A Floral Baby Shower Brunch!

In October we hosted our first party at our new home.  It was so much fun getting to do this for my sweet sis-in-law, Charis, who was due in November.  Charis' sister spearheaded the whole party and did the beautiful decorations and J helped me with the food.  And of course, he had a blast helping me figure out the menu and cooking. (I seriously have the best husband ever!)

Kelsy had suggested a floral brunch, so we immediately had all kinds of ideas for the menu.  I'm fairly certain we cut like 10 or 12 items 3 or 4 items we had wanted to serve, just so that we weren't swimming in food.

Our menu was:
-Pancake Bar
-Sausage Quiche
-Donut Kebabs
-Yogurt Parfaits
-Southwestern Potato Burritos
-Biscuits & Gravy
-Banana, Pumpkin and Poppy Seed Bread
-Mini Yellow Chocolate Chip & Andes Mint Cupcakes
-Mimosas

For party favors we did mini red velvet bundt cakes.

Yes, it was so much fun entertaining and getting to put out some yummy food.  And it was even more fun getting to spoil Charis and celebrate with her and her little family on their impending arrival.  We definitely hope we can have more fun events at our home.

  

AP's First Birthday Bash

Oh my!  Where has the time gone?  My little man is over a year old and it's already 2015.  Since it's been a while, there may be a couple look backs over the exciting things that happened in 2014.  I've finally found the time to sit down and write!

One of the first things I had to share was our fun day celebrating AP's big birthday. First of all, December birthday parties are difficult to figure out.  Between holiday plans, company Christmas parties and people being out of town, it's hard to figure out a time that works where all the loved ones can be there.  But, we figured out a good day, so we were off to a good start!

I decided to go with a black, white and brown theme.  I figured I would go for a classy, modern vibe this time, since I'm sure I am destined for plenty of super hero, train, and cartoon parties in the future.

The menu had a Chili Bar.  We had mini corn muffins, baked potatoes, Fritos and hot dogs as the options for what to put your chili on.  Then for sides we had baked beans and J's famous potato salad.  For dessert, we had a Sweetheart Trifle, Reese's Cupcakes, a Naked Yellow Chocolate Chip Cake and a sweets bar.  I ordered these kraft food trays on Etsy that were so fun to use as dishes, and definitely made the clean up a lot nicer!

It was so much fun having our family and close friends with us.  And the cousins had a blast helping AP open his birthday presents!  Can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays with our favorite little guy!!

The Heart of a Servant

I've always viewed the concept of a servant's heart as someone who gladly gives freely of their time, talents and resources with no expectations of anything in return.  It's not a character quality that I think many people aspire to cultivate.  Honestly, who wants to always be giving?  It's exhausting and not very rewarding, but it is a quality that I think our society could benefit more from.  Our generation is full of people who only look out for themselves and believe they're entitled to privileges they never deserved.

Yet, I somehow managed to be blessed with a husband who exhibits the epitome of the servant's heart.  How in the world did I get so blessed?  Throughout our marriage he has constantly astounded me with his willingness and joyfulness in helping me with anything and everything.  It humbles me and has definitely helped me to reevaluate my perspective on how I need to adjust my attitude when I grumble over completing tasks or fulfilling a request.  I have a long ways to go before I'll ever have the attitude he has.

And being pregnant, his servant's heart has been even more prevalent.  There's never a day that goes by that he isn't stepping in and helping me or trying to alleviate my discomforts.  Even though he can't feel my aches and pains, he sympathizes with me and never plays down what I'm experiencing.  I could list a hundred examples and go on and on about the ways he's exhibited this quality of having a servant's heart, but I'll spare you all the mushy details.

I hope that some day I will be able to exhibit this quality as well as J does.  Thankfully, I have him as a partner, and he is constantly helping me to grow as a person, so it certainly is attainable.  As the Bible states "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27.17) 

Thanks J for having such a beautiful heart of a servant!

Blessings in the Form of a Shower

Grandma Cam, who has already done an incredible job of spoiling our little man who has yet to come, went even further, this past Saturday, and outdid herself!  With the help of my sister-in-love, Lessye and dear family friend, Maria, my mom threw me a gorgeous shower!  These three ladies managed to overwhelm me with all their attention to detail.  From the theme, to the party favors, to the appetizers, to the decorations, everything was put together beautifully. 

