What I'm Loving Lately..

These might be my favorite posts to put together and they are definitely my favorite to read on other blogs! I love seeing what others are enjoying and often times, I learn great ideas! So here's my list right now...

I'm loving Jake Owen's song "Heaven"

And Lee Brice's song "Hard to Love" - my sister had me listen to this when she came down a few weeks ago and I immediately fell in love! I love the lights in the video and if you can't tell from these 2 songs - lyrics = amazing

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin muffins - Oh my goodness! Easiest recipe ever... one box of cake mix and one can of pumpkin. That's it! And of course choc chips. You just bake them according to the cake box and the result? One happy husband:

Jar of Notes - saw this on Pinterest and I just love it. Start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes of good things that happen. Then on NYE, empty it and see what awesome stuff happened during the last year. Great way to focus on what positive things happen and to remember them!

I'm loving my James study from Beth Moore. This is the second time I've gone through it, with a different group of women, and I'm getting just as much, if not more out of it, this 2nd time around. Want something that will rock your world? Do this study!

Loved playing golf with my hubby and his parents Saturday morning at the lake. It was SO gorgeous! 

And finally, I LOVE that I get to go home this weekend! So ready to see my mountains, the family, girlfriends and maybe some snow! YAY!

Phone Dump!

Here are some photos off my phone from the last few months. Love these little highlights that remind me of things that made me smile!

This is a TOM'S shoes quote from their catalog that I really liked. It reminds me of the 5 weeks we spent in Zambia this summer... (sorry it's blurry!)

Our puppy loves warm laundry! Our friends sent us this from their place when they were babysitting our baby one weekend we were in CO

Cuddling with my puppy on the couch. And sporting my Broncos shirt!

Sister time! Loved when Steph came down a few weeks ago! She wanted to see what Billy Bob's (world's largest Honky Tonk) was all about so we did Texas up BIG! Mexico food, Billy Bob's, cowboy boots, and even saw some indoor rodeo/bull riding!

Jake turned 27 this August (old man!) and he also started his new head wrestling coach job! So proud of him!

This melted my heart! We had a 7 year old ("Mr. Lego Boy") put on a popsicle stand to raise money for EOH. We have one program called Chicks 4 Orphans, and "Mr Lego Boy" really liked that! He wanted his popsicle stand money to go towards that project. Here's the note he wrote us.... I had to get a pic. I love when parents get their kids involved with our ministry and they learn what giving is all about :)

My parents got a new kitty and "Bob" is my new favorite thing ever! Love him so much! Can't wait to see him again when I'm home in a few weeks.

Jake and I babysat for some friends the other night. It's a great reminder to us how much work kids will be (and why we aren't ready yet - ha!) and it also gives the parents a much needed date night - win, win! Here's me with the girls. Aren't they adorable?!?

Love when I find old photos! This is my friend Caitlin and I in high school while we were in Mexico. Can't believe it's been 10 yrs! 

And last but not least, I love fall. And I love pumpkins. Here, our dining room table got a make over - pardon the husband's hat and sunglasses on the table.

Aren't the orange/yellow pumpkins adorable? $3 at Walmart. And the silver pumpkin is from Pottery Barn - splurged on it last year and still love it!

Happy fall everyone!

What a weekend it has been....

What a weekend it has been already.

Last night Jake spent time with some guys from church. A few weeks ago our church had a women's retreat and so the guys wanted to follow up and doing something too for the men. So once I found out Jake would be busy and we wouldn't be heading to the lake this weekend, I quickly texted some friends if they needed a babysitter.

I love babysitting their little girl named Grace and it's been months since I've had a weekend night to do so. Details were arranged and last night I headed down to their place. They live about 30-45 mins away but it's so worth the time I get to spend with them.

Grace and I had fun playing Candy Land, eating pizza, and putting a puzzle together. At bed time we went upstairs and as we were saying prayers this AWFUL, loud noise happened. And right away I knew something bad happened. Sweet Grace saw the look on my face and as I went to look out the window, I tried to reassure her (and myself) that it was nothing. But thoughts flooded my mind - the worst thing I could think of was that the house was being broken into.

