{iPhone Rewind} :: September

We spent Labor Day weekend with my parents in San Antonio. We learned a new card game called "Golf" and really enjoyed playing several rounds!

Mike packed us dinner and we headed out to the park. We decided to take Sasha with us, and she wasn't too sure about the swans...she seemed interested in them, but was really more concerned with the fact that Mike was feeding chips to them and not her :)

One of my sweet co-workers recently got married and is moving to Ft. Worth. We had a going away lunch for her, which was bittersweet. On our way out of the restaurant, they wanted to snap a photo; this is what happens when the accounting department is on the loose!

My sweet husband told me he had a surprise for me that he had made himself. He went to Michael's, bought supplies, and then made this adorable date night jar :) I love his creativity and how he spent the time to think of date nights for us. I'm excited to see all of the dates he planned!

My boss gets cooler mail than your boss! ;) Seriously, what the heck? It came with assembly instructions and the promise of more pieces to come...haha. I guess it worked because it got my attendtion, for sure.

The sweet lady in our church is still working on that project for work, so we offered to take her kids for the afternoon. It was also her birthday, so the kids spent the day making her a cake and sweet posters/cards!

Kroger had this creamer on display right as you walked in the door...and it was on sale...and I totally bought some...and I'm totally addicted. It tastes like fall {if fall had a taste}  :)

We got to baby-sit our sweet neighbors' little boy. He thinks "Pathtor Mike" is the coolest person ever {and let's be honest, he is}. He had a grand time using Mike's face as a race track for his cars :)

Mike had an opportunity to preach at our McKinney Chick-Fil-A! The owner hosts a quarterly worship service for his employees and asked if Mike would come preach on community. It was fun to be in a Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday! Sadly, there was no chicken, but we did get sweet tea :)

{iPhone Rewind} :: August

We officially experienced the Dog Days of August. The seemingly mild summer disappeared as the 100+ degree weather settled in...

This is what Sasha does when she is pouting. She hides behind the curtains as if to say, "I'm ignoring you; don't talk to me." Mike is right. She can be such a Diva.

When Nothing Bundt Cakes shows up at work with free bundtinis, it's hard to say no to these bite sized treats! This red velvet was a nice afternoon pick-me-up :)

A sweet lady in our home group is working on a huge work project, so we offered to take her kids to their juggling practice so she could work late. I got to spend the evening watching them do all kinds of fun tricks- juggling, rope twirling, plate spinning, etc. Love these sweet kids!

Our sweet friend Becca had her baby shower, and I was so excited that I got to be there. She might be just about the cutest pregnant lady I know :) We're so excited for her and Drew, and can't wait to meet sweet Evelyn June {don't you just LOVE that name??}

We got to spend a Saturday with Ben and Lindsay at Top Golf. The weather was unbelievably gorgeous, and we had such a great time hanging out!

I have been wanting a snow cone all summer and we finally had one! We tried one in our neighborhood and found out it has been in business for 34 years. Tiger Blood is the way to go :)

We had a second fundraising night at Spoons Garage in downtown McKinney. We had a great turnout, and it was amazing to see the relationships we have formed with so many.

So my beautiful friend Austen won Mrs. Texas this year. And then she won Mrs. America. Because she is awesome. Congrats sweet friend...go share the name of Jesus!

We got to go on a double date with the Rays to a Rough Riders game. We love these sweet friends, and any time we get to spend with them!

{iPhone Rewind} :: July

July felt busy before it even started. There was definitely A LOT going on!!

I got it in my head that I wanted to make popsicles. So we bought a popsicle mold and started experimenting with recipes. The picture above is our first run: Mango Pineapple Popsicles. These fruit pops were super yummy {cheap and healthy too}, and I am excited to try different kinds throughout the summer!

We spent July 4th over at our sweet friends place...and got to be a "Ray for a Day." :) We grilled out, the guys did some skeet shooting, and we enjoyed some fireworks. It was a great day, and we are so thankful for these sweet friends!

Mike sent me this photo of Sasha with a text that said: "Sasha's thought bubble: 'Where is the most inconvenient place for me to take a nap?' " Haha- right in the doorway. She's a mess.

July was also wedding month for my sweet friend Laura! I got to help her with several things, and this morning we worked on centerpiece luminaries and programs.

