The Hanleys

Resolutions

2012-01-01T15:34:00.005-06:00

Yes, I do have a few resolutions for the new year...but they are things that I believe I can ACTUALLY commit to. They are not very specific like "I will lose 20 pounds" or "I will read my Bible for 45 min. a day." I am making them more general/realistic because these are not only things that I want to do in 2012...but things that I want to continue to improve on the rest of my life. I am going to post them on here in hopes that it will keep me more accountable.

Improve my Faith and relationship with God by spending more time in his word and in prayer.
Give, Love, and Serve everyday.
Be a better wife, daughter, sister, granddaughter, etc.
Live a healthier lifestyle--both mentally and physically (which means joining a gym, worrying less, and trusting more).
Be a better teacher and Christian example to my students and co-workers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! God Bless!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-29T10:50:00.000-06:00

This was our Christmas card for this year.
Thanks Kim for taking our picture! You're awesome! :)

Update in Photos

2011-12-28T22:19:00.004-06:00

This Christmas break, I am trying to clean/organize a few things...including my phone. So, I had a bunch of random photos on my phone from things that have gone on in the past few months so I thought I would share with all of you. My sister-in-law did this awhile back and I thought I would do the same. :)

1. A few months ago Kristin and I had a craft day and we decided to make pillows. This orange damask pillow was one of the ones I made to go on our big bay window. I bought the material at Hobby Lobby and stuffed it with polyester stuffing. Note to self: pillow forms are much better! More expensive...but it keeps the pillow from getting lumpy!

2. This is the second pillow I made that day. I sewed it out of burlap, painted on it, and then stuffed it and closed it shut. This pillow now serves as a throw pillow for our bed. I love it! Only next time, I wouldn't rush the painting. I can see about five different things I would change.

3. This is gourmet hot cocoa from Christmas in Fair Park (Paris). This nice gentlemen sold to to me for $1 instead of $2...and it was delicious! Hot cocoa with hazelnut, whip cream, a candy cane and sprinkles. YUM!

4. This is a picture I took with Santa when he came to visit Justiss Elementary.

5. Well, I am sure you are wondering why I have a picture of Corn King hams on here. Yes, it is weird...but these hams were apart of a huge project I took on at our church in December. I headed up our annual Christmas basket ministry. It was a LOT of work and I am pretty sure there were some people who didn't think I could do it. BUT, I did and we ended up handing out about 100 baskets in one day. :) This was the brand of ham that I ordered from Wal-Mart to go with the baskets. Overall, the project was a huge success and I am glad I could do something to give back this holiday season.

6. Those two beauties are my Aunt Misty and puppy Kate. I rode with Misty to Greenville one day to pick up Kate from the pound. When Misty and I walked into the pound it stunk something terrible!!! Plus, it was very sad to see all of those lonely animals. Kate jumped/rolled out of her box to greet us and Misty knew that was the puppy for them. She is adorable and I am glad they did something for puppy humanity. When Grayson (Misty's son) saw her he said it was the best Christmas gift ever!

7. Chocolate Chip (Pecan) Cookie Pie- I decided that for Christmas I would make a few recipes that I have pinned on Pinterest. I pin things all the time and never make them so I thought this would be a good opportunity to test a few out. This one turned out great and was super easy to make. If you know me at all, you know I am not very good at baking...so if I say it's easy..then it REALLY is!

1 unbaked pie shell
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels (plus additional chips for drizzle)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the eggs, on high, until foamy. Beat in the flour and then both sugars. Beat in the butter. (I usually have a few small specks of butter left in the batter- this is fine and the pie will turn out great.) Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into the pie crust and bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the topping:
Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Add about a 1/2 teaspoon oil. Stir and pour into a zipper bag. Cut off a tiny corner and drizzle over the pie.

Optional:
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

8. Parmesan Chipotle Corn- Well this recipe I made up all by myself. I talked to Kim about making some food for Christmas, and this recipe somehow popped into my head. I LOVED it and got a lot of compliments so I am pretty proud of myself. Try it sometime! It's super easy!

3 cans White Chipotle Corn (strained)
8oz. sour cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan
4 tbs. of chopped cilantro
2 tbs. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and warm in the microwave for 3-5 minutes.

9. This is a picture of the Hanley men with a shirt that I had made for them for Christmas. It says, "I once thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken. ~Hanley Family Motto~" What I should have put on it was the Hanley MEN motto. Anytime we are at dinner it is me against the three of them. I guess Kim as just learned to smile and watch...but for some reason I am still in battle mode. So, we have been joking about this quote for awhile and I kept telling them I was going to have a shirt with this quote put on it...and I did! I think the guys really liked it. Thanks T-Shirt Shoppe! You did an awesome job!

Fall Updates

2011-12-07T20:05:00.011-06:00

So I am not going to give you a bunch of excuses as to why I haven't blogged lately---besides to say that it's just been extremely busy. To be honest I'm not even sure what all has gone on that's "blog-worthy." I guess I'll just give you the hi-lights!

HALLOWEEN
Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Last year Matt and I were in Denton and we just hung out at the apartment and turned our porch light off. haha! But this year we decided to sign up to host a Trunk-or-Treat vehicle at our church. I decided to paint a drop cloth to decorate my car. I figured it would take a lot of effort this year (which it DID!) but for the next few years we can just unfold it and hang it up. It took me ALL afternoon one Sunday to paint. Haley even came over to help but it still took forever. BUT, I am still glad that I did it. I think next year I will add some glow paint so it glows in the dark!

It was also very cool to see some of my students come out to our church's T-O-T. I don't get to see them very often outside of school so I liked seeing them all dressed up in their costumes. I do have some pictures with some of my students, but since I don't have their parents permission, I won't post them on here. Here is a pic of Matt and I from that night (the drop cloth is in the background).

ULTIMATE FRISBEE/FOOTBALL
Matt and Clay organized an ultimate frisbee game one Saturday afternoon (which ended up turning into football). Matt and I invited Shannon and Kristin, some of our friends, and Clay got some of the LACOC youth to come play too. We had a LOT of fun! Kim came to take pics while we were playing, and James even got out and played for a bit! Here are some pics from that day (thanks Kim!)

THANKSGIVING/BREAK
This year we got a week off for Thanksgiving Break. It was AMAZING! I got so much done and am looking forward to the TWO WEEKS we get at Christmas Break. We had three Thanksgivings to attend this year and they were great, but I don't have any pictures. We had lunch with Matt's family on Thanksgiving Day, dinner with my mom's side of the family on Friday night, and dinner with my dad's side of the family on Saturday night. It was great getting to spend time with all of the family! Here are a couple of recipes I made for some of the festivities.

Death by Chocolate
One of my FAVORITES!

1 18.25oz devil’s food cake
1 5.9oz instant chocolate pudding
1 16oz cool whip
6 heath bars

Bake cake and let cool
Make pudding and put in fridge
Once cake is cool, crumble
Break Heath bars into small pieces (or use pre-crushed toffee bits)
In a trifle dish, layer cake, pudding, cool whip, heath pieces

Crack Potatoes

I found this on Pinterest, and my sister-in-law made it a few weeks before. It's delicious! Click here if you want to go to the site it originally came from.

2 (16oz) containers sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits

2 packages Ranch Dip mix

1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind

Combine first 4 ingredients
Mix in hash browns
Spread into a 9x13 pan
Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes

SCENTSY PARTY

I hosted a Scenty party last week for Lindsay McCarter (who is a Scentsy representative). It was so much fun and I got a LOT of great, good-smelling, free stuff! My sister-in-law helped me prepare for the party and I appreciate it so much! (Thanks again Kristin!) Again, I don't have any pictures from the event, but I did want to mention it on here in case you were interested in ordering, or wanted to have a party of your own. Here is Lindsay's website.

