The Grass is Greener...along with everything else!

Just a few weeks ago I posted this. I thought it would be fun to see the changes as springtime unfolded. What a difference 24 days has made! Check this out:

Look at the diffence in the trees! You can barely see the house across the street anymore. The groundcover (Vincas) and lillies down by the creek have exploded!

Back view: Hey, what happened to our shed?

Ahhhh....all this green. I just love it!

Little Boys (and Girls) of Summer

Oh my goodness. I really can't think of anything cuter than watching a gaggle of 3 and 4 year olds playing T-ball! Last night was Aron's first practice with his first T-ball team and it was too adorable! Those little-bitty kids in those big-ol' batting helments were just as cute as it gets; like real-live little bobble head dolls!

There are two little girls on the team and they are so darling. One has a pink glove and the other one purple! One of the girls is the daughter of the coach, hence the pink bat Aron is gripping.

So what if Aron spent half of the practice clinging to me and in tears because he didn't quite grasp the concept of taking turns running after the ball. I know he'll come out of his shell and "get it" as time goes on. He LOVED batting and running the bases and trading hi-fives with his teammates. This is going to be a great summer!

Things I admire....

I couldn't think of anything to blog about today that sounded interesting. Then I saw these ladies blooming just off of my front porch. Aren't they pretty? I admire them. They are just so cheerful and bright and doing just what they were made to do.

I also admire my husband. He ran the Music City Half Marathon this past Saturday. That's 13.1 miles for you non-runners. (non-runners like me!) He finished in 2 hours 27 seconds. I admire how hard he worked. He hadn't planned on doing this one, but the deli had an opening on their team. I think he only trained for 4 weeks. I admire that drive. Probably because I don't have it. I am more the creative, spontaneous type. Not too driven, though.

So, my goal is to be more cheerful like these Azalea's outside and more driven like my hubby.

So on that note, and while little people nap, I am going to get in a workout and try to smile while I do it!

FBF7: Okinawa, Japan

This Flashback Friday stuff is humbling. And fun. And dangerous. I am not sure if my sister looks at these, but she just might disown me for showing all of our goofy childhood photos here!

Here we are back in 1986. I was 10, my sister 8. Like those cheesy peace signs? For some reason that is the thing to do in Japan when you get your picture taken. At least it was in 1986. And yes, that is a Member's Only jacket I have on. Not sure what club we were members of....

We lived in Okinawa, Japan in the mid-80's as our father was in the USAF. It was a great experience and we were old enough to enjoy it, I think. This photo was taken at Hedo Point. My grandparents had flown out from the US to visit and we were sight-seeing. Okinawa is a tiny island, but beautiful and has a climate similar to Hawaii. I remember Christmas being around 70 degrees every year. I would really love to go back one day and take Aron and Rudy with me. How cool would it be to take them to the beaches where I swam as a kid and go snorkeling with my family... guess I better start saving my pennies!

God's GREEN Earth

This post was inspired by two things: Earth Day, which makes a lot more sense to me than so many other holidays on our calendar, and my friend Rachael's SPT (self portrait Thursday) post.
I hope you'll bear with me through my recycleable soap-boxing, cause this is a passionate subject for me.
Recycling is one of those things that just makes sense to do. You know? NO, it is not always convenient. I should know. We do not have curb-side recycling in my neighborhood. Instead we have this:

AH, my lovely home-made recycling center. She ain't beautiful, but she get's the job done. See, I am even recycling old laundry baskets by using them to recycle! I keep my cans in the big one, plastics in the middle, then the green one is for glass. I also have newspapers, magazine and cardboard boxes inside the house. I take it all down to the recycling center in our little town about 2 miles down the road.
On to my next favorite thing to recycle: those evil plastic shopping bags! Please, please, please do not throw these away! If I find out that you do, our friendship might be at stake. I am only half-kidding. I have started to purchase one or two of the reusable bags every time I go to the store. Then, when I am done un-loading the groceries, I just stick them in the back of the car for next time. Like any good habit, it just takes practice! Here, I'll break it down for you:

Bad Bag vs. Good Bag


How are we doing so far? Anyone still reading this? OK, for the two of you I will keep going.
My next big mission is to get rid of bottled water! Well, not get rid of it, but really reduce in this area. What a bunch of waste for WATER! There are so many reusable containers out there and they come in every shape and size. I no longer buy bottled water unless it is for a camping trip or something similar. If you don't like the way your water tastes, please look into a filtration system. It'll be cheaper in the long run anyway! Here are some examples of what we use:

Now, I don't write all of this to boast and tell you what a difference I make. I do it to encourage. Kinda like a GREEN cheer-leader. (Sniff, I was never a cheer-leader in school...well, you know that from this) Some people think recycling is a waste of time, that the Earth wasn't meant to last forever. To that I say that I am not meant to live forever, but I am still going to take care of my body. What a gift our world is to us. Let us all take good care of it while we are here. So this little guy's kids can have the same thing we had!