And on top of all that, I could not have been more thankful for all the ladies that came and helped celebrate our baby's impending arrival!  Ladies drove in from all over Oklahoma and it meant so much to have them all there.  After opening gifts, all the ladies went around and shared their best advice for this first-time-mom and it was so great to hear their nuggets of wisdom.  I truly felt blessed in so many ways and it was encouraging to know that Jason and I have a supportive "village" to help us as we navigate this new chapter of our lives.

 

A Special Sort of Milestone

3 years.  Depending on the circumstances and how you view it, that can either be a short or a long amount of time. Today, Jason and I are celebrating our three year anniversary; and for me, three years feels like an incredibly short chapter on our long journey through marriage.  It's crazy to look back and think of all that has happened in this short amount of time and how much our lives will be changing from this point forward.

In three years, we've experienced what it's like to lose loved ones, gain new family members, change jobs, move homes, make new friends, travel to numerous countries overseas, and so much more.  And it's true that love is just like wine...it gets better with age.  We were madly in love when we got married and today our love is even stronger.  We are constantly marveling at the fact that we complement each other so perfectly.  His strengths are my weaknesses, his weaknesses are my strengths, and we see eye to eye on every important issue.

I am proud to say we are still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage.  Thankfully, we've never had to "work" at our relationship.  We've never second-guessed our choices and we've never had bitter fights.  I'm confident that we can stay in the honeymoon phase because we are constantly working to build a foundation that enables us to grown and maintain a strong marriage.  From our nightly prayers and daily devotionals together to developing our core values and our family's mission statement, we have a vision for how we want our marriage to be. 

And I truly do see our three year anniversary as a special sort of milestone because life before and after this milestone will be significantly different.  The addition of a little one to our family is going to change our family dynamics.  It's no longer going to just be the two of us. And when our sweet, little man comes, our roles are going to change..we'll no longer just be husband and wife but we'll become parents.  We're going to face new challenges that we've never been presented with.  But it's going to be so exciting to see where the future takes us, our family and our marriage. 

I know there are plenty of obstacles and hardships that we'll encounter in the future, but there is no one else I would rather be on this journey with.  God knew what he was doing when he put Jason in my life, because I literally could not have asked for a better man even if I knew how.  Here's to celebrating this special milestone!

Happy Anniversary, sweetheart!

Life is so Sweet!!!

Our lives have officially been turned upside down!  In a matter of months we have had some MAJOR, major life changes.  In April, we went to Dallas to help run the annual Texas-Oklahoma Key Club District Convention.  After a full week of craziness, we drove home that afternoon to immediately show our home to a prospective buyer that evening.  The next day, we got an offer!  So, on May 15th, we sold our first home.  It was a hectic, hectic month and a half.  Between going to Addison for work, Jason studying for his CFA Level II exam, finding a rent home, moving to the rent home, meetings with our builder, and taking care of paperwork for the sale of our home we were going at full speed.

And in the midst of all the chaos, we received the absolute best news of all!!!!!!  So, it is with great excitement that Jason and I announce we are expecting our first child, due December 2013!!  I have anxiously waited for this day for so many months!  God graciously blessed us after eight months of preparing our hearts, and while that may not seem like a long time, it seemed like an absolute eternity. My heart truly goes out to every couple out there who has been waiting to be blessed with a child, because even in that amount of time, I was incredibly anxious, impatient and so ready to just have the answer I wanted.  Yet, as hard as it is to say, I know God's timing was perfect.

I have experienced the wait and the uncertainty and it makes me that much more thankful to be in the position I am in now.  There is not one day where I want to take for granted this nine-month journey I am on, because it truly is a wonderful miracle to know there is a child growing inside of me.

So, as we move forward with our baby's impending arrival and the move to the new house, we are so incredibly excited to start this new chapter in our lives! And we are so thankful to be surrounded by family and friends who love and support us!

London and Paris, Oui Oui!

A month and a half later, here's the post.  Can you blame me though?  I had hundreds of pictures to go through and it's a little tough to whittle them down to just enough so that you don't get bored out of your mind.

