Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetness!!

Here is a Valentine's song that I wrote for you.

I hope that your day is bright and your smile is, too.

Loving you's so easy I knew that it wouldn't take long,

to tell you how I felt in a silly Valentine's song.

You're so smart, and you're so sweet,

I love you from your head all the way to your feet.

I know you feel the same so give me a sign,

And please say that you will be my Valentine.

I put this on our blog so that the whole world can see,

Oh, sweet Melissa, what it is that you mean to me!

Oh, sweet Melissa, what it is that you mean to me!

Super Birthday Party!

Tonight we got together with friends and family to watch the Super Bowl and celebrate Candy's birthday.  There were birthday decorations and lots of birthday gifts.

We had lots of yummy Super Bowl finger foods.  We were more excited about the Super Bowl commercials than we were about the game.  We enjoyed the company!

We had yummy birthday cake that Melody made, and Candy opened birthday gifts.  Happy birthday Candy!

Holly's Baby Shower

This afternoon we got to celebrate Holly and impending arrival of little Lainey!  I hadn't seen Holly in a while, and she is looking amazing!  I can't believe Lainey will be here in about five weeks.  I am glad that we got to plan a special day for Holly.

We had tea at Lavendou.  They did a great job with the service, and it was all delicious!  The tea that we had was some kind of chocolate tea.  It sounds weird, but for someone who doesn't like tea (and loves chocolate), it actually wasn't bad.  The scones were amazing!

Lindsey added some pretty flowers and yummy lemon covered almonds for guest favors.  Her mom made the cutest corsage for Holly.  It was made out of tiny frilly baby socks!

Holly got lots of great stuff for Lainey!

We had almost all the girls from our old Bible study group together for the first time in a long time.  It was good to see everyone and catch up.  Holly's wonderful SIL and one of her close friends and mentors were also there to make it a special day for her.

Love you Holly!  I am so glad that I was able to share in a small part of this exciting time with you.  I can't wait to meet Lainey!

Good Things in 2012 - January

January 1 - I slept past noon today!  That is the first time I can remember doing that since college.  It was incredible!
January 2 - Michael had to work today (boo!), but that gave me the perfect opportunity to get all the Christmas stuff taken down and put away.
January 3 - Parenthood returns after break!
January 4 - Relaxing night at home with Michael.
January 5 - I had a productive evening at work, and when I got home late, Michael had dinner ready and waiting for me.  What a blessing to have such a kind, thoughtful, caring husband!
January 6 - Frozen yogurt and Harry Potter Scene It with Brett and Kristen.
January 7 - Road trip with Jenni and Kristin to visit Zach and Britney!  It was sooooo refreshing to see and hang out with each of them.  Of course, Britney is a super cute preggo mom!
January 8 - Britney's baby shower.  We had a lot of fun, and Britney and the baby got some really cute things!
January 9 - It was great to catch up with Julia tonight.  We need to have phone dates more often!
January 10 - Productive day at work.
January 11 - Taco Bueno for dinner.  Working late gives me a good excuse to eat the fast food that I love!
January 12 - I enjoyed hanging out at home with Michael tonight.
January 13 - My sweet husband did all the dishes this evening.  That is not unusual, but it is for sure a good thing!
January 14 - Chick-fil-A breakfast...yum!
January 15 - Great fellowship today.  Also, I found out tonight, that Zach and Britney got to meet their SON today!  It was quite a surprise since they were planning for a girl.  I can't wait to visit them and meet him!
January 16 - Michael had a productive evening at home before I got there tonight.  It's always nice to come home and see that things have gotten done.  He got all the leaves in the back yard bagged up, and there were a lot of them!
January 17 - Volleyball started tonight.  I have missed playing!
January 18 - Foundation Group meeting at our house.  I enjoy spending time with these friends!
January 19 - Leftovers for dinner, which means 1) quick and easy and 2) very little clean-up...double yay!  I am thankful for a husband who not only tolerates, but actually enjoys leftovers.
January 20 - TGIF!
January 21 - We got the trees cut back, shaped, and thinned out.  We have needed to get this done for a long time, and I am excited to have it crossed off the list!

Do you think it was time to have the trees trimmed?

I also got to spend some time running errands with Mom today.  When she came to pick me up, she came bearing gifts.  I love getting these little holiday treats from her.  This is the first Valentine accents that I own.  Thanks Mom!

Valentine Hand Towel and Pot Holder

January 22 - Inaugural "Crock Pot Sunday."  We have decided to try to eat at home instead of going out after church at least 3 of 4 Sundays each month to save a little money.  Chris and Alaina hosted today with a yummy roast and fixin's.  First Crock Pot Sunday = Success!  We also have a pretty flower in the back yard today.  Apparently they think it is spring already.  :o)

January 23 - First Mavs' game of the season...I love Mavs' date night with my hubby!
January 24 - Three volleyball wins tonight against a team that was a little intimidating...it is so much fun to be playing again!
January 25 - Despite having a migraine this afternoon, I was able to come home and get a few loads of laundry done.  So glad I don't have to stay up late doing that tomorrow night!
January 26 - All packed and ready to go to the Watermark Ladies' Retreat!  I was even able to pack everything in one duffel bag, including towel, bedding, and pillow...nice!
January 27 - Early departure from work and great drive with Stephanie out to Allaso Ranch for the retreat.
January 28 - Wonderful retreat day, complete with great worship time, fellowship, zip lines, and s'mores!
January 29 - I had a wonderful weekend at the retreat, but it was good to come home.  On top of it just being nice to get home and see my husband, I came home to find out that Michael was very busy while I was gone.  He changed several light bulbs, got new covers for the lights in the kitchen, cleaned the garage out, repainted the ceiling in the bathroom, rewired the fan/light in the bedroom, cleaned out the gutters, dropped off our dry cleaning, swept the front sidewalk, vacuumed, and dusted.  On top of that, he ran two mornings, and he smoked a turkey!  Maybe I should go out of town more often.  :o)
January 30 - We had some of Michael's smoked turkey for dinner.  It was delicious!
January 31 - Less than 15 overtime days until the end of busy season!