Well...that's all I can think of for now! Hopefully I will start posting more frequently. ;)

Deer Run Retreat

2011-10-19T19:08:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago Matt and I went with the LACOC Youth Group to Camp Deer Run for their annual fall retreat. This is the first trip that we have been on with the youth as "sponsors." It was definitely a different feeling that I am used to....I mean WE were the "adults/grown-ups/responsible ones." On this trip, I think Matt and I both had to remind ourselves that we were not in the youth anymore. It was definitely a flashback. But needless to say we had a GREAT time! Thanks to Jared, Kristi, Carol, Lewis, and all of the youth group for making this trip so amazing. :) Here are a few pictures from the trip!

Great Start to the School Year!

2011-09-10T21:29:00.002-05:00

I was trying to think about what to write...and really not a whole lot has happened since my last post. For the most part, we have been working and relaxing when we get the chance. School is off to a GREAT start and I absolutely love my job, co-teacher, and kids! Work has been very busy, but I am starting to get the hang of things. :) Just when things start to get crazy at school and I start stressing out a little...I have a kid come hug me, tell me how much they love me, or I see something "click" with one of my students. It's the most amazing, crazy, best, rewarding jobs ever. If you ever want to know whats going on in my classroom you can check out my class website.

Mrs. Hanley's Class Page

Here is a picture of my team teacher Tami and I. She is an awesome teacher and is always there to give me advice or a helpful hand.!!! I am so thankful for her!

These are pictures of the flowers/plant that I recieved on the first day of school! The green plant is from my parents and the cut flowers are from Matt's parents (Kim and James). These deliveries seriously made my day...especially considering how nervous I was that day!!!

Also, here is a self-portrait that I drew. On the first day of school the kids and I drew self-portraits to hang in the hallway. Haha I know I'm not the best artist ever..but at least the kids liked it! If you're wondering about the shirt I drew... the theme a our school this year is "Bring Your A-Game." The whole school has been bringing their A-Game everyday! I am so blessed to work in such a supportive environment!

P.S. Thanks to all of my family for bringing me your Box Tops, buying snacks and prizes, and continually supoorting me and my students. I am SOOO thankful for everything you do for us!

One Year Anniversary

2011-08-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

Happy one year anniversary to my best friend and husband---Matt Hanley!

This time last year I was full of nerves and excitement! To be honest, I still get nervous when I hear any of our wedding music!!! But I look back on that day and realize how truly special and amazing it was.

When I scroll back through this blog, I also realize that this year has been an absolutely crazy and blessed all at the same time. Student teaching, Matt being sick, graduating, moving back to Paris, finding jobs, and everything else has been quite an adventure. But I cannot think of anyone else that I would rather spend this life with. Again, Happy Anniversary Matt. I'm looking forward to many more years of happiness together. :)

Classroom: 2011

2011-08-05T23:56:00.002-05:00

I have been working on my classroom very hard this past week. Kim came up to the school today and took some pictures for me so I wanted to share them on here. I couldn't post all of them because it would take too long, so check out my Facebook to see more.

I want to give some shout outs to:

Linda Whitney who left me so many amazing materials, resources, and supplies!
Kristi Garrett for helping me tremendously Monday and Wednesday!
James, Kim, and Clay for helping and building/painting the backpack rack in the back of my classroom!
The Texas Tumbling kids and crew who sorted all of my construction paper!
Tami Attebury, Lesa Bulls, Rachel Archer, Dorothy Boyd (Memaw), Michelle Heidrich, Janie Phillips, Linda Erwin, Frances Powers, Misty Gage, my parents, and anyone else who has given me decorations, resources, and/or supplies!

Thank you so much! Couldn't have done it without all of you!!!

Poppie

2011-08-05T23:45:00.000-05:00

Another change that happened this summer was the passing of my sweet Poppie. The whole thing was very unexpected, and sometimes I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. But if you have talked to anyone in our family at all, then you know that he went the way he would have wanted to go. I'm not going to talk a whole lot about this one here just because there is not a whole lot to say besides how much I love, respect, and miss him. But the good news is, I KNOW that I will see him again one day :) Here the letter I wrote that I had read at the funeral. Rest in Peace Poppie.

*******

"My Poppie is one of the most amazing people I know. I loved him so much and cannot be more thankful for the time that I had with him. Every time I saw him, he never failed to tell me how much he loved me or how proud he was of me for choosing to be a teacher and for choosing my husband Matt. There are a lot of grandchildren who don’t get to spend a lot of time with their grandparents, or who never knew how much they were loved. But I always knew how much my Poppie loved me, and I am sure that he knows how much I loved him.

Poppie taught me many things: Kindness, silliness, bravery, determination, love, and even small things like how to fold a box shut. Even though it seems simple, now every time I move houses or classrooms or anything else, I will always be reminded of my sweet Poppie.

I will also never forget all the half-true-half-fictional stories about growing up that he told me while we would eat at Nancy’s Café or South Main. I never knew whether he was telling me the truth or just trying to get a good laugh out of me. For the longest time, I really believed him when he told me that onions would make my hair curly. Even though his stories were silly, they are memories that I will always cherish and will be able to share with my own children someday.

Again, I loved my Poppie so very much. The past few years he would tell me over and over how much he loved my Memaw. He was the ideal example of what a loving Christian man should be. He accomplished so many things, and this world was lucky to have him. I look forward to the day when I get to see him again, but for now I will be sure to keep the memory alive of my sweet, loving, and gentle Poppie."

July 4th

2011-08-05T23:37:00.001-05:00

This year, I went with my mom to my Aunt Betty and Uncle Hunter's lake house for the annual July 4th celebration. Matt was not feeling well this year so he decided to stay at home that weekend. I didn't take a lot of pictures while I was there, but here are a few that I took on my phone. :)

When I got home, Matt and I went with his family to see the Paris Rotary Fireworks show. Here are a few pics that we took while we were there.

Summer Updates

2011-08-05T22:09:00.006-05:00

So needless to say, I'm a tiny bit behind on here! Life has changed a LOT since I last posted and the Lord has blessed us both so much. Let me give you a "quick" update:

This summer, Matt and I worked at Texas Tumbling and Trampoline with their "Just Plane Kids" (and yes...it is spelled that way) summer camp. I worked at the same place 3 years ago before going off to college and was very excited about working there again. I also taught two preschool gymnastics classes. I know your wondering "Why are YOU teaching gymnastics!?" haha but Preschool isn't that hard. Hey....at least they're impressed with me! :) Here are a few pics for Brytnie and I when we took the kids to First Baptist's VBS.

While we were working there, Matt ended up interviewing and getting a job at Brad Drake Construction. He has been working there for a little while now and he absolutely loves it! His title is "Human Resources Administrator." Fancy right? I'm so proud of him!

We stayed with Matt's parents this summer, and ended up buying a house after only being there about a month. It was a house that I had been looking at for a LONG time and I kept telling Matt that I thought my intuition about it was spot on. We looked at 6-7 houses and ended up agreeing that it was our best option. I LOVE IT! Its a 3/2 with modern updates and a VERY cute bay window. We have been at the house for almost a month now and I am still in love. We are pretty much settled in the house and have made a few changes but I don't want to post pictures of the inside until I'm finished. So for now, here is a pic that Kim took of the outside. :)

Here are some other pictures of different things that we have done on throughout the summer. Enjoy! :)

Grayson's t-ball game (I love his face in this pic!)

Seeing the Marvelous Wonderettes at the Paris Community Theatre

Martha's Baptism at The Village Church

Enchilada/corn/cheesy rice dinner that Matt and I made while staying at the Hanley's

Sitting on the porch by an oil lamp when the electricity went out. I felt like we were on Little House on the Prairie!

Dinner at Olive Garden in Denton with Kaylea, Liz, and Lauren. Miss you girls!