Good Times

My Best Friend, Casey, came out to visit us this week and to help me celebrate my birthday! It was her first visit to Tennessee, so we tried to fill it with lots of fun things, but I think the best part was just being together. She is such a beautiful person inside and out, just having her here was good for my heart! Best Friends are like that. Rudy and Aron adore Casey as well and that is priceless for me.

On Thursday we had gorgeous weather, so we took Aron to the Zoo. It was lots and lots of fun. Aron spent the whole day saying, "Casey, you GOTTA come see this!" I almost felt like chopped liver. But it was really cute to see his bond with her hasn't faded even though we live so far apart.

Friday night, we went to the 25th Anniversary Celebration for Mercy Ministries. It was an amazing concert featuring Point of Grace, Barlow Girl, Cece Winans, Mandisa, Natalie Grant and Israel Houghton. WHEW! It was incredible!

Then, on Saturday night, Casey kept Aron for us while Rudy took me out to dinner and another concert (Casting Crowns!!!!) with some friends. It was my "Birthdaypalooza". And I was blessed this week right and left by so many wonderful people. All of the cards and wishes I received reminded me that God has filled my life with so many wonderful people. I just can't express how thankful I am!

Aron with Casey and I on Friday

Aron and Casey at the Zoo. He loves her....AND her hair!

At the Zoo on a gorgeous spring day...and my birthday!

Front Door, Back Door

This is a photography meme. I was tagged by dyln and I just adore her photos.
Anyway, the rules are listed below and I thought it would be a lot of fun to see all of the different views! Hope you will play, whether I tag you or not!

1. Step out of your front door and take a picture.
2. Step out of your back door and take a picture.
3. Put them on your blog, along with the rules.
4. If there are things in the photos that you particuarly like or dislike, you can point them out, or just explain what we are seeing. Maybe changes over the seasons or some junk in your neighbor's yard that drives you nuts.
5. Tag as many or as few people as you like. Preferably at least one.
6. Do it again next month if you like.



Here is the view out my front door. The creek runs in front of our house AND behind. It kind of wraps around us and comes to a Y in the front (about 50 yards to the right, out of view of this shot. I love flying a flag on our porch. Everyone should do it, I think. The trees are budding now and I bet next month we'll barely be able to see the house across the street.
Back door. More budding trees. I think that little red one next to the post might be a Japanese Maple, but don't quote me on that. Isn't our little shed cute? I want to paint it to match the house, though. A paler grey and black trim. The shutters on our house were that red until I got after them with some black paint last summer.

OK, I tag Rachael because I like her faux grass in the desert and want to see her kids in the pool this summer, Kelley because I like her real grass and Angel because I know she will make it fun!

Don't try this...

...at home, or anywhere else for that matter! Flashback Friday has been postponed to bring you Food Safety Friday. How does one get themselves a fashionable bracelet such as this? OK, but I am warning you.....

Well, first you have to make dinner for your family. Next you have to put the knife you used down in your sink so that your child cannot reach up and grab it. Then you should sit at the table and enjoy food and conversation with your loved ones. When dinner is over and your husband takes the offspring upstairs for some rough-housing and then a bath, load what you can into the dishwasher and then begin to wash by hand. IMPORTANT: You have to load everything into the sink and hide the knife from yourself, pump sufficient soap and fill with hot water. When you are almost done, be sure to scrub the whisk you used well. With sufficient pressure, the brush head will detach from your dish wand and your had will go driving down into the soapy water, cutting your finger. OH, and that hollow thud you hear? That'll be the knife knocking against the bone.