  

Addie is one of the few kids in our home group, and she has recently become mobile. Which to Sasha means easily-accessible food access. Addie LOVES Sasha and they have become best of friends. I snapped this photo while Addie was talking to Sasha and giving her hugs under the table :)

As Matron of Honor, I was busy preparing several things for Laura's big day...bachelorette party, MOH speech, rehearsal bouquet, and some other fun surprises for the bride.



Mike and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and we received this sweet gift from my parents :)

 

Mike had the opportunity to preach at Mercy Church in Frisco for a couple of weeks. I love when he has the opportunity to do this, as I know he is best operating within his gifts. You can listen to his sermons here and here.

 

Mike and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. We started our day off with exchanging gifts and a Starbucks breakfast :)

 

I had a hair appointment at the Dry Bar before Laura's wedding. I really love this place and was thankful for the fun little splurge. #nomakeup

 

I loved this idea I saw on Pinterest and wanted to duplicate it as a fun touch to Laura's wedding. We texted this picture to David right before his bride walked down the aisle to meet him!

 

And because they are adorable, this was his response :)

 

 Thank you TXU for sending us these awesome Sonic coupons! We will definitely be utilizing these :)

 

Vacation Weekend

I am so excited to have this week off from work; I definitely could use the break! While it will be filled with fun festivities for Laura's wedding, it's nice not to have to be in the office :)

I started my vacation by coming home to my husband in a cow costume, telling me to get changed, we were heading to Chick Fil A for Cow Appreciation Day!

Is free chicken worth the silly costume? Yes. Yes, it is.

And because we're cool, we hit 3 different Chick Fil A's in the area to stock up on chicken for the weekend. Don't judge us.

My brother came to hang out with us for the weekend, which is always fun. Saturday I had breakfast with Laura, which was a sweet time to catch up before the flurry of wedding activities this week. Mike and I each had a few things we needed to work on, but then we took a break and headed out to McKinney Trade Days. It was SUPER hot, but still fun to walk around and see what people had for sale. We got to see all the puppies for sale, which was my personal favorite :)

Saturday evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Olive Garden (courtesy of a gift card from our sweet landlord), then spent the evening playing games and watching a movie. 

Sunday, Mike was preaching at Mercy Church, a fellow Acts 29 church in Frisco. 

We visited them when we first moved to McKinney, when they were still meeting in a movie theatre. Now, they are meeting in a School of Rock building, and it was encouraging to see how they have grown over the last couple of years. It was definitely fuel in our tanks to see a church a couple steps ahead of us. Mike will be preaching there again next Sunday, and our home group will be joining us as well. We are really excited for them to see a growing church plant, so they can have something tangible to envision. 

This weekend was a great start to vacation time, and I am looking forward to all the fun festivities this week! :)

Genesis

This week, we wrapped up our women's Bible study. We have been walking through the book of Genesis since the beginning of November {I know, awkward time to start a Bible study...it's just how the calendar fell}. I love this book, and I really enjoyed this study. It was a blessing to walk through the "beginning" with these women, some for the first time, most in a deeper way.

 

I mentioned before how there were some challenges along the way. But I have seen God's faithfulness to perseverance! The fact that we ended strong with 7 women {remember, there were many nights when it was 1 or 2 haha} was an encouragement to my heart :) But more than that, I have seen these women grow in their knowledge/understanding of the Word and, more importantly, in their relationships with God. I thought I would share some of the things that were shared as we wrapped up the study, as a testament to God's faithfulness and a record of many answers to prayer!

 

Many of the women were surprised to find Jesus in the Old Testament. Whether it was in instances of the Trinity or in Christ-like figures and character, it was exciting to see how the two testaments relate and seamlessly tell the story of redemption through Jesus...even way back in Genesis :) So many times we look at the stories of the Old Testament, with the lists of hard-to-pronounce names and strange-to-us laws, and we can be tempted to skip over them. I mean, those things aren't really relevant to us today in McKinney, TX 2013...right? And yet, we saw over and over how that sentiment couldn't have been farther from the truth. The Old Testament is absolutely relevant to us and is filled with truth treasures. It is something the Lord revealed to me many years ago, but it was so encouraging to see the excitement and wonder from the women in the group!