Renew, Refresh, Rejoice

This weekend, Stephanie and I went on the Watermark Women's Retreat.  It was a wonderful weekend.  The women who worked hard to plan the retreat did a fantastic job organizing everything and planning the schedule.  We had four wonderful sessions with great speakers, amazing worship times, some time for reflection, several small group sessions, and lots of free time!  The retreat was held at Allaso Ranch in Hawkins, TX.  The camp property was beautiful, and the cabins and other accommodations were very nice!  The camp staff did an amazing job cooking for 500 women.  It was all quite tasty, and I think I had some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life!

The theme of the weekend was "Renew, Refresh, Rejoice."  We had great speakers talk about

1. Identity in Christ and how we can renew and realign that identity.
2. How we can be refreshed in Christ by spending time in his Word (and using our "mind time" to meditate on Scripture and His promises), focusing on eternity instead of always thinking about now, remembering that the Lord is sovereign, and loving and remembering we are loved.
3. Rejoicing in the value that we have in Christ and His eternal, unconditional love for us.

In addition to the great encouragement we got in each session and the great conversation we had with our small groups, we enjoyed lots of free time to play and relax.  There were lots of activities to choose from during free time - zip line (which was over the water and so fun!), ropes course, horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking, DIY nails and facials, movies, Zumba classes and more!

Saturday night, we made s'mores at the campfire behind our cabin.  When we got over there, the graham crackers were gone, so we made chocolate marshmallow sandwiches...pretty good!  It was chilly outside, so some of the girls decided to stay in the lodge and roast marshmallows in the fireplace.

It was nice to get home today, but I am so glad that I got to have this weekend away!

The Gift that Keeps on Giving – January (Jerky)

Last night when we got home from the Mavericks' game, Michael had a birthday shipment waiting for him.  He has been very excited about this one...jerky!

He got three varieties to try: Firehouse Jerky, Teriyaki Jerky, and Original Beef Jerky.

Eight down, four to go!

June – Hot Sauce ü
July – Ice Cream ü
August – Beer ü
September – Sirloin ü
October – Pizza ü
November – Peanut Butter & Jelly ü
December – Coffee ü
January – Jerky ü
February – Tea
March – Salsa
April – Lobster
May – BBQ Sauce

Sausage Gravy Breakfast Cups

Ever since I saw this post on Erin's blog, I have wanted to try these for breakfast.  Then, last year, Michael made the BBQ version of this recipe.  We had planned to try the breakfast cups soon, but it took us a little while before we planned it.  Boy, am I glad we finally made them.  They are delicious!

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Lightly spray muffin tin.

3.  Brown 1 pound breakfast sausage.

4.  Prepare gravy according to package directions (or make homemade gravy).

5.  Mix gravy with browned sausage.

6.  Open canned biscuits (or make homemade biscuit dough), and flatten/roll each biscuit so that it is large enough to line a muffin tin.

7.  Press each flattened biscuit into a muffin tin opening.

8.  Spoon sausage gravy mixture into each biscuit.

9.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until biscuits are browned.

10.  Enjoy!

WHAT?!?!?

I got news tonight that Britney had her baby today!  We knew she might be early, but I didn't expect to hear something today.  The biggest surprise of all, is that she has a beautiful, precious SON!

WHAT?  This was a surprise for everyone!  That's right, this is now two in roughly nine months.  Remember this?

There will be a little work to transform a perfectly precious, pink nursery for a baby girl into a cute one for a boy.  However, if he comes home to a pink nursery, it will just make him more manly!

I can't wait to get back up to AR to meet this precious little boy!

Weekend in Arkansas

This past weekend, Jenni, Kristin, and I got to travel to Arkansas for Britney's baby shower.  I had so much fun with my college friends, and I am so glad that we were able to be there!  It was great to catch up with Jenni and Kristin on the drive up, and it was so fun to see Britney pregnant.  Of course, she looked amazing as always!

We were all able to stay at Britney's parents house, which was a lot of fun.  It felt like old times.  We also got to see Zach and Britney's house, and they have the nursery fixed up super cute!  Everything is ready to bring that precious baby girl home!

Yesterday Britney's aunt and cousin hosted a beautiful shower for her.  All the food was delicious, and they had everything set up very cute!

We played a game to see who could get closest to guessing Britney's waist size right now, and we also got to guess how many M&M's were in the plastic bottle.  I didn't do very well at either game!

Britney got lots of great gifts as well.

This baby is going to be smothered in love and spoiled rotten!  Zach and Britney, we love you and can't wait to plan our next visit to meet your little one!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Last night, we had a few friends over to help us ring in the new year.

We had a lot of yummy food...

We played an intense game of Catch Phrase...

And had fun ringing in the new year...Happy New Year!