DIY Chair Makeover

2011-07-04T19:40:00.002-05:00

I was searching around on Pinterest one day and saw a picture of a DIY office chair makeover and Kristin and I started talking back and forth about how to do it. Matt told me one day that his Papa Perry had a lot of chairs down at his furniture store that would be good to re-do. I went down there and fell in love with one of them! I like the style, it's rocking/swivel ability, and liked the fact that it had handrails. I asked Perry if I could have it and he of course said yes :) Matt said that the one I picked out was actually the chair he used to sit in when he spent time down at the store when he was little. So it's cool and sentimental.

Anyways, one weekend Shannon and Kristin were in and I asked Kristin if she would help me re-do this chair. Little did I know, that it would take more than just the two of us to do this "little" project. Kristin, Matt and I started taking it apart and then went to get fabric for it. When we got back, we all started working on different parts of it. Clay, being the great brother-in-law that he is, along with Kim's helped, offered to spray paint the individual parts of the chair. We used clear plastic Krylon to start (1 can), covered it with regular "Blue Ocean Breeze" Krylon spray paint (2 cans), and then coated it again with the clear plastic paint. Krylon didn't make the plastic spray paint in the color I wanted, so this was our solution and so far it seems to have worked well! Kristin and I worked on putting the fabric on the chair with hot glue, and duct tape (a little ghetto...I know.. haha). We were going to use staples, but the the plastic backing of the chair was too hard and the staples wouldn't go through it. While we were doing this, we made sure not to pull the fabric too tight so it would have a little room to stretch when someone sits in it. Finally, Shannon, Matt, Kristin, and I worked to assemble the chair back together. Needless to say, I LOVE this chair and am so thankful for everyone's help! :)

Mini Vacation-San Antonio

2011-06-01T10:57:00.013-05:00

Needless to say, it has been quite and interesting semester for Matt and I! A few months ago, we realized that we would have a few free days before we started our summer job, and we really wanted to get away for a little mini vacation. Thanks to some free rewards points and a little graduation money-we were able to make it happen!

We took SOOOO many pictures while we were in San Antonio, but I really hate blog posts that are extremely bulky so I tried to narrow it down to the essentials/favorites. I also thought I would just make a a quick list of what all we did, that way I don't spend four hours of my life on one blog that probably only a few people read. haha so here we go!

Day 1

Drove down to San Antonio-seemed like FOREVER!
Stopped at 3 different places trying to find a Fossil store so I could spend a gift card. My garmin lied to me twice. Finally found once at the Tanger Outlets. Which are amazing by the way!
Made it to our hotel-The Aloft of San Antonio. Great location and great room.
Went and ate at Mamacitas. Best Sour Cream Enchiladas I have EVER had.

Day 2

Got up at ate at The Egg and I-It was pretty good, but not the best food I've ever had. We spend 15 minutes sitting there wondering why our waiter wasn't coming to back to get our check when we heard him tell another table that you check out up front. Whoops!
Went to the San Antonio Zoo-It was really hot so the animals were all pretty lazy, but we really enjoyed it anyways. The elephant was my favorite!
Changed clothes and went to eat at Texas de Brazil- Matt had been wanting to eat there for a long time. It was awesome! There was a wine artist in the wine cellar twirling around on a trapeze-type contraption and they sat us down right in front of it. The food was awesome but it was a little pricey. I still highly recommend it though.
Walked to the San Antonio Riverwalk-We were down here when I got the call that I had been officially hired at PISD. It was such a great night! We bought our souvenir t-shirts at the Five and Dime store down there and took a boat tour at night.
Went to see the Alamo-It was a lot smaller than I imagined!
Went back to the hotel and CRASHED.

Day 3

Slept in-We were exhausted!
Went to eat at The Cove-We found this restaurant from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives from the Food Network. The food was amazing! Matt still says it was the best burger and fries he has ever had. They also get all of their food from local farmers and markets and are an eco-friendly restaurant.
Went to the Alamo Quarry Market and had ice cream at Amy's Ice Cream-It was delicious! They even had Shiner ice cream, which sounds disgusting...but we had a sample and it was actually really good!
Had massages at Spa D' Sante-This was Matt's first massage ever! It wasn't the best massage I've ever had, but it was good for the price.
Ate dinner at Lulu's Bakery and Cafe-This is a restaurant we found from the show Man Vs. Food on the Travel Channel. This place sells a 3 pound cinnamon roll! Its humungous! We bought one, froze it, and brought it back to Paris as a souvenir for our families. Hopefully we will get together and eat it soon! Matt ordered their famous chicken fried steak with queso on it for dinner. Which this seems strange at first, but it was actually very tasty.

Day 4

We headed home early on this day-We knew we had a long drive and were ready to get it over with.
We stopped in Round Rock at a restaurant called Saltlick BBQ. This is another restaurant we found on Man vs. Food. They have a huge open pit where you can see them cooking all of the meat. The food was all delicious-and it the price wasn't half bad either! On the way out I asked the guy behind the counter if I could take a picture of the pit, and he told me I could come through the back. So we went through the employee entrance and got a good picture of the pit from the front. It was really cool!
Then we made our way back to Denton-THE END! :)

Once a Wildcat...ALWAYS a Wildcat!

2011-05-24T22:37:00.005-05:00

I started applying for jobs awhile back and was very concerned about getting a job this year. If you don't know (and if you don't...you've been living under a rock!) the education budget cuts this year have been substantial, and my education friends and I have all been worried about finding jobs.

I've always known that I wanted to work for Paris ISD. Matt had talked me into filling out my North Lamar ISD application, since that is where he went to school, but I never had the chance to turn it in. ;) I went in for interviews at Justiss Elementary in Paris, where I have ALWAYS wanted to teach, and as of yesterday I have officially been hired as a 3rd grade math/science/social studies teacher. I am so excited about this opportunity! It is basically my dream job and I could not have asked for a more perfect situation for my first year of teaching.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for Matt and I and our job searches! I know that I am beyond blessed to have this job and I promise that I will not let my Alma mater or any of my future kiddos down! :)

My Graduation

2011-05-24T22:21:00.000-05:00

A little over a week ago, I graduated from UNT with my Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies EC-6. I graduated with a 3.89 which is classified as Magna Cum Laude :) I was SOOO close to being Summa Cum Laude but I am still proud that I graduated with honors.

The whole weekend was great! Matt's and my family came to Denton for the ceremony, and the next day we met up for brunch at Cracker Barrel. There really isn't a whole lot to say about graduation except for the fact that it was LONGGGG. Like...REALLY long. But I am glad that I went through the ceremony because it gave me another chance to see all of my school friends. Anyways, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Good Reminders

2011-05-10T16:30:00.004-05:00

At the Village this weekend, we had a guest preacher named Tullian Tchividjian. The point of his sermon was to remind us that Jesus+Nothing=Everything. Christian narcissism is a topic that he covered and how dangerous it can be to our faith, and this lesson was a reminder on how to diminish that. This life is not about us and our desires, our "good works" are not what makes us worthy of grace, and we have to remember Jesus loves us no matter what. The Village has all of their sermons on their website, or you can get the podcast on iTunes. I would highly encourage you to go and listen to this sermon. It was definitely something that I needed to hear!

At the end of his sermon he read a declaration called The Fellowship of the Unashamed. I absolutely love the words in this and I think it is something that we need to be reminded of every single day.

On the right side of the blog there is an icon called The Story. Matt posted it on here about a month ago. Basically it is a short-version story of The Gospel. Our desire is to "promote lives changed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ", and this is one small way that we can do that. Feel free to link this to your own blog. There is also an app now for the iPhone that you can download in case you want to share:)

Easter Weekend

2011-05-02T21:02:00.001-05:00

Easter weekend we went to Gordonville for the Jones family reunion. I had never met this part of Matt's family before so I was excited for this opportunity. Matt's relatives, Thomas and Mary, were celebrating their 50th anniversary so they decided to get everyone together to celebrate. James, Kim, and Clay came over Saturday night and we met up at the movie theater to see the Conspirator (a movie about the conspiracy around President Lincoln's death). For anyone who interested in history, it is worth a watch! I think we all really enjoyed it.