Ten minutes later, I made my way down the stairs after tucking Gracie in. My phone rang and Chris (Grace's Dad) was on the line. "Hey!" I answered but quickly Chris said, "Michelle, I just got a bad phone call. The police are outside." (And I immediately panicked thinking of the worst things...) and then I heard "Your car has been hit."

And sure enough when I walked out to the street, 3 police cars and several officers were waiting for me. Thank goodness the lady who hit my car (she admitted she was texting when it happened) stuck around and while another neighbor called the police, she did stay and even had gone up to the door to see if anyone was home. Unfortunately my car was in bad shape and had to get towed, Jake had to drive down to pick me up and we were there pretty late filing the claim and handling the details. But there's a bright side and that's that no one was hurt, the house wasn't broken into and it wasn't my fault for once! (If you know me pretty well, you know of my awesome driving record!)

It also was such a good reminder to me NOT to text while driving. Not even 24 hours earlier, Jake and I had talked about how stupid it is that we text and read email and how in just seconds, we could cause an accident or hit someone. So yea... it could have easily been anyone or me and while my car is gone right now, I'm just so thankful I didn't hit anyone and no one got hurt last night.

Here's my car on the tow truck :(

So without a car today and Jake gone at a wrestling clinic, I got so much done around the house! I touched up all our walls with paint, tried to revitalized my orchids, cleaned the garage, decorated for fall, bought my plane ticket home to CO (yay!), looked at Christmas airplane tickets to CO (yikes!), cleaned EVERYTHING, and finally sat down at 9 pm to watch this movie:

Definitely wasn't the best but after a rough, long last 24 hours, I was just thrilled to sit down and relax!

Here's hoping for a non-eventful rest of the weekend :) Oh and a rental car! 

Heading out again!

Whelp, I'm heading out again! And this time Jake gets to join me! June 27th we will be boarding a plane to Zambia, Africa and will be there until August 1st. I CAN NOT WAIT! My to-do list is a mile long, both at home and at work, but the excitement only increases as the date gets closer.

To read my recent post on my other blog, click here.

So much to be thankful for...

More of what I've been thankful for lately. But with lots of iphone pics this time! :)

1. So thankful for my job (as always) which allows me to travel. May 2nd-5th we went to Southern Cali for the Summit conference, which is a national orphan conference that brings attention to adoption, foster care and global orphan care. This was one of our displays and these are the children I LOVE... just missing 65 other faces that I cherish just as much. Too bad we couldn't display them all!

2. This book. I took it to the lake last weekend and couldn't read it because I kept getting so emotional! I've decided I can only read this when I'm alone now :) It's been awesome!

3. Fishing! I'm a CO girl and love fly fishing but here in the great state of TX, we catfish. Yup, it's a little different :) But we have really picked it up this summer and Jake and I really look forward to it whenever we go. Taking my Mom and Dad (yay!!!!) to the lake this weekend and Dad loves to fish, so excited to show him the Southern way. This bad boy I caught about a month ago (and no biggie- it was just the biggest catch of the day! ha!)

4. Jake would kill me if he saw this, but I had to put it up! He is SO good at this "I Love You B/C.." thing and it melts my heart! We trade off writing something on the chalk board and it really brings a smile to our faces every time! Thank you Court for the idea.... I saw it first on your blog and now I've seen a bunch of people do it. So cute!

5. Starbucks. Enough said. My drink of choice? Peppermint white mocha. LOVE.

6. Pizza and cheesy bread. I know it's super healthy :) I introduced this fine meal to the little girl I babysit and now every time I watch her she wants "Cheessssy bread!!!" And I don't argue :)

7. More food, I know. I usually take these pics to make Jake jealous of an awesome meal I'm having. These black beans are the best things ever! I learned how to cook them in the crockpot all day and then I freeze the entire batch. We LOVE them! Eat them with anything Mexican and love them in the morning in our breakfast burritos... another plus? They taste better with age. Crazy huh? But the last ones we just pulled out of the freezer are to die for! Oh and the salsa in PW's. Amazing.