Now, you will want to shriek, yell your husband's name and apply pressure. In that order. (At least that is how I did it) Then you will want to have your mate bring you your shoes, grab your purse with ID and insurance card and head to the nearest walk-in clinic. Don't forget the offspring. We got there 5 minutes before they closed. Whew! The Novocaine will sting and the tetanus shot won't be fun, but you really don't feel the 7 stitches.

And that's how it is done. What? You say I could have just bought some gauze at CVS and done it myself? Great. Now I am just embarrassed.

Aron's Prayer

I usually try to get my quiet-time done before Aron is awake. He likes lots of attention when he first wakes up, so it is better for everyone. But, some days are just harder than others to get up before him and today was one of those days. So, after breakfast I sat at the kitchen table and put on some Disney for him. But, he decided that what I was doing looked like a lot more fun.
He asked me if he could read my Bible and I said, "Sure." I told him that the Bible is a book that has lots of smaller books inside. "Cool", he said. I read to him a little from Psalms and told him that David was a king who loved God and wanted to thank him by singing and praying. I asked him, "What do you want to pray and thank God for?" He stood up on the kitchen chair, folded his hands together and looked around. Then he prayed:

Thank you for Easter

and thank you for my flowers that Daddy branged for my Mommy.

Thank you for the house and the plates

and thank you for my Mammaw.

And Amen.

I was truly blessed by a late quiet-time today. My son taught me to thank God for everything and to do it simply and from the heart. And Amen!

This book....

...will open your mind, expand your heart, and encourage your spirit. I can't give too much away, but it really has changed me. It has painted a picture for me that enables me to see things that I have always "known", but couldn't really grasp. Please read it and then tell me what you think about it! Thank you, Kelley, for letting me borrow this book before you even read it!

"Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God.

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

To learn more, visit: http://www.theshackbook.com/

FBF6

So my friend Rachael decided to do FBF Prom style. Well, I couldn't let her do it alone! You should join us! It's scary-fun!

Anywho, here I am in all my 17-year-old-junior-prom-glory. Was I really that thin? And I had no business wearing that dress. I didn't have the body to keep the top up! And where was the self-tanner when you needed it? Did they not have that back in 1993? Somebody should have drug me to the tanning salon. Or at least suggested a different color dress. But, I probably would not have listened.

Junior prom brings back some funny memories. Like the fact that my date picked me up in an RV. Yes, an RV. His uncle was driving it. What were my parents thinking letting me go to prom in an RV?I was the only one with a curfew, though, so I suppose they were smart in that sense. My friend Brandie and I tasted escargot at the restaurant we went to. Then we excused ourselves to the restroom to go and spit it out. Yes, we were so classy!

We were standing on the stairs in the home of a girl named Kelly that I had never met before. She was the date of my date's best friend. But who cared! It was prom and we were excited to be all dressed up and cruising Austin in an RV! No romance between me and Shawn here. He was just a fun guy from my Spanish class and that was it. Good times!

Hope

Can you see them? My Hostas are coming back! I am so ready for the sunshine and for all things green and garden-y. When I first walked by these plants yesterday, I almost didn't notice them budding. I have been looking for them to sprout up for weeks. I wondered if I had done a bad thing by cutting back all of the dead folliage back in November. But, my green-thumbed-blog-buddy dyln assured me I had done the right thing.

So, I had to look twice to make sure I hadn't imagined these little purple and green sprouts along the side of the house. It really spoke to me. Sometimes we go through cold and gloomy seasons in our lives and we try to get rid of the things that are holding us back. Then we pray. Then we wait. Sometimes we wait so long that we almost lose hope. Which really is silly. Doesn't the Spring come every year? Doesn't the Sun rise every morning? The Psalms say, "..be strong, and let your heart take courage; Wait for the Lord!"(27:14) He is faithful. I am the one who doubts and wonders if my prayers will be answered. But He is showing me he hears me. Yes, I think God is speaking to me through my Hostas, as he does through all His creation. He is saying

"I am making everything new." Revelation 21:5 Even my tiny faith. Even my hope.

FBF5

OK, when you are done laughing, listen up. There is a good chance my sister may never speak to me again after posting this, so I hope you all realize how much I am putting myself out there with this FBF shot!

Aren't we cute? I am the one with the saxophone, if you couldn't tell. Notice anything funny about my uniform? OK, beside the fact that it is a red, white, and blue polyester band unform, smarties! Yep, my hat. It is on backward. Let's hope I didn't march like that! And aren't those gloves attractive with the fingers cut out? Being a woodwind player is rough when it's cold. Too bad you can't see the white band shoes in this shot! (OR the overlay with the confederate flag on it!)

