and thinks of herself as a human. Now I've been around some weird dogs... but yeah. She is one of a kind.


She moved in with me when Steven moved back to Texas from Colorado back in March. (I am pretty sure I remember him saying that if I wouldn't let her move in, he wasn't moving back.) It has been an interesting growing of our relationship... that's for sure. But over the last 7 months, I have grown to love her. And this is why...


1. The way she just looks at me when I tell her to do something. (In other words - she looks at me like I'm stupid)
2. How she crosses her front legs when she lays down. Such a lady.
3. The way she "talks" to us (especially Steven) when we get home. (It is actually yelling...)
4. How she usually won't eat her breakfast until I get back from running.
5. She always needs to be between us or at least by us.
6. (Now this one isn't always great... but makes me laugh) When I have the bathroom door closed, she figures out a way to open the door with her nose. Note: this can freak you out if you are the only one at home and you are taking a shower. Haha.
7. She greets me some mornings before Steven. :)
8. She sometimes sleeps with all fours straight up in the air. Really. Weird dog.
9. How she sticks her head out of the doggie door when we tell her to go outside. I guess having her nose outside satisfies the request??


Poor thing has gone almost completely deaf over the past couple of weeks. You have to yell at her to get her to see you sometimes. She doesn't even hear us come in. So if you happen to drive by the house and hear some yelling, we're most likely just trying to get Kota to go outside or get in her bed. :)


(And don't tell Kota - we are looking into getting a puppy... so we might just disrupt her world in a little while. I'll keep you posted.)

aloha! welcome to ha-va-ee...

Ok. I am finally putting up the honeymoon pics. Sorry for all of the picture blogs but we have so many!!

For our honeymoon, we went to Kauai for 8 days. It was fabulous. We stayed at one of my aunt's rent houses on the North Shore. Definitely the way to go... We were spoiled! We started the week with horrible jetlag... but still tried to fit in a lot of things in the day. My aunt and uncle told us on Tuesday that we were too busy. :) I guess the tempo there is quite a bit slower than we are used to. We finally heeded their advice and ended the week with heading to the beach in the morning for snorkeling (laying out) and just took it easy. And taking 2 naps a day?? FABULOUS.

Click here to view our photos!

the big day...

Ok. So I just wrote a LONG post on the wedding day but it somehow got deleted. Boo. I just don't have the energy to write another one. SOOOOO - here are some pictures of the big day. (They aren't necessarily in order. Blogger is giving me fits.)

Some of my kiddos:

View from a 2 year old. :)

My niece Merritt - the flower girl

Aidan & Keely in front of Uncle Steven's bike. Aidan seems a little too happy. :)

Friday night rehearsal at the church

SOOO excited. HAHA

Some of the bridesmaids at the church waiting for the rehearsal to get going.

I'm not quite sure what to say here... :)

This picture just cracks me up. I'm not sure why...

Getting ready... Its almost here!!

Sass?! Where did THAT come from?? Oh wait... no. I just think I'm Superman??

My sweet girl - LOVE this picture

One of the FABULOUS cakes!

Such a beautiful houseparty!! I owe you for having to mess with the cake!!

My A-Group!!!!
My girls........................................ enough said.

let the party begin...

Back in April, my wonderful, beautiful bridesmaids threw me a personal shower. It was absolutely FABULOUS! Everything was beautiful, everything tasted divine... It was such a blessing to be around such great women! Here are some of the pictures from that day. :)

My wonderful mom!

Did I mention my bridesmaids were fabulous?!?! (Lori, Laura, Amy, Jennifer, Hollie)

My sees-ter!

My (fav) cuz!!

My favorite neighbor! :)

Me and my Jen...

Me and beautiful Holls...

All of my moms...

My awesome A-Group

Love it!