Fashion Crisis

Okay Blog Friends............I need your help again!

My brother is getting married this summer.

In late July in south Texas (think VERY HOT)

I have NO IDEA what I'm going to wear and I'm starting to stress a little. I only have one brother and he will only get married once so I want to wear something pretty. HELP!
The wedding colors are brown, pink and green. Do I try to blend with those colors or wear something totally different? I'm trying to steer away from black. I also am not a fan of strapless dresses (on me). It's not a great look for me.
I've been browsing and these dresses are ones I kind of like. What do ya'll think? What kind of dress should I wear? What color? And do you like any of these at all?
Chris and Carrie - I know ya'll read this - feel free to pitch out your opinion!!!

#1 - I really like this dress and the color - but strapless just doesn't look great on me. (and not sure silk is the greatest idea in sweltering temperatures)

#2 - Just kind of a simple brown dress
#3 - I think this is kind of pretty
#4 - not sure about yellow but I sort of like the style
#5 - I think this would be pretty with gold shoes and earrings
#6 - this may be too casual?

HELP!!!!!!!!!

Feeling My Age

So last week one night I went to the gym and I suddenly started having a small mid-life crisis. A guy that I graduated high school with moved to my town a couple of years ago and I've started running into him at the gym. We knew each other as 11 year old kids and when I see him I still see that 17 year old boy I graduated with. And as I was doing a step class I was thinking about that and then I started thinking....."WE WILL BE THIRTY-FIVE THIS YEAR!!!!" When did this happen????????? (I sort of hyperventilated for a few minutes) It was just yesterday that I drove my brand new white Chevy Beretta with a pink GT on the side that my parents got me for graduation to his house to pick him up for graduation practice. I felt so grown up and free!
It took 17 years to get from birth to graduation and that seemed like it took forever. How did the 17 years since graduation fly by so fast? I swear I am still 24????
And now I hear they are going to do a re-make of "90210". That was MY show. Those kids were exactly my age. They graduated high school and went to college the same year I did. I cried a little the year the show ended. So sad.
What is YOUR show? Do you have a show that defines your life at a certain point? I'd love to hear what it is and why?

Girls Just want to have Fun

I have had such a fun friend filled day!!!

First I had lunch with three sweet girls from church at Granite City Grill (can I just say YUM!)

This is Maegan and Jenna - aren't they beautiful? Jenna is a new blogger - go say hi!

This is me and sweet Rachel. Rachel is one of the most precious people I have ever met. She has been such an encouragement to me. She just has such a big heart. Rachel and Maegan's husbands are both on staff at our church and our church is so lucky to have them.

L to R: Me, Rebekah, Katie, Hillary, Laurie and Emily (in front)
(and yes - we all 5 have blogs!)(yeay!)

Tonight I met up with some old friends for dinner at Marketplace. It was great to catch up with friends I don't see very often. My friend Rebekah is moving to Waco, TX next week. Her husband got a job working in Baylor's athletic department. He moved in February and she is just now following him. Laurie and I were living together about 7 summers ago when Rebekah, Katie and Hillary all lived together that summer and were still in school at the U of A. We met them through our church because Laurie and I were leading a Bible study for college girls. We hung out with them a lot that summer and they became good friends. Laurie and I had the honor of being honor attendants at Rebekah's wedding, we got to attend Katie's wedding and this summer we will be bridesmaids in Hillary's wedding. We don't see Rebekah or Katie often but I just love them.

Hillary and Laurie

Rebekah and Katie - Katie has the CUTEST little girl who is going to be one soon

Me and Rebekah

I hope you treasure your girl friends. I am sooooooooo thankful for all the wonderful girlfriends God has placed in my life. I had a sweet lady e-mail me today who reads my blog. She moved to a foreign country with her husband recently and really has no friends. I can't imagine how hard that would be. I have thought about her a lot today.
I hope if you have friends that you will pray for them. Encourage them. Offer to babysit their children. E-mail them. Call them. Invite them to lunch. Ask them how they are doing and mean it. Send them a card just because.
I'm telling myself this as much as I'm saying it to you. I just think we take for granted what a blessing it is to have friends.

Good News!

My friend Sarah has some wonderful news over on her blog!!!!!!!!!

We have been walking the same road and I'm so thankful for another reminder not to give up hope. God is still a God of miracles!!!

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 9:10
But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalms 71:14

Scrub a Dub in the TUB

Tonight Scott and I were in my office having a discussion over who should bathe Dawson. Scott normally does every week because well frankly - he does a better job than me. But he had some other things to do so I said I would do it in a little while.
Dawson HATES baths. So while we were discussing......we realized he had crawled under my chair and was hiding.


Sometimes I can't believe how smart that dog is and that he can understand what we are talking about!!!! SO FUNNY!
I have a feeling he isn't exactly thrilled when he hears us discussing our upcoming vacation either. ha!

Whooooooooooooo pig sooie!!!!