Anyways, my parents love traveling and have tried to maintain the tradition of our family going on a yearly, or bi-yearly trip.  Two years ago it was Spain and Portugal.  This year it was England and France, and it was a blast!

Our first stop was London.  After a long first day wandering the streets in search of our hotel, we hit the ground running the next day and took the sightseeing bus around town to check out the sights.  It was a a typical rainy day, but we got to see see everything we wanted.  We saw Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, and the London Bridge.  Then, on Saturday we took a day tour to Windsor Castle, Stone Henge and the town of Bath.  It was so cool to see Stone Henge, and J was super excited to check that off his list.

On Sunday we took the train to Paris.  It was so pretty getting to see the countryside.  In France, we tried to take it a little easier.  For Lessye's and my birthday, my parents sent Michael, Lessye, Jason and I dinner at the Eiffel Tower.  Not sure why the boys got to join in on our gift, but, it was an amazing evening.  We walked around the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and then ate a wonderful three-course meal with one, or two, fine, maybe three glasses of champagne.  We also go to visit the Louvre and made a trip out to the Palace of Versailles.

But, for me, I think the true highlight was the food.  In London, we found a great pub the last night we were there where we had a lot of fun and the ambiance was great.  But the French food was divine!  Everything tasted great and they have beautiful presentation.  Jason found a restaurant where we had lunch one day.  It was the number one ranked restaurant, at the time, in Paris on TripAdvisor, and it was certainly our number one meal.  We also found several other great restaurants.  And I would love to go back to Paris again, just to enjoy all their food.  We tried so many new things; tuna tartare, foie gras, duck pate, crepes, macaroons, and so much more!  I could write a whole blog post about the food!  But, I'll spare you.  So, here are some pictures instead! I seriously can't stop dreaming about their food!

No, I'm Not Biased...

So blog posts are way more exciting when there are pictures, and truth be told, I haven't had a whole lot of pictures to share lately.  Either because I'm having way too much fun to post pictures or I'm too lazy to sit down and upload pics and go through them.  But, yesterday J and I spent all afternoon with my brother and his family and I just had to share some cute pics from the day!

I think the cuteness stems from having such an adorably, cute niece.  Because...uh, who wouldn't want to capture her sweetness?  I know, right? I'm so happy to know I'm not biased! :)

I Am My Father's Daughter

There are days where I have to shake my head and laugh. It's funny to take a step back and realize how much he rubbed off on me. He's a little quiet and a lot practical. A little frugal and a lot wise. Here are a few things he taught me or somehow just rubbed off on me:

• Continental Airlines (now United Airlines) is the least painful airline to be a customer of 
• A steak cooked anymore than medium-rare is awful.
• If at all possible, only take carry-ons on airplane trips (including 10 day trips to Europe in the winter!!) 
• If it's going to be a cold evening, leave your faucets dripping 
• You have to eat at local, hole-in-the-wall restaurants when traveling abroad to experience good food 
• Always turn the lights off, when leaving a room
• "Keep an  eye on the weather!"
• Naps are the best
• Be mindful of what time during the day you're using energy
• Save your money and don't go in debt!  Always have an emergency savings and put money into your retirement accounts
•  Don't let people know you speak a second language, unless necessary
• Always say good morning to your family, and respect birthdays and anniversaries
• You gotta stay on top of cutting-edge technology

I could go on and on and on.  It cracks me up.  But, he's a great father, a great husband to my mom, and a great leader.  And I am so appreciative to have the privilege of being his daughter.

I'm fairly certain that the only thing I wish I hadn't gotten from him were his eyelashes, haha.  I would kill for some long, pretty eyelashes, and I give my dad full credit for not bestowing some of those on me.  For shame!  So, that should be evident of how awesome my dad is, when the only bad thing he passed on to me were short, stubby eyelashes.  ;-)

Happy, happy Father's Day!!

And, yesterday, the whole family came over for lunch, so we took some quick family pics too!  Check them out, Zoey is a walking machine now!  She brings such a smile to anyone who is in the room with her.

Catching Up

So, I'm waaayyy behind in posting.  Life has been keeping me super busy.  So, here are some things that have been going on lately.

We babysat Zoey one night, and I think Jason looks pretty good with a baby on one arm! ;-)  This pretty girl is exactly what I hoped having a niece would be like.  She's freaking adorable with a precious spirit.  Jason and I are super scared that our kids won't turn out near as cute and cuddly as she is.  It's the truth. 

