Ladies Night

This weekend, my sweet bridesmaids threw me a lingerie shower. I have to say that I had SO much fun! We had such a great time- the night was filled with laughter and I was so blessed to have sweet girl friends to celebrate with! Here are just a few photos from the evening...

Pin the Garter on Mike :)

The lovely Sami Lilley

Katie, Amy, and Kelly

With my beautiful Maid of Honor!

Laura, Jackie, and Sara

Sweet Lindsey

My sweet hostesses for the evening!

So fun! 

I am so blessed to have each one of these ladies in my life! Many of these girls have known Mike since he was in high school. I am so grateful for a group of women who have loved him for so many years and who have welcomed me into the group with such sweet hearts. Each one of these ladies has been a sweet blessing to me- through their prayers, words of encouragement, and excitement/support for me and Mike as we start our lives together. I couldn't ask for a better group of sisters in Christ!

Old Lady-Hood

Seriously guys, I feel like an old lady some days haha. I'm not actually worried about getting old and am far from actually being "old." I am incredibly blessed to be in good health and enjoy being active. But I realized the other day that there are some things in my life that make me look as though I am headed toward old lady-hood :)

1. I go to bed before the 10:00 news....sometimes when you can still see a little light outside...
With my busy schedule, this has actually been very difficult to do as there are just too many things to check off the To Do list every day. But now that some things are slowing down and somewhat normalizing, I am trying really hard to get a little more sleep than I have been getting in recent months. Now, in my defense- I get up ridiculously early for work. But when I was younger, I remember thinking that only old people go to bed early and get up with the rooster haha. That's an image I have in my head of my grandparents. So it's odd to me that that's me now :)

2. I eat Cheerios to help lower my cholesterol
Last year, my bloodwork revealed that I have elevated cholesterol....? So random. I may not always eat the best things for me (I LOVE Dr Pepper and french fries haha), but I would say I live an above average healthy lifestyle. The funny part was that the doctor's recommendations were to do the things I already did- eat healthy food and exercise regularly. Darn those hereditary conditions. Anyway, I started a Cheerios regimen in an effort to lower my cholesterol (their advertising worked on me!) Good news is that it actually helped! I continued eating well and exercising like normal and really only added Cheerios to the equation and this year's bloodwork revealed a better cholesterol score. The sign that I am "old" : I walked out of Target the other day SUPER excited about my Cheerios find- 2 large boxes for only $5. (I really was a little more excited than I probably should have been about the deal on Cheerios...)

3. I take medical food

Ok- so this is is when it really hit me that I was on the edge of old lady-hood. Along with my elevated cholesterol, the bloodwork revealed that I had a Vitamin D deficiency. Apparently, it's not uncommon for those two things to be connected (higher cholesterol and Vitamin D deficiency)... who knew? Anyway, the bad news is that while my cholesterol improved over last year, my Vitamin D actually worsened...eek. So now my doctor has me taking special medical food. It's really just an overdose of Vitamin D...but when you stand in line with the 80-year-old men who are at the pharmacy to get their dietary supplements and medications for their legitimate old-age ailments...and have a discussion with them about the effects of old age...yeah, it'll make you feel old, if even for a brief moment. Of course, what I really heard my doctor say is that I need to spend more time laying by the pool to soak up the sun...and of course boost my Vitamin D levels. Doctor's orders ;)

4. I just blogged about my medical ailments
The #1 sign I look like I am heading to old lady-hood? I'm talking about my medical ailments. On my blog. Like old people do.  :)

Maine, Graduation, and Some Promised Pictures

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Portland, Maine for work. I'm a little sad that I spent most of my time in meetings and was not able to tour too much, but I am always thankful for the chance to get out of the office and do my work in fun places :)

We stayed at the Portland Harbor Hotel and this was the view from my room...

A view of the harbor at sunset...