8. For these two cuties. This is Jake and our niece Joley. Love this picture of them!

9. For my sister that came to town! We had such a great weekend at the lake with everyone and I got caught up on some much needed sister time! It had def been too long! And thank you guys for the sweet comments... YES! Sisters the best!! Now to just get her to move down here... :)

The sis is coming to town!

I have work to do that I brought home, emails to write, books to read and even another blog post I started. But right now I'm just excited!!! So excited that I wanted to jump on here and share some thoughts while I wait.

Stephanie will be here in less than an hour and a half! For those of you who don't know, I live FAR away from home and getting to have the sister come spend 4 days with you doesn't happen near enough! In fact, this may be the longest I've EVER gone without seeing her (since Christmas) and I'm none too happy about it. So we finally found a weekend that worked and I've been counting down since!

We are going to the lake all weekend and I couldn't be more ready after a long work week! Some of our other friends are going to join us and as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be one amazing weekend!!!

The first time I ever took her to the lake, this little guy was our buddy. 

Yup, it's a raccoon! Jake's friend use to have one as a pet!!! Jose was so fun but he was also SUPER crazy (ya think?) 

Excited for more lake adventures and much needed sister time!

HURRY Steph! Can't wait to jump in the car and come get you at the airport! YAY! 

A word for Monday and the week ahead...

I can't remember where I read this, but I have it hand written on a piece of notebook paper that stares at me from my bathroom mirror. 

The spiritual woman does not fret and flap over opportunities missed, does not hammer herself for not working hard enough, and does not have a panic attack wondering whether she has received grace in vain. She lives in quiet confidence that God is working in her by day and by night. The woman knows that she has her full measure of work to do, but she realizes that the outcome rests with God and that the decisive factor is unearned grace. Thus she works as if everything depends on God and prays as if everything depends on her. Because she has learned that the only way to fail in prayer is not to show up.

Have a blessed week everyone!

I needed this today....

Is it weird that I love to-do lists? That I love checking them off and getting stuff done. But in the process lately, I've noticed that it has kind of overwhelmed me. All of a sudden I have to-do lists at work, around the house, in my day planner, online. And whoa. Too much. All of a sudden they all made me want to throw up my hands and STOP. And maybe I really need to.

My boss sent the staff this today... (don't I have the most awesome job?) and it was exactly what I needed to read. For the whole post, read this. But here are my favorite parts:

A well-known pastor, he was was once asked what was his most profound regret in life?

“Being in a hurry.” That is what he said.

“Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.”

“But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.… Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”

In our rushing, bulls in china shops, we break our own lives.

Haste makes waste. The hurry makes us hurt.

I think of this often, words of another woman seeking: “On every level of life, from housework to heights of prayer, in all judgment and efforts to get things done, hurry and impatience are sure marks of the amateur.”

Is this the secret that all the life experts know?

Time to breathe deep and time to see real.

Time to laugh long, time to give God glory and rest deep and sing joy. And just enough time in a day not to feel hounded, pressed, driven, or wild to get it all done.

There is time to grab the jacket off the hook and time to go out to all air and sky and green. And time to read and wonder and laugh with all of them in all this light.

Highlights of the week

After reading this, I've started a list. Of things that I am thankful for. The little, the big and mostly the things that I wouldn't usually notice. Things that you forget to be thankful for.

So this week in review:

1. Babysitting Gracie tonight. Diving for Princess wands in the hot tub, reading books for bed, saying sweet prayers, and ALWAYS telling goodnight stories :)
2. I found my favorite spin instructor. Most of the time I don't think I can finish her class, and that's how I know she's good. She seriously said this week, "None of you have thrown up, died, or fallen off your bike, so I KNOW you can give more!" Seriously??? Ha!
3. I love my job. Every single day I'm so thankful for it
4. Jake and I had our first co-ed softball game last night. And my awesome husband had a diving catch out in center field that he had to summersault out of! It was awesome!
5. Buffalo Wild Wings after the game with wonderful friends
6. A chance to sleep in on Saturday morning
7. Our doggie is feeling better after hurting his paw earlier this week. It broke this Mama's heart to see him limping around the house :(
8. For Pioneer Woman salsa. Our new favorite thing ever!
9. For a Bible Study group with amazing women
10. For a grocery list that I can complete every week. I had a dream last night I was back in Africa and that always just puts things into perspective. Thankful for a full pantry, refrigerator and more food than I know what to do with
11. For new songs I fall in love with. Currently: Eric Church, "Springsteen"
12. For my amazing husband that I can't get enough of. 