I made cupcakes for a charity fundraiser my mom was doing at her office.  Andes Cupcakes and Pina Colada cupcakes were on the menu!  Ahh, cupcakes are my friend!  I still have many cupcake recipes to test!

We went to my dear, dear friend, Rachel's wedding.  And I got to catch up quickly with some childhood friends!  These three ladies I have known for a very long time, and hope to continue to be friends with for many years to come.  Rachel (top) I have known since 5th grade.  We went to CEA together till 11th grade, where I decided to try out Jenks HS.  I also met Ashley (middle) at CEA.  She's got two precious children, that I wish I had gotten to see at the wedding!!  And Taylor (bottom), I've known since I was seven years old.  Umm...I don't know that I still stay in touch with anyone other than a handful of people that I knew when I was that young.  So excited to see where life takes her!

Erin, Payton and I hit up the Norman Music Festival. I'll admit, I'm not a very good Normanite, because I never make an effort to check out the Norman scene.  This was really probably one of the first Norman community events I've checked out in my seven years of living here.  It was quite the people watching event!

I hosted a Stella & Dot Trunk Show with the fabulous Christine Rorabaugh.  It was so fun to spend time with all my girl friends.  And, I finally had an opportunity to try out a whole lot of Pinterest recipes at once!  I keep thinking maybe I'll make this a monthly or semi-monthly event; hosting a little soiree.  Ehh, we'll see!

Anyways, that's about all the excitement I've had lately.  And, I think I'm about to get my life back.  So, keep an eye out for more regular updates!! 

Operation Beastmaster

Yesterday was Jason's birthday. And I wanted to make it special...memorable. So, I had these big visions of him coming home to a sparkling, clean house, lit candles, mood music and a ridiculously gourmet meal of like lobster, scallops and some other technique-driven foods, just so I could show off and prove that I can cook (since we all know he does the cooking 95% of the time). Well, I didn't start planning early enough and I quickly got intimidated out of trying anything too crazy. I mean, I wanted to be confident enough to know we wouldn't be ordering pizza at the end of the night. So, I flew by the seat of my pants once Wednesday rolled around.

I made Avalanche Bars and Piña Colada cupcakes for him to take to work and share with his co-workers. The Avalanche Bars are basically Rice Krispies Treats hopped up on steroids. They were incredibly easy to make and quick too. But, then that seemed like too little. So, I decided to throw in some cupcakes. I had all the ingredients for the Piña Colada cupcakes, so I took a shot in the dark. And, boy, am I glad I did!! They were phenomenal!! Light, moist and they tasted exactly like you were on the beach sipping on a Piña Colada! So good!

Then, I went about setting up something I've been wanting to do for like ten months. A Nerf war! So, I created a package, delivered it to his car to be opened when he left from work, and prepped in the meantime.

When, he got off work, it was on!! I loaded my gun, slipped some ammo in my pockets and crouched by the window waiting for his car to pull up. Then, I got the bright idea to hide in the Yukon, which was in the driveway. There's no way he would be expecting me to come in the house behind him! So, as he pulled up, I peeked out from in the Yukon and giggled. His head was clearly already in the game. I watched as he got out of the car, loaded his gun, stored his ammo and slinked into the house. I crept out of the Yukon and into the house and was met with fire coming from the office. The game was on! We had an absolute blast and he was totally a kid in a candy store. And apparently he was finally thankful to see that his practice with Nerf guns was actually going to come in handy after 12 years. Whatever, I still beat him!!

After a break, we then proceeded to dinner. Which he loved, despite it not being the aforementioned dinner. On the menu, we had:

• Appetizer: Shrimp Cocktail 
• Main Course: Prime Rib with Horseradish Sauce 
• Sides: Rolls, Mashed Potatoes & Tomato, Olive and Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 
• Dessert: Brandy Alexander and Chocolate-Covered Strawberries 
• Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon 

 Before dessert, I gave him his gift. Which was funny, because he was way more excited than I had imagined he'd be. But, I'm glad he loved it. I mean...who wants the complete collection of the Lost series?!?!  Haha.  So, anyways I think he had a happy birthday. Woot woot!!!