My weekend started off great. I LOVE mail. LOVE it! and when I got home on Friday - I had a package from one of my favorite bloggers, Jenna. She is TOO MUCH! She sent me the sweetest card in which she wrote a lot of very encouraging words and she made me a magnet that is awesome and she got me some earrings that are SO ME!!!! Jenna reminds me of someone I would have been friends with in college (or now). She is funny and so thoughtful and just someone you want to be around!!!

This is a close up of my magnet - it's even in my favorite colors (green & brown) and it's one of my favorite verses (kind of my theme verse right now!)
Today has been a great day for the Razorback nation! First was the NFL draft. My boy Darren McFadden went 4th to the Raiders. Now I could care less about the NFL - especially about the Raiders but I believe I will be watching some games this year. And I'm especially excited that Felix Jones went to the Cowboys because Scott is a huge Cowboys fan and I might like watching some of their games with them if I can catch one of my favorite former Hogs.
Scott and I went and had an early dinner at Outback. When I say early - I mean we were there at 4:15 (with the blue hairs). ha! I was so excited to eat a real meal that did not come from a frozen box. It was so good. This is Scott watching the draft intently while we ate. (when he wasn't texting his friends).
Then we went to the Spring Red/White game. We were so pumped because there was a great turnout. I've heard there were between 40-45,000! It was so fun!

Here we are - getting ready to call the hogs!

I never get tired of watching the players run out of the A!!!! We are so excited about our new coach and the years to come!!!!
We left at halftime and went to Target and Old Navy and got Scott several pairs of shorts and three pairs of flip flops and some sunglasses and shirts. He should be set!
I've got to get to bed - I have an early morning teaching those wild four year olds!!!!

Check List

One of my favorite things to do as a stress buster is to do a little lunch time shopping. I normally don't buy anything.......I just like to visit stores. Especially right now when I'm eating WW frozen meals for lunch.
Today I made a little stop at TJ Maxx and I scored:

Kenneth Cole Sunglasses: $10
Steve Madden Gold Sandals: $20
Jantzen bathing suit: $20

Being ready for a dream vacation: Priceless

I'm hitting the gym for a little Zumba after work and then I'm going home and it's time to do the old Closet Switch out. I need to trade my sweaters for sundresses and my boots for sandals. And then I'm going to start sorting out what I'm taking on vacation. I may even start packing.

I'm so excited!

Have a great weekend!!!!

Baby Shower

Tonight we had a baby shower for my best friend in all the world, Laurie. She will be having little Sarah Kate in 6 more weeks and I can't wait to meet my new little niece!
We had a really good turn out. Our Sunday School class has a tradition that for 2nd, 3rd or more babies.........we go to a restaurant and everyone eats and visits and gives gifts. It's very simple, easy to plan and a good excuse for a girl's night out!

Here are Laurie and I. I realize you really can't tell which one of us is almost 8 months pregnant.

Amanda and Ashley

Leah and Julie

Kacy and Lindsey. Kacy is next up for a shower. Her shower is the day I leave for Hawaii. :-( But I'm making some special stuff for it even though I have to miss.

Laurie got so many cute things

Amy and Elizabeth

All her gifts - she got a ton of pink!!!!

I wanted to show you the cute stuff I got for her but I had to wait until after the shower. I got that precious dress on etsy and the bib and burp cloth on ebay. I am so in love with monogrammed things. Our poor children will have their names stitched all over them. They will probably be going off to junior high and I'll still try to put them in monogrammed rompers. ha!

FAITH

Okay - I'm breaking my blog break (kind of). I'm still trying not to spend time on the computer at home at night. We have had a good week. We haven't watched TV (except we did decide to watch American Idol - but we did it together with no laptops on each of our laps.) We have spent a lot of time talking! :-) We have planned our trip. We have had a lot of "QT"!

Man - have I missed blogging. I knew I would fold early. It's like when I say "I will not drink any cokes this week or go to Sonic once"...........I always end up at Sonic after a few days. Will power is not my strong suit.

So this week - in my Experiencing God Bible Study - the week's study is on FAITH. Exactly what I needed to hear this week. And I had been praying for God to give me a book in the Bible to read. I really felt like he laid Hebrews on my mind. So I read Hebrews. And the entire chapter 11 is on Faith. It is about all the different men in the Bible who did things by FAITH - Noah, Abraham, Moses. I know God wants me to hear that He is in control. That I just need to trust Him and have faith that He will provide.

It's been a tough week for me in my work. Our company is having a tough time - we are tied very closely to the housing market and we've had two rounds of layoffs - including a big one yesterday. It's hard not to be worried about the future. But God continues to give me a peace that He is in control.

Ashley tagged me with a blog award this week and she wrote something that I have mulled over all week. She said that my blog showed what real faith was like. I don't think I've ever had a better compliment in my life but at the same time.........God knows my heart. He knows that it's a struggle every day for me to trust in His ways and NOT in my plans.

I guess I just wanted to share with you that if are struggling with something or worried about the future - God is in control! Allow Him to guide you and have faith that it will all work out according to His perfect plan!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

The Sun will come out Tomorrow!!!

