11 years

So thankful to have found the one my soul loves! 11 years have been filled with celebrations, sorrows, laughter, tears, and most of all God's faithfulness!!  

Brian is always so thoughtful and creative.

I love the sign he made for us!

And he spoiled me with another Kendra Scott necklace!

We celebrated with donuts,

and a 3D movie with our boys!!

 Happy Anniversary my love!!

WI Vacation Day 7

Thursday was our 10th anniversary! We knew we wanted to do something together but didn't know what to do in WI. Of course, we would have loved to be a week long tropical vacation!!

We decided on a canoe trip down Crystal River. 

We had heard different reviews and were a bit nervous about going and still liking each other at the end. Ha! Either way we knew it would be memorable!

The trip was fun with beautiful views. We stopped by the waterfall for a little bit to cool off. We had a great time navigating the rocks and hanging out together. We almost capsized one time, but Brian jumped ship to save me from going in. The water was not deep, however I did not want to get scraped on the rocks. 

Our canoe had a small hole and by the end was taking on quite a bit of water. We really enjoyed the trip but by the end (2.5-3 hours) my arms were getting tired, and I was super glad to see the ending dock. 

After the canoe trip, we had lunch on the river and stopped to shop on the way back home. It was a fun day with my love!

Best wife award goes to me for letting my boys fish on our anniversary, ha! Jackson caught his biggest fish yet, 20 inch sheepshead.

So thankful for Brian and all he does for me and the boys. The Lord has been faithful and taught us many things over the 10 years. The best advice I can give you is to work on your relationship with the Lord and pray for your spouse daily. Can't wait for our next 10 years!!

Nine Years

Happy Anniversary to us! 

Nine years seems like a long time, we aren't the two young newlyweds anymore:)

I am so thankful for Brian, and even more thankful that God is still working in our marriage and us to draw us closer together and to Him.

 We celebrated last weekend. We went out to eat and to Miller Outdoor Theater to watch a musical. A guy even gave us second row seats (where there is air conditioning) and offered us some wine! I love spending time with Brian. He is my best friend, makes me laugh (hard), serves and loves me unconditionally, and still takes my breath away!

Here's to 90 more years! 

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT 

Celebrating

On Tuesday, Jackson and I went to have lunch with Brian. He picked up some cupcakes to celebrate our anniversary. Jackson was excited about that!

 Aunt Midge came over Friday night to watch the boys so we could go on a date.

 We went to dinner and enjoyed a peaceful meal without entertaining two boys:)

 We thought about going to a movie, but decided on just shopping and walking around so we could actually talk to one another.

 

We ended the evening with some shaved ice at Bahama Bucks.

 

I love being able to spend time alone with this guy!

 

As we were driving down on our street the DJ was reading the same scripture (Col. 3:12-14) I posted the other day that was the message at our wedding. God sealed our 8th anniversary in the most perfect way; reminding us how real love works.

"Hakuna Matata"

To celebrate our anniversary Brian and I went to see Broadway Across America's The Lion King. Brittany came over to watch Jackson for us. 

LOVE date nights with this man!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to go see The Lion King or not. The pictures I saw online just looked a little weird and the tickets were expensive.

 But, boy am I glad Brian talked me into it!

It really was amazing; the props, the costumes, the actors, the songs, all of it! Zazu was great and Timon and Pumbaa were just like the movie. 

Again, I am thankful for a fun night and 7 years (or 13 from when we started dating) with the man who still holds my heart!

"Can you feel the love tonight?"

7 Years- To God Be The Glory

Seven years ago I married my best friend, and he is still my best friend today!

Do you see the excitement in my face? I love my real smile!

It was the beginning of something great!

 Thinking back to our wedding day brings only awesome memories. Everything about the whole day couldn't have been better. I was on Cloud 9!

I can't say that about everyday the last 7 years, but I do know God picked the right man for me. Through ups and down I have learned that marriage only survives if you choose to fight for it, make God a priority, and are willing to forgive.

"I have found the one whom my soul loves." Song of Songs 3:4

My prayer is that God makes us stronger than ever and use us to mighty things. I pray that he is glorified in all we do and that we never stop clinging to Him as our strength, running to Him for guidance, and turning to Him for our source of love.

Brian, I love you forever!

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

A Get Away

Brian and I were lucky enough to get away for the weekend, just the two of us! My aunt and uncle were kind enough to keep Jackson. (We had a resort booked in Dallas, but due to the fact I couldn't go swimming we cancelled and decided to go to Austin.)