The next morning we slept in, ate lunch, and then headed to Gordonville. The family was all gathered to eat and celebrate Easter. They had an Easter egg hunt in the pasture for all the kids, and at one point, there was a golden egg left and a lot of the adults went out to try to find it! We searched for about thirty minutes until one of Matt's relatives found it hidden in a burn pile. Here are a few pictures from the reunion/Easter/anniversary celebration!

After we left there, we stopped by Thomas and Mary's house for a few minutes. The Hanleys used to go there for reunions, and Matt has told me a TON of stories about their zip line and diving board and all the adventures that he had there when he was young. This next picture is of Matt after a bike wreck that he had while he was at Thomas and Mary's house. I don't know how that boy is still in one piece! Every time I'm around a member of his family, I hear of another story of how Matt got hurt. He sure does look cute in those bandages though :)

That night (after we left Thomas and Mary's) we came home and went to church at the Village. About ten minutes after church started, the tornado sirens went off! If you know me at all....then you KNOW that I do not like storms. At all. So I was freaking out a little! They told us everything was alright so we continued with church service. Church that night was supposed to have extended worship, but right before we were going to start singing the extra songs, there was a power surge and some lead members of the church said that part of the roof had caved in and everyone needed to leave. SO, we ended up coming back to the apartment. Matt's family debated back and forth awhile about whether to leave or not because there were storms from here all the way to Paris. At about 10:00 that night they decided that they thought it would be alright and headed home. Needless to say, it was a very interesting/eventful weekend! ;)

Pinterest & Gradution/Birthday Ideas

2011-04-30T18:23:00.002-05:00

My sister-in law Kristin posted a blog a few days ago about a website called Pinterest. Today I asked her to invite me to join (because you have to be invited in order to create your own).... and it's official. I'm addicted!!! There are so many things that I like or want to make and this is a great way to keep up with it and to discover new things. Below is a snapshot of my Pinterest board.

Graduation is in about thirteen days and my birthday is at the end of the month as well. I have been asked by a lot of people what I want and if you click on my Pinterest link then you can see my Wish List board :) There is also a link to my Pinterest on the right sidebar.

Allison's Pinterest
Kristin's Pinterest

It's Almost Over?!?

2011-04-30T18:21:00.001-05:00

So life has been pretty busy busy lately. I finished up my student teaching and have now been hired at my school as a TAKS tutor for a couple of weeks. I am very excited to have this job! I am glad that I will finally be earning a paycheck- even though it won't be for long:) But it will give me great experience and I am thankful that the teachers thought enough of me to keep me around longer!

I submitted my last class assignments this week and my portfolio (which has been three semesters worth of work!) I also went today and purchased my honors stole. I think the reality of all of this hasn't really hit me yet...but I am definitely ready to move on and implement everything that I have learned over the past four years.

My PDS friends and I have worked very hard over the past year. Student teaching was definitely a challenge for all of us, but we all persevered and tried to have a lot of laughs along the way. Here are a couple of pics that we took at one of our seminars this semester.

These were actually taken one of the nights that Matt was in the hospital with his blockage. I wasn't going to come to this seminar but Kim and James told me to take a break and go so I wouldn't miss out on our group pictures. I'm glad I took their advice!

Painting with a Twist!

2011-04-23T09:52:00.003-05:00

During my first student teaching rotation, my friend/first mentor Mrs. Heidrich asked me to if I wanted to go painting with her at Painting with a Twist! They have locations all around, but we went to the Flower Mound location. Basically it is a painting class (all supplies provided) that you can sign up for with your friends and you can bring drinks and snacks. There is an instructor at the front of the room who pretty much takes you step by step through the process. You are always welcome to change it up, because they want you to make it your own. Below is a picture of the painting I did.

When you go on their website you can see the dates and the paintings they they have available. Also, if you have a party of at least eight people, you can call them, pick from any of their paintings, a book your own private party. I think two hour paintings are $35 dollars and three hour paintings are $45 dollars. We reserved our spots a few months ago...so it was a nice surprise when I looked at my calendar and realized that I had a fun night planned that was already paid for!!! :) Always a bonus! Anyways...I would definitely do it again. Even if you aren't artistic, it is still a fun experience...and you can always give it to your parents or grandparents if you don't like it. ;) This next picture is of Mrs. Heidrich and I, and the last one is of our whole class that night once we were finished. If anyone wants to sign up for a class-let me know!

Bowling & Rough Rider Game

2011-04-11T20:58:00.009-05:00

Awhile back Haley, Matt, and I decided to go bowling. I completely forgot I had these pictures on my camera until a few minutes ago! Whoops! Anyways...the cutest little kid was beside us the whole time with his mom. It was his first time bowling and he was super excited! On aisle beside them, there was a group of teeny-boppers who were...how do I put this...inappropriate!!! The mom beside us thanked us for being so patient with her son (because she was trying to teach him how to take turns...and the other group was not showing the same courtesy). We had so much fun bowling and watching this kid learn how to bowl was a bonus! Matt kept wanting to give the kid pointers..since he is a bowling expert ;) but I told him to leave that little boy alone and he can torture our future kids all he wants. Anyways...here are some pics from our fun night out!
Shannon and Kristin invited us to a Frisco Rough Riders game yesterday to celebrate Shannon's birthday which was on April 3rd. SHOUT OUT: Happy 26th Shannon!!! Anyways...we didn't have any plans so we decided to tag along. The game was fun...but what I enjoyed most was spending time with Shannon and Kristin (you too Matt!) Even though we all live so close now, it still seems like we don't get to spend a lot of time with each other. I have been pretty busy with student teaching and everything so it was nice of them to invite us for an evening out. Thanks again guys! We had fun :) Here are some pics from the game!

Chocolate Chip Cloud Cookies

2011-04-03T09:38:00.011-05:00

I posted some websites a couple of weeks ago. One of the recipe sites I posted was Gina's Skinny Recipes. This website is AMAZING. I have been on Weight Watchers for over a month now, and I have used this website tons of times for meal ideas. She posts the WW points on most of her recipes which makes it much easier on me. If you are on WW though, be sure to pay close attention to the points because some of her recipes have the old points, some have the new points+, and some have both. All of the nutritional information is posted as well!

Last week my WW buddy and first mentor for student teaching, Mrs. Heidrich, made these Chocolate Chip Clouds from Gina's website. They were soooo yummy! Having a WW buddy is so much easier because we can share tips and keep each other accountable. I made the cookies last night and they are great. I was also told that they get better as the days go by. This recipe is very simple and makes about 30 cookies.... for only 1 point a piece! But even if you aren't on WW, they are a great alternative for regular chocolate chip cookies.

Matt's Review: "I would rather have a regular chocolate chip cookie, but they are good for 1 point." haha I'm not sure if he really thinks they are good or not. But if you know Matt at all, he hardly ever gets excited about new foods. He would probably be perfectly fine with spaghettiOs, chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, etc. for the rest of his life! But that's ok...my cooking WILL impress him one day! :)

*This week I lost 2.4 pounds which makes my total loss so far 7.6 pounds!!! My 5% goal is 9 pounds, so hopefully I will hit that in the next couple of weeks. If anyone out there has any other good/easy WW recipes, please send them my way.

Crafty Pens/Prizes

2011-04-02T15:25:00.007-05:00

Every week for student teaching, we have seminars that are located at different elementary schools around Denton. The seminars always have a topic that is education related. This next week (Tuesday), is the seminar that I am partly in charge of. Our topic is "Advice for First Year Teachers," which I think will be great! One thing that I am in charge of is door prizes. I was going to see if I could get some stuff donated...but with my crazy schedule I just ran out of time. Most other people have been bringing miscellaneous teacher stuff like bulletin board borders, signs, bookmarks, and other simple prizes. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I did want to have something cute! So here is what I came up with.