We have had a great weekend (and it's not over yet!)

Last night we went over to our friends Guy and Julie's house and ate dinner and watched a movie.
Julie cooked a delicious healthy meal for us. She even used fresh herbs from her herb garden - she is chopping them here - they smelled so good!

While I helped her get dinner ready - Scott and Guy played Nintendo

We cooked tilapia and vegetables in parchment paper packets and then had brown rice and a delicious peach cobbler for dessert! Thanks Julie - it was all so good. We watched "Dan in Real Life". It has Steve Carrell in it so you expect it to be funny but it wasn't. It was interesting. It was a fun relaxing night with friends.
This morning I got to meet a sweet fellow blogger, Julie and her husband Bryan. I realized later that every blog friend I have met - we have eaten at Mimi's. That's where we had brunch this morning. It was so good and the company was even better. Julie and Bryan were so very nice and we had a really good time with them. Scott really liked Bryan and I already knew that I liked Julie. She has such a sweet spirit about her.

We came home this afternoon and pulled weeds and put down fresh mulch. That's always a lot of work and I am wiped out from it.
I got this picture out of order - but I wanted to show you what Julie gave me this morning. I thought it was so thoughtful that she brought me a gift. She gave me the Willow Tree figurine of hope. She also gave me a pink bookmark that says Hope (you can't see it in the picture) and such a sweet card about Hope. I thought that was so incredibly sweet for her to give me such wonderful encouragement. I'm going to put that figurine in our nursery. I may keep it on my nightstand or desk until then so I can look at it and remember to have hope!
Tonight Scott and I did NOT have Ruth Chris for dinner. OH NO - we had an equally delicious lean cuisine frozen meal. YUM YUM! I have not done as well on the diet this week because I've had so many fun meals with friends instead but Scott and I are back on the kick. The countdown is getting very close so we have to BRING IT! :-)
What else do we ever do on Saturday nights but go to Sam's. Scott was checking out some Muscle Milk. :-)

Have a great week! I'll be back a week from tomorrow with a post about my week! I will miss you so much (I will also miss TV and the Internet)(boo) but it's good to take a break from the things that start to take WAY too much of your time and focus on the important things!

The Last of the Questions

So today I had an interesting lunch. I met two sweet friends, Jenna and Rachel, for lunch at Granite City Grill at our mall and when we got there the power was out. We decided to stay but the only thing we could get was salad and soup (which was really good). We ate in the dark and we were there by ourselves. It was a really fun lunch AND we got it for free! Whoo hooo!!!!

Okay, this is the last of the questions. If I missed yours for some reason - I'm so sorry. I tried to get them all but there were a lot so I could have skipped over a few.



I want to tell you about a couple of exciting things I have coming up. First of all .......this weekend I get to meet this girl!



This is Julie and she is precious. She has been through a lot in the last year and still has the sweetest outlook. She and her husband and in-laws happen to be coming to my town for a family deal so we are going to meet up for brunch on Saturday (husbands included!) This will be the 4th blog friend I've met. I wish I could meet you all!!!!



Also - next week I will be having a week long TV, internet, and blog fast. I will start Monday morning through the next Monday. I just need to take all that time I spend on those things and focus on the two most important things - Scott and God. Scott's love language is Quality Time and I'm not good at giving that. And right now I just feel like part of why I'm in a funk is that I haven't spent the time with God that I need to. I need to talk to him and read His word and LISTEN to Him. I need to draw nearer to Him. I need to make Him my main priority.

So I will miss all of you so much but hopefully I'll have SUCH a great week and a lot to share when I come back from blog break!!!!


1. Lisa used to live in the same town as me in high school. My brother was her escort in high school one year and her brother was in my class. Her father is a pastor like mine is. She wanted to know my thoughts on being a P.K. (preacher's kid).

Being in a minister's family can be difficult but also a blessing. It is a privilege to serve God but you live in a fishbowl and there are a lot of expectations on you. People can place their pastors on a pedastal and it's important to remember that they are just people like everyone else. It has made me very sensitive to want to encourage our church staff and wives because it can be a lonely place to be.

2. Sandra went to college with me and she and her family now live in China. She has the MOST interesting blog ever. She wanted to know my favorite Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream.
First of all - I would like to proudly say that a CSC opened in our town MONTHS ago and I have yet to go. I've tried not to give into tempation. However - Scott and I have already discussed that there is one in Kauai and we will be eating it up!!! My favorite is "Cookie Doughn't you want some". OH - my ........so good!

3. Heather is a college friend of my friend Jamie. She is so sweet and her and her family recently moved back home to Texas.

She wanted to know if I ever go on girl trips and what would I like to do on those girl trips?
I love girls trips! I used to do them all the time before I married (one of the advantages of being single). But I haven't been on one since May 2004 when I went to NYC with 3 of my best friends (pictured above). I did have a quick weekend trip with 3 friends to a Beth Moore Conference and that was a blast. I need to get away with girls more often. It's good for the soul!!!