Happy Hump Day Friends...

My days have been filled with:

Happy hour and a pizza party (in room 355....)
Welcoming and watering Papa's loot! (LOVE this plant and balloon Coleen sent :)
Teaching Nana and Papa all about Facetime! Papa told Kristen, "Well, you look GREAT! I can see you clear as day!" hehe.
Trying a couple of new recipes. 1 was not so good and 1 was really good! The lasagna soup I found on Pinterest is a winner!
Crying...I've been doing a bit of that and I have to pull myself together. I just can't seem to "snap out of it" in terms of my funk. I have no more time or patience to feel sorry for myself! I thought I was done after my good cry on Monday but a doctor's appointment today brought me back down. Onward....and UPWARD!
In GOOD NEWS...Papa is going HOME today!! Praise the Lord! That should take away the sulking and bring on the celebration!!

Shades of Rosey...

I'm in a "stop and smell the roses" kind of state right now. The next couple of sentences are real life so it might not be uber rosey, but it's my life right now....

My Papa is in the hospital and he's very sick. We learned last Wednesday that he might not make it and they started some life saving dialysis treatment on him. He has responded fairly well but he is still incredibly weak and it's taking a toll on him physically. We're hoping for a really great response and that he will feel better than he has in a while! His life has drastically changed (and my Nana's too) as he will be on dialysis for the remainder of his life. I know that is overwhelming for them and I am praying they would feel peace about that and know that we are all here to help them.

This is a very busy time for me at work so I am trying to juggle everyday life of home, laundry, dinner, and Dave with visiting with my Papa in the hospital (because that's where I want to be), lots of things on my to-do list at work and general life. I think I just need a really good cry....and maybe a trip to the beach...instead I'll be taking a trip to Houston for 7 days for my conference.

Back to life...this weekend I had the privilege of celebrating my sweet friend Sarah and she gets ready to be married! My mom was a hostess for the shower but with my papa in the hospital I helped make the ever popular Magnolia banana pudding! It's a crowd pleaser! I had fun seeing friends, celebrating Sarah, and laughing. I needed a good laugh! OH, and the NYC cookies my friend Meredith made....to die for! Are they not the cutest?

The precious bride!

Me, Sarah, my sister- Kristen, and Lindsey (bride's sister!) 2 sets of sisters the same age and good friends. SO fun!

Making the good stuff! For the Banana pudding recipe click here.

The finished product...yum :)

I have felt a bit overwhelmed lately. I've honestly been in a bit of a funk and I'm so grateful for the moments I can smell the roses...a pizza party in my papa's hospital room, showering Sarah, precious friends bringing us dinner last night (THANK YOU!), and the opportunity to just get it all out with a good cry...because sometimes we just need to! Thank you to those who have prayed and are praying for my Papa and my Nana. Love you...mean it!

More Than...

Today is the day of loooove! So this one goes out to the ones I love....

I'm so blessed by a heritage of long standing love...My parents, Dave's parents and ALL of our immediate grandparents are all still married of were separated by death. What a cherished legacy that is and I do not take that blessing lightly! I think it's highly unusual this day in age and I couldn't be more proud that Dave and I have wonderful examples of marriage, forgiveness, love, loyalty and genuine enjoyment of each other laid before us.

My mom and dad on their wedding day! And below...a little more recent :)

My Nana and Papa

Dave's Parents

To my Valentines...
I Love you More Than...

I did January 6th, 2007...

Riding with the windows down...

The way coffee tastes on vacation...

College Football Saturdays...

A thunderstorm when you have nothing to do but watch a great movie...

Friends re-runs...

Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows...

A spa day...

Playing hooky from work...

Sunshine and 75 degrees...

Diet Coke with Sonic Ice...

Baseball on a spring day...

The Twilight Saga...

New York City at Christmas...

A warm brownie with a generous scoop of Blue Bell Peppermint ice cream...

Getting mail...

I love you more than my luggage!

I Spent My Saturday Night Beneath the Light of the Neon Moon...

Yes, I realize how lame that post title is, but this weekend Dave and I channeled our inner rhinestone cowboy and attended the 75th Anniversary Rodeo Austin Gala. It was a wonderful night of people watching (you truly have NO idea!!) complimented by wonderful food, good wine, silent and live auction fun, and fabulous entertainment!

Radney Foster and Ronnie Dunn were the evening's performers and they did not disappoint! I am surprised I wasn't more familiar with Radney Foster. I put a video on my blog a while back of a song he wrote honoring the pilots of the "Angel Flight". These pilots fly home our fallen soldiers and his song brings me to tears every time! He is a wonderful songwriter and several of his hits are currently on the mainstream country charts.

Then, in an effort to go old School, Ronnie Dunn performed. He was awesome! He played a ton of Brooks and Dunn classics and I had the best time singing along to Neon Moon, Boot Scootin' Boogie, My Maria and Brand New Man.

If we ever have the privilege of going again, Dave will need a cowboy hat and I'll need something with a little more sparkle! I think the event needs to be called "Boots and Bling"...Cowgirls don't mess around! ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

God is Great, God is Good, Let Us Thank Him for our Food...Amen!

I promise you this 2 minutes will make your day, make you smile, make you squeal at the preciousness and make you hug your dog.

LOVE!!

The City of Cowboys and Culture...

There are a lot of words I would use to describe David and me..."cowboy" and "cultured" aren't really two of those words. Unless, of course, you consider me a cowboy because I own cowboy boots and live in Texas. And if, by cultured, you'd consider the fact that I can often translate characters of the Jersey Shore into English and I buy wine from Argentina when it's on sale then we'll roll with it.

This weekend, Dave and I went to Fort Worth for a quick weekend getaway and we had a great time. Fort Worth's tag line is, "The City of Cowboys and Culture". It's no surprise really. They have police officers on horseback throughout the city, the Stockyards are packed and there is always a rodeo, concert at Billy Bobs or something equally as Levi and chap-ridden going on. It is a "Good 'ol boy" city where gentlemen give their seats to ladies, open doors and say yes ma'am and no ma'am. I love it.

We spend most of our Saturday nights watching football, DVR'd TV, or hanging out with our equally as culturally challenged friends. So you can imagine our surprise when we found ourselves buying our first painting and going to see Leann Rimes with the Fort Worth Symphony. It's like we aged 25 years over night.

And...We.Had.A.Blast!

I'm going to sum it up: Leann is uber skinny. Girl friend can SING. And hearing her on stage being funny and light hearted almost made me like her...And then she sang a song called "Borrowed". As in, she "borrowed" her now husband from his now ex-wife. I said almost. She almost made me like her. Did I mention how stinkin' amazing her voice is though? Dang... (*You can see legit, non iphone pictures of her from Saturday night's performance here.)

Saturday morning we went in an out of shops and museums in Sundance square. We walked into Thomas Kincaid so I could show Dave a painting he did of Yankee Stadium. I saw it with my mom and sister when we were in Savannah. While we were in there, we saw a painting he did of Forsyth Park in Savannah. We were there this summer...we rode our bikes to that exact park and took a few photos. We kind of fell in love with the painting so we got it! We hung it Monday night :)

**Below are two of our photos from this summer in Savannah at Forsyth Park...

We really enjoyed the time together. Dave is taking two classes this semester so his "free-time" is fairly non-existent which means our time together is fairly non-existent. We'll take it when we can get it! Happy Thursday, friends!