I bought five notepads at the dollar store that have educational stuff on them, like rulers, apples, books, etc. (One thing that I have learned in student teaching...is you can NEVER have enough notepads!) I also bought some cute red flowers. I needed some green tape to use for the flower pens but the dollar store was out. So I went to Michaels and grabbed some. Here is the cost breakdown:

Five Notepads = $5
One Set of Red Silk Flowers = $1
Green Waterproof Tape = $2
Pens & Ribbon = Free (I already had this at home)

TOTAL: $8 for five really cute door prizes!
Approx. $1.60 a piece (see Matt...I can do math! lol)
and it only took like 30 minutes!

I also have a lot of leftover tape, so I hope to made a whole set of pens soon. It is easier to keep up with them at school if you have big flowers on them. The kids are less likely to steal them! Also, you can put them in a little flower pot or vase and it doubles as cute decor for your desk. Kill two birds right? :)

Crafty Clock Makeover

2011-03-26T18:36:00.014-05:00

THANKS TO MOD PODGE ROCKS FOR FEATURING THIS ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE! (April 2, 2011)
Mod Podge Rocks Blog
Mod Podge Rocks Facebook Page

Like I said in my last blog, I have been in a very crafty mood. Today, I decided to redo a clock that I "decorated" a couple of years ago. Needless to say... this clock NEEDED an update and I think my skills have definitely improved over the years. Hopefully this can inspire you to make one of your own!

The second picture is a how the clock looked after I decorated it the first time. It has a little jewel swirl, a quote, and two jewel hearts...not very creative! I took all the stuff off so I could have a blank canvas. I knew I wanted to use yellow so I traced the clock and cut out the yellow and tested it to make sure it fit. I had to cut a line to the middle so that it would wrap around the hands of the clock. Next, I I found some paper I liked in my scrapbook stuff that had colors that I decorate in. I added some orange and then got stuck. It was too boring! So I decided to find some more scraps of paper in the colors I decorate in, and I started piecing them onto the yellow paper with sticky tabs. I then flipped it over and cut off the edges. I cut out the numbers using my Cricut :) and then used glossy Mod Podge on top to make it shiny! Since the Mod Podge is basically glue, it also helps to keeps the paper all together. The next picture is the final product! I think it turned out great and now it matches our apartment!

This is a picture of the canvas Meghan Bulls made Matt and I as a wedding gift. I mentioned it a few blogs ago...and it was my inspiration for this clock. I still love this canvas and it will always be apart of our home decor. Thanks again Meghan!

March Update- 10 bullets or less!

2011-03-23T21:32:00.018-05:00

Matt is doing 100% better!
Spring Break was great and consisted of our 6-year anniversary, spring-cleaning, and a quick trip to Paris!
Matt and I have started reading though the Bible together (I’m SO thankful to be married to him!)
I only have 21 days left of student teaching! Graduation is on May 13, 2011 and YES…that is Friday the 13^th which seems appropriate considering the current job opportunities (or lack there of…) in education. BUT…I am trying my best to stay positive!
We are looking/applying for jobs all the time.
My car is back in working order
We are looking forward to the release of The Village Worship Album- God of Victory
(available on iTunes April 1st)!
I will be working at Texas Tumbling again this summer!
I have been in a crazy crafty mood lately…but with no time to do them. Hopefully I can make one of the things on my to do list and post a blog this weekend!

Things are looking up! (hence...the excessive amount of exclamation points!) Thanks again to our family and friends for all of your support! We love you!

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever!

Blog/Website Faves

2011-03-06T12:09:00.007-06:00

Lately I have been in a crafty/decorating kind of mood. I have NO time for crafts and really no need to decorate (this apartment) since we will be moving to Paris in a few months. BUT even thought I don't have time for it right now...doesn't mean I won't later! So I am making lists and idea boards about things that I would like to make/do. This weekend Kim told me about a cool blog called Giver's Log. This blog has ALL kinds of cute hand-made crafty gift ideas, as well as some yummy recipes. While I was looking at that blog, I found a link to another new favorite blog called A Girl and a Glue Gun. This website has LOTS of tutorials on things to sew, glue, paint, etc. using paper, beads, a Cricut, and of course...a glue gun! Below is a list of a couple more blogs that I am starting to keep up with. I will link them on the side of my blog as well.

Also if you don't know I started weight watchers last week. It was a tough first week considering Matt was in the hospital. I messed up a couple of times, but for the most part I stuck with it. I would go home and pack up food and bring it back to the hospital. I must have done something right though because I lost 3.2 pounds this week! :) The struggle for me is going to be cooking healthy meals that Matt and I BOTH like. Here are a few websites that I have been looking through to try to find some easy/healthy meals. If you know of any that you like to use please let me know!

Change In Course

2011-03-03T14:26:00.005-06:00

So Matt and I have been talking a LOT about what's next for us in life. We were really struggling with the decision about where to live. We have gone back and forth on a decision between living in the metroplex area or Paris for awhile because we have things that are pulling us both ways. I posted a blog awhile back saying that we thought we would stay in this area. But after everything that has gone on...we are realizing just how important family is to us. We have OFFICIALLY decided to move back to Paris as soon as I graduate in May. Many of our close friends here are going to be disappointed and we are going to miss them ALL as well. But we really feel that this is the best decision for us and we are REALLY looking forward to being close to our families as we move to our next stage in life. The education cuts and economy is going to be hard for us to overcome as we will both be looking for full-time jobs in Paris. So if you hear of anything please let us know!!! :)

Hospital-Take 2 & 3

2011-03-03T13:40:00.005-06:00

So obviously I have been updating my blog a lot today. If you don't already know Matt and I have been up at the hospital for a few days so I have had some free time on my hands. I never did a post about Matt's abscess so I am going to post about that and about what's going on with him right now.

About 3 weeks ago Matt noticed that his main incision looked infected. His stomach started puffing up a lot but we thought it was just normal swelling. One day I got home from school and Matt said that it had gotten a lot worse during the day. A few hours later his burst open and did not stop for many hours. We were really nervous since it wouldn't stop leaking, so we decided to go to the ER. We called up to the small ER at the hospital where Matt had his surgery. They don't see a lot of ER patients so we figured we could get in fast. Once we got there, the ER doc looked at it and said it could either be an abscess or a fistula. He then decided to basically rip Matt to shreds by sticking his finger in the abscess and wiggling all around. I kid you not---I have never seen Matt look so angry in his entire life! I thought there was about to be a throw-down in the ER. I asked him if he wanted to hold my hand and all he said was "If I do, I will break you hand!" He was in SOOO much pain and seeing him in that much pain made me so nauseous I couldn't stand up because I thought I was going to pass out. After the doc cleaned it up and they ran some tests he sent us home and said for us to make an appointment to see his surgeon the next day.

The next day we went to see his doc and that doctor then decided that he needed to stick his finger in the abscess as well---only HE was a LOT more gentle. Thank goodness! But I could still tell Matt was in a lot of pain. The doc said he didn't think it was a fistula (whew!) and just told Matt how to clean it and take care of it. To this day Matt is still having to clean it and change the gauze...but its almost closed up now!!! Yay!

WARNING: Below is a pic of Matt's abscess after the hospital visit...so if you are a queasy person DON'T LOOK! Even though you probably will anyways :)

Like I said, the abscess is pretty much under control now. Matt was starting to progress well until Monday night (Feb. 24). He was up pretty much all night saying that his stomach hurt. I had school the next day so I tried to sleep and told him to wake me up if he needed anything. The next morning I got up and he hadn't slept AT ALL. We thought it just might be gas or something...so I decided to go ahead and go to school and I called Kim and asked her to check on him throughout the day. I was at school for about 20 min and then got a call from him saying he had just gotten sick everywhere. He actually got sick while he was on the phone with Kim. When she heard that she called me too to tell me her and James were making arrangements to head to Denton. I knew I needed to leave immediately when the kids in my class started talking to me and I was completely spaced out. I asked my mentor teacher if I could leave and she of course told me to go take care of Matt.