I actually remember this day vividly. We had just marched at the UIL marching band competition at Westlake HS in Austin, TX. I am pretty sure it was my senior year and my sister's sophomore year. We did an entire program to the music of John Williams. (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.)

You know, I wouldn't want to wear that uniform again, but if it meant fitting back into those pants? Hmmmm.....

Boil some water!

Just kidding! I had almost forgotten to tell you all about this little guy until my blog-friend Flea mentioned crawfish in a recent post! Now, I do enjoy consuming crawfish, but I am in no hurry to eat this fella. I found him in our creek about 2 weeks ago while doing some raking near the driveway. I was trying to get more of those awful leaves out of the landscaping and something moved in the water! At this particular spot in the creek, the water is only about 3 inches deep and it was pretty mucked up. It sent a shiver down my spine, but then I remembered my 3yr old playing about 10 feet away and how cool it would be for him and his buddy, Jackson, to see and touch a crawfish. I was already wearing gardening gloves with the rubber stuff on them, so I plucked him right out of the water. I held his pinchers down with my thumb and let the boys "pet" his tail. They giggled and squealed and watching that was worth supressing the urge to throw the thing back in the water and squeal myself!

I'm back!

below: Aron hunting eggs in our yard, right: Aron and Emma Grace at our church egg hunt


Rudy holding new cousin Tate, Me with Mom and Tia Paula before the Opry, Aron and I on Easter Sunday

Hello! So, I got out of the blogging groove for about 2 weeks, but I have a plethera (love that word!) of reasons why I have neglected to post.


My mother and aunt came in for Easter for almost an entire week and in preparation for their visit, we did lots of landscaping and spring cleaning projects. That is when it all went wrong.....

1. While cleaning the upstairs bathroom, I noticed that the floor was damp and that the linoleum tiles were loose around the base of the toilet....not good. This led to call number one to the home warranty company.

2. The next day, I was out in the yard working on the flower beds. I went into the utility room to find a hammer (for steaking down weed blocker) and heard water running. Funny. I didn't remember installing a water feature in the utility room. Hmm....OH! It's the hot water heater. And it is overflowing from the top. Hmm...pretty sure it is not supposed to do that. Call number two. Thank GOD for home warranties.

3. Due to the above issues, I had no hot water. I had to BOIL water on the stove to do dishes. You can imagine how this slowed me down in my Spring Cleaning efforts. As I am sure you can imagine how pretty I looked and smelled having worked in the yard, cleaning house and no shower. (we did get a new water heater on Tuesday afternoon and I got a shower during naptime. Heaven!)

4. My aunt flew in Tuesday evening from San Antonio. Mom was to fly in the same evening from Dallas. Anyone see the news last week about the weather and almost all flights out of DFW being cancelled? Drama.

5. Mom got here Wed. She took our room, my Tia took the guestroom and Rudy and I took the air mattress. That being said, we had a wonderful time, but hostess duties and mommy duties and Easter Bunny duties took over my life.

OK. Does this explain my absense? (ANGEL!) To make it up to you, I am posting fun pictures of all our good times. Aron was spoiled rotten by Mammaw and Tia Paula. Easter went on for days at our house! What a blessing to share this joyful holiday with family! We even had a special visit from Rudy's cousin Gloria whom I had not seen since about 1999?!?! Her new baby, Tate a.k.a. Tater is sitting in Rudy's lap in that center picture. Cutie pie!

We had a great time on Saturday night with our ladies night out to the Grande Ole Opry. (Flea- I thought of you when Loretta Lynn started in on 'How Great Thou Art!)

Enjoy these photos while I sit on my porch enjoying watching my boy play, listening to the birds sing and taking in the result of all my hard work in the yard.

Cha-Cha-Cha!

This was Aron a few nights ago. He had decided to go into my closet and come out wearing some of my shoes. He loves the groans and eye-rolling this evokes from Daddy and my chuckling and snapping photos doesn't discourage him either. He pranced around the living room and into the kitchen like some crazy version of James Brown doing a flamenco dance!

Children are really a blessing and a gift from above. And sometimes they are just flat out entertaining!

Snow much fun!