God is so good. Let me never forget

The first signs of growth!

My pretty flowers

I freaked out when I saw these little guys! My first Basil sprouts!

Look really close and you can see more Basil. And the big plant? Green pepper :)

First try: Gardening!

When I was living in an apartment the last 3 years, every spring time I would want to plant flowers. But with no yard and pretty much no front porch, I knew I was going to have to put my wishes on hold. My indoor plants couldn't even survive in my apartment because I always had the window blinds closed. I lived on the 1st floor and didn't want to ever have to deal with creepers! :)

So one of the things I was most excited about when we moved into our town-home, is that we have a yard! Now, I can't do a TON of changes to the yard (because we are renters) but Jake and I have been brainstorming ways to try our hands at gardening. Imagine my delight when my awesome husband even said he'd try to build a raised garden bed for me! We are still talking out the details regarding that, but in the meantime, I have bought some pots and started planting!

Tonight, I planted basil, green peppers and chives. I also have bought some tomato plants, squash, cucumbers, and green onion seeds. I ran out of potting soil so I'll be getting more of that this weekend, but I'm so excited to try this! I even started a notebook where I'm recording when I planted stuff and when it starts coming up/growing veggies (nerd, I know!) But that way, I'll be able to learn for future years when I can have my very own, huge, backyard garden!

So we'll see if I end up having a green thumb- I really hope I do, along with lots of fresh veggies to cook with! YAY! I'm so pumped!

What I'm Loving Weds

I know some people don't like these blogging topics... but WILW is my favorite! I love seeing random things that my friends are enjoying- most of the time I look into them too, and wind up loving them as well. I can't tell you how many times I've learned something new or added something to my wish list after reading a WILW. In fact, towards the beginning of the year, I learned about these calendars on my friend Courtney's blog and fell in love. 

But what am I loving right now???

This puppy and the incredible weather that lets us grill out a couple times a week!

I'm pretty bitter that we didn't get ANY type of Winter here in Dallas, but now that it's March (almost April!) I'm just pumped for summer. We are headed to the lake this weekend and last weekend we ended up laying out at the pool - I guess I can't complain too much :)

Of course, I'm loving this man and the vacation we took over Spring Break together. Let's just say we might not ever do a cruise again, but we are totally up for Cozumel. ANY TIME. We loved it!

I'm loving the flowers and am going to try my hand at gardening this year. Now that I don't live in an apartment, I'm pumped to grow some veggies and have some color in our yard.

And speaking of veggies, I'm loving this app.... 

Jake and I have been trying to eat healthier and work out more, and while I was totally against this at first, it has been a lot of fun! It not only tracks food, exercise and calories but it also tracks nutrition- and I love that! Since marrying a wrestler, I've learned the importance of counting calories, but I'm always big on if you are getting your vitamins or not... this tracks everything!!!

Here's another attempt at eating healthy - yummy smoothies I take to work a few days a week.

Loving this monthly calendar my MIL gave me for Christmas that sits on my desk at work. This has been one of my favorite verses for a LONG time. And yes, that's a 1980's calculator that collects dust on my desk too :)

Healthy? Who said we were trying to eat healthy? This is one of my favorite things ever- orange flavored chocolate - Thank you Mom!!!

Loving this wedding present. We use this quesadilla maker ALL the time! My sister in law gave us this and when I'm in a rush to get something together for dinner, this little guy always saves me. Easy clean up too!

Ok and just cause, I have to end this was something I'm NOT loving. Yes, this is in our  loft office, and these are all of our tax documents. I DESPISE tax season. Jake didn't understand my hatred until we sat down on a Friday night and tackled them. We each had at least 2 job changes this year, got married, moved states, etc... which makes for one fun tax return!!!

 Oh and I'm loving my iPhone. All these photos were taken with it because that is how we document our lives now :) What would we do without them?