When I got home he was laying in the chair absolutely miserable. He got sick a few more times...and one time it was black...which immediately told us it was time for another ER visit. We headed to Denton Regional and were seen immediately. After a Cat Scan the ER doc told us that there was a blockage in Matt's bowel that needed to be taken care of...but first they needed to flush him out with a NG tube (like what they use for patients who OD). Matt handled the NG tube well, but it is VERY uncomfortable for him. He ended up being admitted and we moved to a room upstairs. Here is a pic of Matt after the NG tube was put in...he actually asked me to take a pic! I don't think he wanted to go through all that pain without some sort of proof.

Wednesday (March 2) Matt had a x-ray that basically showed that the blockage was resolving itself. His docs came by and told us that they didn't think surgery would be necessary, but the scar tissue from the swelling and surgery is what was causing the blockage. To Matt's disappointment, they told him he needed to keep the NG tube in another night.

This morning (Thursday March. 3) they came and did another x-ray. The x-ray looked even better than the previous day, but they still wanted to monitor Matt's progress. So far today Matt has been able to have liquids, jello, popsicles, etc. If he keeps that down then he will be able to have pudding later today. If he is does ok with that too then he will get his NG tube out around 4. Tomorrow morning they are going to do blood work and if that looks clear then he will hopefully be released!!!

***We want to say a special thank you to our family, our church family, and friends for all the prayers and support! Its been a crazy few months and Matt has been through SO many trials and difficulties. But we are thankful for everything God has given us and we know He will always provide. Matt and I know we will be much stronger because of this and we are so thankful that we will always be there for each other- no matter what trials come our way! :)

Crafty Canvases

2011-03-03T12:37:00.003-06:00

If you don't know by now, I am currently in my semester of student teaching. I finished my first rotation in 3rd grade about a week ago. I had the BEST time in that class and every time I see any of my kiddos in the hallway I get sad. Mrs. Heidrich was my mentor while I was in 3rd grade and she was absolutely amazing!!!

When my rotation ended, I wanted to get her some type of gift to thank her for all of her help. Right before Matt and I got married in August, we had a craft night at Meghan Bulls' house. We made bags, wedding decorations, and canvases as gifts! It was SOOOO much fun! (The canvases Meghan makes are amazing!!! She should start a business!) So I decided that I would take my amateur canvas-making-skills make a canvas for Mrs. Heidrich. I told some of my PDS friends about my gift idea so my two friends, Lauren and Liz, came over one night and we each made one for our first mentor teacher. I made Mrs. Heidrich's that night and the next day I was still feeling crafty so I decided to make smaller ones for the whole 3rd grade team to thank them for their help as well. I forgot to take pictures during the process...but below are some pics of the final product.

How To Make Them:

1. Cut out paper (any shape, size, color, you want...mixing patterns is the best!)
2. Figure out a placement for the paper
3. Mod Podge the back of the paper and put them in place (be sure to smooth out the wrinkles/bubbles quickly)
4. Paint the middle of the canvas with paint (optional depending on what type of canvas you make...you can do one covered fully in paper if you want) and let it dry
5. Cut out letters (I used my new Cricut that I got for Christmas from Matt's parents. But you could use stickers, write it in a pretty permanent marker, etc.)
6. Mod Podge the letters onto the canvas
7. Coat the entire thing in Mod Podge and let dry (it may need 2 coats, but usually one is fine)
8. Add extra stickers, flower, buttons, ribbon, etc. with hot glue.

*Glossy Mod Podge works best!

PDS Girls Night Out (+ Matt!)

2011-03-03T11:25:00.007-06:00

Matt and I went out a few weeks ago with some of my friends from PDS. You will notice that Matt is the ONLY guy there with us when we were taking pictures. I have a lot of friends in PDS, and they come over to our apartment every week to hang out before class. So its usually Matt, me, and 3-5 other girls all hanging out. I really love that he is willing to hang out and listen to us girls complain/laugh/act ridiculous, etc. We always have fun, and he is always there to give the guy perspective of things. Anyways, here are some pictures that some of us took when we all went to hang out one night. Enjoy!

Matt's Surgery

2011-01-17T15:37:00.004-06:00

Matt was told in the middle of October that he was going to have to have surgery for his Crohn's disease. He was diagnosed with Crohn's in April, and medication has not been the solution. Matt's family came over the night before the surgery, and we headed to the hospital around 5:45 in the morning on January 29th. I went with Matt back to the pre-op room and eventually, they came and took him for surgery. To be honest, I was a nervous wreck. I absolutely despise hospitals and being there made me really nervous. We were told that the surgery was going to last about 3 hours. Well, about 3 hours in, we still hadn't heard anything and I started getting really antsy. We finally got a call from the nurse in surgery and they told us that it was a little more complicated than they expected, but that Matt was stable and would hopefully be out soon. STABLE!??!??? That was the wrong word to say to me because that just freaked me out even more. Well about an hour after that his doctor, Dr. Romanucci came out and told us that Matt had a mass of "Crohn's material" that was the size of a baseball. They ended up taking out about 6 inches of his small intestine and 6 inches of his colon. We were all really surprised because it was not found on his original CT scan. Matt originally chose to use North Texas Hospital instead of Denton Regional because they had this surgical device called the Davinci. Dr. Romanucci told us that because the mass was in such a tight location that he couldn't use the Davinci to get to it, so he ended up basically cutting it out by feeling it because he couldn't see it. Pretty scary! But he is an expert so I knew Matt was in good hands.

About an hour after Matt's surgery was over, we went to see him in his room. He was KNOCKED OUT! Those pain killers must have been strong because he was in and out for about 3 hours before he finally woke up. He was conscious enough to press his pain pump though...haha
Well anyways after he finally woke up, he was in a lot of pain but the meds were helping significantly. That night Matt's parents had to head home because Kim had to work the next day. I spent the next few days reading, playing games on my phone, and bonding with the nurses while also trying to kick Matt's butt back into shape. He was in a lot of pain so it was hard to get him to walk. He was very hungry and throughout the whole process he didn't get to eat for about 4 days. His doctor told him that he couldn't have any food until he passed gas or had a BM. So we were praying for poop the whole time! haha but he did finally go and he did get to eat some and finally we were released to go home!!!!

We did spend New Years in the hospital. I rented Eat, Pray, Love and watched it but fell asleep almost as soon as it was over. That night, Kristin and Shannon were coming to stay at our apartment since they had some friends they were going to eat with in Ft. Worth. I had told them to call me and I would meet them outside to give the the apartment key...but I fell asleep and didn't wake up till a nurse tapped me and told me they were there! Whoops! Security saw them driving around the parking lot and escorted them inside to find me! haha sorry guys! Matt and I did wake up at about 11:30 though and we got to spend a little time together before we both fell asleep. Definitely an interesting New Years!

But regardless of it all, we are not back home and are so thankful for all the prayers and cards that have been sent to us. The nurses and staff at North Texas Hospital were AMAZING and I would highly recommend it! It is small and intimate and everyone is very friendly. Oh...the food is pretty good and there is free coffee and cappuccino!!! BONUS!

Matt is not at home recovering and he still has about 4 more weeks to go before he can drive or work again (that's why in the Christmas post I said we decided to save money). Health wise, some days are better than others, but he is progressing more and more each day. Hopefully this surgery was the solution to his pain, but if not I know that God will take care of him no matter what!

Thanks to Haley, Kristin, Shannon, Kim, James, Clay, Mom, and Dad for taking care of us and visiting us!!! We love you!

Pre-Op

This was the main cut. He has a total of 6!

After surgery. Before he woke up. Notice the pain pump in his hand!