 

Another thing that was shared was how God has changed our perspective on reading through His Word. It's not a book about us and the truths we can pull from it to apply to our lives {though application is important!} Instead, it is a book about our loving Creator, His character and how He invites us into a life with Him. So we don't throw application out the window {far from it!}, but we do seek to know who God is and how we can change our lives to fit into His plans. The cool thing to me was seeing the character and nature of God, unchanging throughout eternity. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

 

Genesis is filled with all kinds of crazy characters, and yet we saw over and over God's patience and faithfulness, His grace and redemption. God fulfills all of His promises, and He uses ordinary {and sinful} people to accomplish His good plans. It really gave each of us a "big picture" perspective. As one girl put it, "God is going to accomplish His plans no matter what; how much heartache or joy do you want to experience along the way?" How incredible that God uses us to be a part of what He is doing!

 

We are taking a short break and then will be starting a new study in June: Exodus. Why not continue the story? :) I am excited to walk through this study with these women, and I cannot wait to see how God uses His Word to teach and mold us into the women He desires us to be!

 

Go and Be

This weekend our home group headed over to the Rockwall neighborhood in East McKinney to particpate in a Go and Be project. This mass service project is a long-term collaborative effort by local churches, the city, 3e McKinney, and Habitat for Humanity. We are working to renovate homes in an East McKinney neighborhood, all with the specific purpose of sharing the gospel with our neighbors.

 

I love the statement on the 3e McKinney website about the heart behind Go and Be:

There's a God in heaven who loves the people of this community, and we get to bring people that news through our humble acts of service.

Mike has been working like crazy to help the main organizer pull off this event, and I know he is glad to see the fruits of his labor! We repainted the house, shed, and dog house. We also replaced the fascia board and planted new flowers.

It was a great day, and we really hope Ms. Sissy feels blessed!

High Five for Friday!

{one} This week, both of our moms celebrated a birthday! Mike's mom on Tuesday, and my mom on Wednesday. We didn't get to see either one of them for their birthdays this year {so sad}, but we plan to take Mike's mom out for dinner, and my mom will be here for Mother's Day weekend. Happy Birthday month to our sweet moms! :)

 

{two} On Wednesday, Mike and I went to lunch with a sweet lady from Woodcreek. Her kids were in Mike's youth group, and she is now Sasha's vet here in McKinney! It was such a sweet time of catching up with her and sharing an update on our church planting journey. I was reminded of the blessing of having so many supporters. Like we have experienced with so many others, it was an encouragement to hear her excitement and prayers for us, as well as her desire to help us in any way she can as we look to the next steps of the church plant. God is so good!

 

{three} Last night Laura came over for dinner, and it was good to spend time with her. I saw her on Sunday for her shower, but it was nice to have some time to just hang out and talk. While I wish that we lived a little closer {like same zip code closer}, I am so thankful that she is a short {30 minute} car ride away. And she will actually be a slightly shorter {25 minute} car ride away when she gets married! Hey- I will take what I can get ;)

 

{four} I saw this meme on Facebook and I just couldn't resist the urge to post it on my brother's timeline...the child has always been a Lakers fan {not sure what happened, but he is obviously confused}. We grew up in San Antonio, so he should be a Spurs fan. That's how it works.

 

They play again tonight, so it will be fun to continue the series lead! Go Spurs Go! :)

 

{five} Tomorrow our home group is heading over to East McKinney to be a part of a massive Go and Be project. I have been a part of similar projects at other churches and am excited about this opportunity to serve in McKinney. This particular long-term project is a collaborative effort by local churches, the city, 3e McKinney, and Habitat for Humanity. We are working to renovate homes in an East McKinney neighborhood, all with the specific purpose of sharing the gospel with our neighbors.

Happy Friday! I am sure glad it's almost time for the weekend...

 

Easter at the Park

We almost had a repeat of last year with our Easter at the Park plans. We woke up to thunderstorms and a full day of a rainy forecast. But the Lord calmed the storms and the sun came out for a beautiful afternoon. It was a little muddy, but we braved the soggy fields and had a great day at the park!

We headed out to Erwin Park for our Easter church service. I love this idea, because it is a fun way to celebrate our risen Savior together as family, as well as a great way to invite others to come celebrate with us. 

We grilled out...

...played some games...

...including some Ultimate Frisbee...

...had an Easter message...

...and just enjoyed running around in the beautiful weather!

We are so thankful for the beautiful day and the opportunity to celebrate with our sweet church family!