We headed out Friday afternoon.

Once we arrived in Austin, we stopped by our hotel to check in. We stayed at The Westin and this time I did a good job booking a hotel. We would definitely stay there again!

After reading different reviews online and a friend's recommendation we headed downtown to Guero's Taco Bar for dinner. Their chicken fajitas were some of the best I ever had! We both were happy we ended up eating there. Did I mention the chicken fajitas were some of the best I ever had?:)

We were going to try and watch the bats fly out from Congress bridge at sunset, so we had some time to kill after dinner. We walked up and down Congress street people watching and going into some unique stores. My favorite was Big Top Candy Store!

Over 1.5 million bats live under Congress bridge and supposedly the bats all emerge at the same time around sunset. We found a seat on the grass and joined the others waiting to see the bats.

The "bat" guy convinced us to wait on top of the bridge for better viewing. The bats didn't come out at sunset. We waited along with all the others until 9:30. We were able to see a bunch of bats fly out from the bridge and go back under. They never all emerged at the same time and flew down the river like we heard they do. We did hear from a bat conservationist that the bats are well fed from all the rain, which means they don't have to work so hard for food each night. Oh well, we had a good time sweating, seeing the sun set on the city, and meeting some other people.

Saturday morning, we hiked around the Botanical Garden at Zilker Park.

We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and the time walking together. 

There were many different gardens to walk through and paths to take. 

We left the Botanical Garden and went to check out the nature center. Botanical garden was 10 times better! From the nature center, we walked around Lady Bird Lake.

Next up, we checked out the capitol building. There was some kind of Veteran's ceremony going on that we caught the end of.

From where we parked we could see the Longhorn stadium, where Jackson will play one day:)

We drove over to the UT Campus and walked around a bit. The campus is so much bigger than Evangel's!

By this point we were hot, sweaty, and hungry, so we headed back to the hotel. Our hotel was located right at a really nice outdoor shopping center. We walked over, had lunch, and enjoyed shopping without Jackson. We found some really good deals for Brian. I wish we would have had more time to shop.

 We showered and got dressed to go out for an early anniversary dinner.

We drove about 20 minutes to The Oasis located right on Lake Travis. We heard from several people it was a great restaurant with an amazing view.

I guess you could say they were right. We didn't want to wait 2 hours for dinner, so we went before sunset but it was just as pretty.

I opted for the expensive mahi mahi while Brian went with a burger! Both were very yummy.

Beautiful views in all directions at the restaurant. There were actually several different restaurants and shops here as well. 

One more picture!

We were going to go have dessert at Austin's Cake ball Bar, but we were both still stuffed at 10 o'clock.

Sunday morning, we headed back to Zilker Park to kayak.

We rented a kayak for a hour and headed towards the city on Lady Bird Lake. I guess I should mention, Brian did all the rowing!

Beautiful sights surrounded us in both directions. 

And...

 that was the end of a wonderful weekend away spent with the one I love most, but we couldn't wait to get home and love on our little guy!

All Because Two People Fell in Love

Six years ago Brian and I got married and started our lives together. Although, the friendship and love came many, many years before.

While we were dating Brian was able to surprise me numerous times, but has been less successful since we have been married. The problem being I now have access to his bank account, credit cards, and email (he doesn't have his own). Well, this year he did it!

Friday morning I received a text message telling me "Drop Jackson off at 4:30, dress to impress." We drove to City Center and enjoyed dinner at Yard House, very yummy! (While waiting for dinner I felt like I needed to make a PSA and remind girls to get dressed before they leave their house.)

We were able to walk around a little bit before we headed downtown to the Hobby Center. Brian purchased tickets to Thoroughly Modern Millie. It was a really upbeat, funny musical. I loved it!

Thanks (again) to Uncle Dan and Aunt Midge for watching Jackson so we could enjoy a night out just the two of us!

This morning I hid Brian's anniversary gifts. He had to find them all first and then open them in order. There were 6 presents for six years. Each card had a saying that gave a clue to the gift inside. Brian was 0 out of 6! Number 1 was a letter from me. Number 2-5 were cheap things he likes; flavored soda, laffy taffy, iced animal cookies, and I-tunes gift card. Number 6 was the "big" present; an alarm clock that he can use his I-pod with. My clue for that one was, "I hope I wake up next to you for the next 60 years."
The rest of the day was low key hanging out with the product of our love, Jackson!

I pray we continue to make God a priority in our marriage and never take each other for granted.