Matt's Graduation

2011-01-17T15:22:00.006-06:00

Here are some pics from Matt's graduation! :) When graduation was over, Matt's family surprised him with a brand new 46" TV! He was so surprised! It was great :) Matt is now thinking about going back and getting an alternative certification so he can teach High School if he wants. I'm so proud of him and I know he will do great in whatever career he chooses!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-17T14:54:00.006-06:00

This Christmas was pretty fast-paced as well! We were not able to come in for long. On Christmas Eve we had Christmas with the Hanleys. Matt's main gift was money and mine was a Cricut! Which was a TOTAL surprise for me! :) It's going to be great for scrapbooking and for my future classrooms!!! I was also very happy because this year I got my own stocking at the Hanley house! It was great!

On Christmas morning we went to my parents house for biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, and coffee! YUM! It was amazing!!!! Memaw and Poppie also came over for breakfast so it was nice getting to spend some time with them.

After breakfast we went to Granny Francis' house to exchange presents. This year she got me a basket full of teacher stuff! Folders, paper clips, tape, erasers, a stapler, and ALL kinds of other fun stuff. Matt got some new moccasin shoes which he desperately needed!!!

After we left Granny's house we went back to my parents house and met up with Shannon and Kristin. We all exchanged gifts. Matt and I got money and gift cards...which was great and much needed! We also got a warm cozy blanket that Matt loves. (My mom has already bought us a second one so we can both have one to use!)

Christmas evening, we went down to Bogata to exchange presents with the Taylor/Gage side of the family. This year, we did the white elephant exchange with the men and women. I REALLY wanted this Steve Madden wallet that Kristin brought for the exchange...and Misty stole it from me! SOOOO I worked out a deal with Kristin and she stole it back and made the gift where it was locked...and after the game was over we swapped presents so I could have the wallet! Sorry Misty! :)

Wow! We fit in a lot of Christmases in a short amount of time! We really did have a great "first" Christmas this year. Matt and I decided not to exchange this year...because we wanted to save money since we have a lot going on this semester (I'll save that for another post...) but I did ask him to promise that he would take me to Canton sometime this semester...so we will see if he keeps his promise:)

We are so thankful for all of our friends and family and we can't wait to spend many more Christmases together!

OHHH and word to the wise....If you make sausage balls...PLEASE refrigerate them! I made 90 of them and ate one two days later without refrigerating them! Luckily I didn't get sick...but I bet it was a close call!

Ok so much for short and sweet post... :)

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-17T14:44:00.004-06:00

So it's been awhile since I have blogged. Things have been CRAZY BUSY! I have about 4-5 posts that I need to catch up on...so I am going to TRY and make it short and sweet :) Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving. This year we had lunch at with Matt's family and dinner with mine. This year my side of the family didn't really take any pictures. So really any pictures that I have from these holidays are from Kim. So I promise we DID spend time with my side of the family too...I just don't have any pictures to prove it! :) Matt ended up having to work on Black Friday at Sears so we weren't in town for long! Here are a few pics from the weekend though!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-21T10:46:00.000-06:00

Lady Antebellum/ Weekend in Paris

2010-11-19T16:22:00.001-06:00

Not this last Friday...but the Friday before (November 5th) Haley and I went to the Lady Antebellum concert at the Verizon theater in Grand Prairie. It had been a long week for both of us but we were still very excited to go! I got Haley a ticket to the concert as a thank you gift for all her help with the wedding. She definitely deserved it! We got to the venue and I was very impressed with it. Its not to big, I don't think its possible to get a bad seat, and its CLEAN. I loved it. I would definitely go to another concert there. Lady Antebellum was absolutely amazing! I have been to quite a few concerts...and I have to say that they were great live! I definitely recommend going! We ate some food, listened to the concert, sang, had some laughs, and headed home. It was a great night out for both of us! :)

A few days before, when Matt got his work schedule from Sears, we decided to take a QUICK trip to Paris. We both have been very busy and haven't been home since the wedding! Matt randomly was scheduled to be off for the weekend so we decided to take the opportunity to visit the fam! Going in for the first time after the wedding was a little surreal. We had to figure out where we were going to stay. So we decided that we would rotate and each time we go in we are going to trade houses. It seems like a pretty good compromise to us so hopefully it'll work out! I have to admit though...it was weird being in Paris and not staying at my house...and I'm sure it will be weird for Matt when we stay at my parent's house during Thanksgiving.

Well we headed home Saturday morning and met Matt's family for lunch at China Star. Once we got done, we headed to the Hanley's to hang out for a bit. My dad had surgery on Friday, so mom and dad didn't get to come home until late Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, all of us headed over to mom and dad's and had dinner. Matt really wanted steak and I really wanted mashed potatoes. So James made some delicious steaks and mom made my favorite mashed potatoes along with a bunch of other yummy sides! After dinner, Matt and his family headed home and I stayed at the house to work on some homework! BOOO! I was very excited to go in that weekend...but I had a HUGE project due so I worked on that in any spare time that I had. I ended up staying at my parents house till around 1:30am. and mom stayed up with me the whole time to keep me awake. :) Well the next morning I got up early and did some more homework and then we got dressed and headed to church. After church, we headed to TaMollys and ate some lunch and then I went to Matt's house to do even MORE homework (okay...this post is really starting to bore me. haha) I told Matt that I didn't want to leave until I had my WHOLE project done. Matt and his family helped me on a poetry portion of my project...which was ridiculous....but with their help (mainly Matt---who knew he was so good at poetry!?) I got done!! Once I finally finished, we stopped by my Memaw and Poppy's house and by my parents house to grab some stuff and we headed home around 8. Overall, it was a great weekend..but it would have been awesome if I wouldn't have had all that homework.

P.S. I have to mention that James made us some of his famous party mix...it was/is delicious and we both love it!

oh and Happy Birthday James!!! (November 17) Hope it was great!!! :)

Halloween

2010-11-19T15:54:00.005-06:00

On Halloween weekend Matt and I had NO plans. I think that weekend we realized just how boring we were! Martha and Harvey (the people I babysit for) had the opportunity to go to the World Series game which obviously doesn't happen very often. They asked Matt and I if we could take their kids trick-or-treating and we agreed! It had been a long time since either of us had been trick-or-treating so we thought it would be really fun. So, Matt and I took their four kids trick-or-treating that night in their neighborhood. The kids were hilarious-especially the youngest one Hailey. She would say "twicky tweat" and "happy ween!" to people that walked by. She also just wanted to hold all the candy in her hand instead of putting it in her basket. It was adorable. The girls kept getting rid of part of their costumes so by the end of the night Matt pretty much had a full costume including a bouquet, a veil, a crown, a magic wand, and princess shoes! lol Here are some pics from that night and two of the videos that Matt took with our flip video camera. :)

Wedding After-Life & Big Decisions

2010-10-24T15:02:00.005-05:00

Since the wedding life has been pretty busy. Matt is working at Sears and going to school right now and I am in my first semester of student teaching while also working. There are many days where we really don't get to see each other because of our conflicting schedules...so the time we do get to spend together is definitely important to us. Matt pretty much has to work every weekend, and those are the days I do get off (except I spend most of them working on 5-8 our projects). This is one of the first weekends since school started that I've had a break! For my student teaching, I have a LOT of extra requirements like substitute teaching, Fiesta Math Night, tutoring, and all other sorts of things that take up a LOT of time...besides work and school! Matt and I both have some serious senioritis, but we both know that it will all be over soon-and it will be worth it!