You can't travel all the way to Maine and not have lobster! ;)

I caught an early flight home on Friday so that I could make it back to Dallas in time to be at my brother's graduation. I am so proud of him!! He graduated from DBU with a degree in Kinesiology and a minor in History. He will be continuing his education at DBU to earn his Masters in Kinesiology...he jokes that he is working to be smarter than me :) He has worked so hard to earn his degree, and I can't wait to see where the Lord leads him next!

With the happy graduate

Still in shock that it's actually official :)

A couple of weekends ago, I mentioned that Mike and I went down to San Antonio to visit my parents and attend a Couples Shower. My dad sent the pictures to me so (as promised) here are a few from the weekend...if you are wondering about the nametags, just remember that it wouldn't be a BSF event without nametags ;)

The BSF staff gave us such a sweet shower...

A couple of the hostesses preparing the dessert table...

Greeting our sweet guests...

It was such a blessing to see sweet people who have loved and prayed for us

So many people came to celebrate with us!

By far my favorite picture of the whole day...Mrs. Colette telling us that she had first dibs on giving us a baby shower when the time came haha

We stole away from the festivities for a few seconds to eat our food and my dad caught us :)

Opening presents :)

More presents...

I don't know why, but I just thought this was a funny picture :)

Apparently, Mike was excited about the coasters :)

We got our bedding set!

A little blurry, but a quick pic with my parents :)

 We ended our fun day of celebration by having some Mexican food. My dad was still in picture-taking mode, so he made us all pose in front of the fountain before we got our table...

I want to take a mental snapshot of life right now. Life is good right now. Life is exciting and I want to enjoy every minute of it, as well as remember all the fun we are having. We have been incredibly blessed by the outpouring of love and support from sweet friends and family. I praise Jesus for this sweet time. 60 days!! :)

Fun Updates :)

Move Update
Last weekend I packed up the rest of my things, turned in my keys, and said good-bye to apartment life. I have had the incredible blessing of moving in with a sweet friend from my 20s group; Kelly offered to take me (and Sasha!) in for the next couple of months before the wedding.

Haha- Kelly, we need more pictures together without other people in them...and maybe some where we're not in costume ;)

I am SO grateful for this sweet friend and for her generous heart. It's one thing to let me move in...it's an entirely different thing to let my dog come too! :) I've only been there a week, but I am just so thankful for the time I have with her over the next few weeks. Definitely looking forward to some good roomie time ;)


Sasha Update
Sasha seems to be adjusting well too. She is super excited that she has new friends to play with (Kelly has 2 dalmatians), though she is having to learn to be sensitive to her new friends. Annie likes her personal space, and we all know well Sasha ignores that. And Dell is a little older and unsteady on her back legs, so we have to remind Sasha not to go "Dell- Tipping"  :)

Sasha is also having to learn how to share...

Dell really likes Sasha's kennel, and my dog doesn't know what to do with herself when she finds Dell curled up inside haha. She will look back and forth between me and Dell, whining and wondering what I am going to do to fix the situation. She usually gives up and just decides to stare Dell down...with little success. Otherwise, there is relative peace in the house, which I am grateful for!



Weekend Update
This past weekend, Mike and I headed to San Antonio for a Couples Shower that was given by the sweet BSF staff. It was so fun to see everyone and to introduce Mike to them; I grew up with the staff and they have prayed for me over the years. We were so blessed and overwhelmed by the generosity of staff, both in hosting a beautiful shower and in the gifts they gave. (Pictures to come later...)

It was also fun to spend the weekend with my parents, especially since it was Mother's Day! I still talk to my mom every day, but the phone just doesn't replace a hug :) I was also able to see both of my grandmothers this weekend too, which I am always grateful for that time, as I realize how rare it is that I still have both of them living.


House Hunting Update
We found our new place! :) The house hunting process has been such an incredible blessing...through a friend of Mike's sister-in-law, we were connected with a realtor in McKinney who has been so generous to offer her time to help us search for a house to rent. We were able to give her our "wish list" and she found us this cute little house near the downtown area- we love it!

Mike will move into the house in June, so we'll be able to get things set up and ready for life together when I join him after the wedding. 67 days!! :)

Morning Meditation

"The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb."

~Psalm 19:7-10