I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that we live in a colder climate than we ever have before. Now, it's not the midwest or the north, by a long shot, but I got used to the 80 degree weather in March in Texas and then we moved to Vegas where it came as early as February and I'd be working on my tan by now! Warm weather makes me happy. I know it will get here soon enough and I'll be fanning myself and looking for shade at the park with Aron....
But SNOW? IN MARCH? Oh, allright! If we must. At least we got a good 3 or 4 inches here at the house! We had a blast pelting eachother with snowballs and building a snowman that I forgot to photograph, who was about 4 feet tall this time! Aron's favorite stunt was to run and fall down face first in the snow. He had Rudy and I cracking up the whole time.
We made the most of it out there for over an hour and even took time to throw a few snowballs in the creek as you can see from the short video I took with my camera. Kids + snow = fun!

FBF4

Having been battling the flu all week and watching the hints of spring fade away as we expect snow again tonight, I decided to flashback to a happier time! A springtime back in 1998 when Rudy and I were planning our wedding. We had engagement photos taken on a beautiful spring day in Austin at the Zilker Botanical Gardens. We were so young and happy. And neither of us had the flu! (And look! Rudy with hair!)

(Psst!)

Did you hear that?

(Psst!)

That! Did you hear it?

It's springtime and it's sneaking around, teasing me! Today it left these gorgeous and oh-so-fragrant daffodils in my yard!

I didn't know that daffodils smelled so good, did you? They are heavenly! Now, normally I would not go plucking the very first spring flowers from their happy little home next to the creek, but since we are expected to have a thunderstorms with high winds late tonight, I decided to go ahead and save them from being beaten and torn by the elements.

Besides, they look so sunny in my kitchen and fresh cut flowers make me feel so fancy!

FBF3

My Boys

I heard adults say it while I was growing up and I would guess that the phrase is repeated millions of times everyday: "they grow up so fast". Here are Rudy and Aron (around 8 months old) during a hike on Mt. Charleston in Nevada. We used to love to go up to the Mountains and escape the heat in the Valley. I wish we could drive 45 minutes to escape the cold these days!

I have said it before and I don't mean to brag. Aron is SUCH a good traveler. He likes to GO! We are actually in Louisville right now, tagging along on Daddy's business trip. I don't hesitate for a second to pack him up and put him in the car for the 3 hour drive. I wonder what this means about who my baby will be. Is God shaping him for a career invoving travel? Maybe he will experience multiple moves in his life (as he has already). Maybe a missionary? I am content to have him as my little boy, but prayerful and excited about who he is to become for God!

OH, and wasn't he such a cute baby?!?!?!?!?!?

Snow Day Fun

Aron and Jackson

Morgan and Keegan, too

My bigger, but not much better, snowman!

It really cracks me up what kind of weather leads to a snow-day around here. I just know people up in Montana are rolling their eyes at us! But, I guess the canceling school is more about the ice on the roads than the 1/8 inch of snow on the ground that is almost melted now at 11:15am. That being said, the snow-day brought Aron and I lots of friends to play with and we had a blast out in the yard. Aron chased Morgan and Keegan around with snowballs and Jackson followed me around asking "why?" in regards to everything I did. When I asked, "Do you guys want to make a snowman?" I thought their positive replies and enthusiasm meant they'd help. I thought wrong. I rolled those snowballs all by my lonesome and only had company toward the end, when most of the work had been done. It takes a long time to make a basketball sized ball of snow when there isn't much on the ground to begin with. But, I persevered. I'll say it was for the kids, but I secretly just wanted to out-do my last one.

A great film!

So we finally joined the "club" and started doing Netflix. It is really easy and they send the movies super quick! So far, I am loving it.
The other day, Amazing Grace had arrived in my mailbox. I had heard a few things about it and seen the DVD and soundtrack for sale at Lifeway, so I added it to my queqe. Rudy and I watched it last night and it was, for lack of a better word, amazing. I think it really spoke to me because of the bible study we are in right now. Learning about doing what God has planned through your life for His glory, and learning how to heed that call really opened my eyes to what William Wilberforce went through in his life and career. And I learned a few things about world history and how God works in every age and time.
If you are looking for a good movie, here it is! (Plus, you'll learn where the song Amazing Grace came from!)

FBF2

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Los Leals Flashback Friday! These shots have me fighting back little tears. Happy ones at the memories of our family vacation to the beaches of Mexico almost 2 years ago, and sad ones at the sight of my little baby boy who is a baby no more. He was right at 18 months old when we took this trip. Aron was and is an amazing traveler. He was always happy to go wherever we took him. So we said, "Vamanos!" to Mexico. I can still hear him asking to go to the beach, "Da Bee, Mama? Da Bee?"

I love the first one with his toothy grin. He had really figured out what "cheese" meant. And the second one will always be dear to me. Look at that little neck. Those tiny shoulders. That gorgeous tan skin of his! And that hair we never thought he'd have. Ok....Kleenex! I need Kleenex!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, if it has to be cold.....

Top to Bottom: the view from my front door this morning, Aron snacking on snow, my pathetic attempt at a snowman

You know, coming back from Texas this week was hard. Of course, it's home and we have family there and all that. But this time, it was the WEATHER that had me looking at my boarding pass and wondering if we really had to leave. It was sunny and 75 degrees in San Antonio. There were cyclamen and snapdragons blooming in the pots along the downtown streets and above the river. It was like May!
Well, we are not so lucky here in Tennessee. It is cold. Of course, I think anything below 60 is cold, so I'm not likely to be happy until May. Last night we had a cold front that came in, dragging an icy mess with it. But this morning: snow! It isn't much, but it is pretty and if it has to be cold, it is nice to have the white stuff for entertainment.
All Aron wanted to do was eat it. I told him he needed to quit eating the snow. He said, "But I'm hungry." I attempted to make a little snow man for him. And by little, I mean miniscule. He might be 10 inches tall. I placed my coffee mug next to him for scale. I think he's pretty cute, despite being horizontally challenged.
Hope that whatever your weather is, you are making the best of it. We're sure gonna try!

Star Trip 08

Here's Aron enjoying what Westin refers to as the "Heavenly Bed"!

Casey, Aron and I ....and the "light saver" Casey bought him.

Rudy and I at the big party!

Jason's deli's annual meeting and awards dinner is referred to as the Star Trip. I haven't been able to attend one since Aron was born, so it was a real treat for me to go along this year! The festivities were held in downtown San Antonio and it was a great time.

We were able to spend a little time down on the riverwalk and enjoyed gorgeous 75 degree weather and real Mexican food! (Sigh) One of Aron's favorite parts of traveling is the hotel room. He is so funny about it. He walks in and looks around. When we checked into our room on Friday he emphatically announced, " (Gasp) we have a new hotel!" Well, I like the Westin, too, son, but don't get used to it!

My dear friend Casey helped us out big-time by keeping Aron for us while we attended the scheduled events. Aron had a blast with her in the evenings, riding the riverboats, going out to dinner and somehow conning her into buying toys and trinkets! He told me just yesterday, " Mommy, I weely miss Casey." I bet, buddy! But it really is so wonderful to have him bond with someone I love and trust!

I Voted. Did you?

Today was the day to vote in the Primary Election here in Tennessee. I wasn't sure how I would swing getting to the polls with Rudy working all day. Then my beautiful and thoughtful friend Kelley called! We met at the poll and I sat in her van with the kids while she voted, then she sat with them while I voted! Thanks, Kelley! You rock! HEY, lets start a movement for November called "Mom the Vote" and get more moms to the polls! If your state has a Primary, please find out when it is and vote!

FBF1

Welcome to my first Flashback Friday! I figured I'd go waaaaaaaayyyyyy back. Well, about 12 years, anyway. I don't have the guts or the money for therapy to go all the way back to High School or anything.

Well, here we are. A young Rudy and Lori at the very beginning. I believe this picture was taken in the late summer/early fall of 1996. Remember those mall photo booths? Not like the digital ones they have now. You had to sit there and wait for it to print and dry. This brings back so many memories of Austin! Rudy is wearing his Spaghetti Wearhouse Oxford and I am wearing the long-sleved denim shirt that was part of my Canyon Cafe uniform. Ah, the full-service restaurant days.

It was young love. I wasn't even 21 in this picture! We had just started dating that July and would be engaged by November. We had no idea what the future held for us. It's been a long, bumpy road between then and now, but we are happier and wiser for it all. I am so blessed to have been partnered with such a wonderful person. God has brought us to a good place and I cannot imagine life any other way!