A couple of weekends ago Kim, James, and Clay came to stay with us and that was really fun! On Saturday Kim, Clay, and Matt went to the recycled bookstore downtown and James and I stayed here at the apartment so I could work on my homework and so he could take a nap! The night, we went to see Wall Street 2, which we weren't really huge fans of, but we did still have a fun time. The next morning Matt, Kim, and I cooked breakfast. I make biscuits and gravy, Kim made scrambeled eggs, and Matt made turkey bacon (which he vows to never buy or make again!) and sausage. We all then got dressed and went to church at the Village. :) After church, we came back to our apartment and got some snacks together for our football party! Two of our friends, Jacque and Cory Martin, came over to watch the cowboys game with us. We ate party mix that James made (YUM!), pasta salad, hot ham and cheese sandwiches, almost-burnt queso (thanks to me!) and all kind of other good snacks! After the game was over, Cory and Jacque headed home and Kim, James, and Clay headed back to Paris. It was a really fun weekend! Because of our schedules we don't have any time to come to Paris (actually...we haven't even come home since the wedding! wow!), so we love when family comes to visit!

My parents were in Australia for three weeks during all this time...which really got me down for the first week or two. I am used to talking to them all the time so I was definitely ready for them to come back. Last weekend when they flew in, I met them in Lewisville at El Fenix to have dinner with them before they headed back to Paris. It was really nice to get to catch up with them! They got Matt, Shannon, Kristin, and I souvenir t-shirts which we all LOVED! Of course mine was pink :)

This weekend Shannon and Kristin came in to stay with us. They are looking at houses and Shannon had a couple of job interviews. We LOVE when they come to visit! They always tell me that they wish that we would stay over here in this area for a few years since they are about to move to McKinney...which brings me to the BIG DECISION!

Matt and I have been talking about where we want to live after we graduate for awhile now. I have always been dead set on moving back to Paris and I was convinced that no one could change my mind. Shannon, Kristin, Haley, and Matt have all been giving me a hard time about it..but I still was SURE that I wouldn't change my mind. WELL---since I started student teaching, I have absolutely fallen in love with one of the schools that I work at. I have such a great connection with the people at this school and I told Matt that if I could get a job there, I would stay! Needless to say, Kristin, Shannon, Haley, and Matt were all very excited! Another thing that had been on my heart is The Village-the church we are going to right now. I really feel that God is doing great things with this church. I have been scared to really plug-in with this church a whole lot because I didn't want to get too involved since I thought we were about to move back home. When I actually entertained the idea of staying in this area and staying with this church, I could tell that God was calling me in this direction. Don't get me wrong, I love Paris and LACOC, but right now I just feel like this is where God is calling me to be. When Matt and I start having kids, we may end up moving to Paris...who knows? But for now, this is what we are considering and we are excited about what God has in store for us!:)

The Wedding

2010-10-23T15:55:00.011-05:00

Well I have been putting off writing this blog for many reasons.... A. because life is INSANELY busy right now B. because there is a LOT to tell and C. because I am lazy! Its been awhile now since the wedding so I am sure I won't be able to write as many details as if I had written it two months ago...but oh well-here it goes!

The night before the wedding (after the rehearsal dinner) Matt went and hung out with Landon and the guys for a bit and then went home because he wasn't feeling good still. I decided to run to Haley's house and hang out there for a bit with her family and Kristin and Shannon. I was ridiculously delirious, stressed, and tired that night. DJ and Haley kept pulling up funny videos on YouTube and we were laughing hysterically. Laughter was definitely what I needed to relieve some of my tension. I realized after awhile that I needed to go home and pack my stuff up since we would be leaving for the honeymoon right after the wedding. Haley (being the best MOH ever!) came over late that night and helped me pack everything up. After we got everything together, I crashed! I didn't think I would really be able to sleep-but I did!

The next morning I met Tiffany (Smokin' Hot Make-Up) at the church so she could get settled and get ready to do hair and make-up for the people that wanted to have it done. People showed up to the church at various times and I just meandered around talking to people until it was time for me to get dressed. Once I was ready, I got to go to the "First Look" with Matt. I had asked Kim and James to get everyone away from the auditorium so Matt and I could have our first look alone...with only Tara there for pictures. I cannot even describe to you how special that moment was for both Matt and I. We were very tired, emotional, and happy all at the same time! (and you can see it in our faces when you look at the First Look pictures).

After the first look Matt and I went outside with Tara to take some shots of just the two of us. It was HOT outside and Matt still wasn't feeling well so it didn't last long. We then went inside and got everyone together and ready to take pictures. We took a LOT of pictures as you can see! During this whole process I started feel really nauseous and sick. I was getting kind of bridezilla on everyone because I wanted the pics to be done! Once we were done, I ran to the back (the church nursery..where all the girls got dressed), took off my dress, and got in a towel wrap. I was burning up so I drank some water and tried to cool down. Before I knew it I heard the music playing and it was time for everything to start. I slipped back on my dress and we all got into position. (Just typing this makes me nervous all over again!) All the girls and guys got in line outside the church and I had to stay in the back by myself. I was FREAKING out! Luckily Tiffany was still back there so I talked to her to try to remain calm. Once I heard my cue, I walked out to meet dad and walk down the aisle!

The whole wedding was emotional. Even Tara (who has shot a LOT of weddings) said it was one of the top three most emotional weddings she has ever been too. I was doing pretty good not to cry until Patrick read the letters that we wrote to each other. Hearing what all Matt said about me made me feel like the luckiest girl on the planet! :)

So, before the ceremony I had heard that the guys had some kind of scheme up their sleeve...but I didn't know what it was. It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the wedding! When Patrick asked Landon for the ring, he pulled out this HUGE fake ring. Matt was like "umm thats not it" and then Joel pulled out a ringpop, Clay pulled out a fake pink diamond ring, and the Shannon pulled out the actual ring! It was hilarious! (You can see this in the pictures) One thing that was funny and sweet was when Lauren (my glower girl) walked down the aisle. I didn't get to see this until we watched the wedding video, but everyone told me about it. The night before the rehearsal, we didn't have any petals for Lauren to practice with so she just pretended. On the wedding day, there were roses on the pews for decoration. When Lauren had the flower petals on the wedding day, she kind of got confused about what she was supposed to do. She ended up trying to put one of the flower petals on each rose down that aisle, because she thought she was "fixing the flowers." It was ADORABLE and what was even funnier is that Grayson (my ring bearer) was obviously annoyed because he was having to walk SO slow to wait on her! haha Another funny part of the wedding that I remember was our kiss. Matt kind of dipped me and then held up a finger to signal "hold on a sec" and then kept kissing me! It was really sweet and everyone got a good laugh out of it. We then walked back down the aisle and headed to the nursery together. When we got back there we both went "Wheeew! We are finally married!" Haha we were so tired and ready to get away from everything. Everyone in the church headed down to the reception and Matt and I got to chill for a few minutes. After Tiffany touched-up my make-up we headed down to the reception to talk to everyone.

DJ announced us over the speaker and Matt and I walked through to get to the desert table. We fed each other cupcakes and banana pudding (YUCK!) and then drank white grape juice. After all of that we mingled for a bit until it was time to throw the bouquet and a the garter. Leslie Poynter (one of my guests of honor-and friends here in Denton) got the bouquet and Clay ended up getting the garter. When Matt went to throw the garter, all the guys had planned to run away and leave Clay in the middle...so of course he was going to get it! But it was funny! After this we mingled some more and then went and got ready to leave for the honeymoon.

Matt and I went to change and then said our goodbyes. When we were heading back down to leave DJ stopped us to let us know that the groomsmen had put watermelons under my car...THANK GOODNESS he told us or Matt probably would have been ticked! Everyone formed a line and started to blow bubbles as Matt and I made it to the car. When we got in, Matt pulled around the watermelon, which of course disappointed those who were watching! haha and then we drove off. Little did we know that Landon was in the back of the car the WHOLE time! Matt and I started to talk and then Landon popped up and said "So where are we headed?" I of course freaked out and screamed and then Matt circled the parking lot ad dropped him back off. Everyone cheered for Landon cause I don't think anyone really knew he was in there. Matt and I then drove out of the parking lot and headed towards Dallas.

Mom put a goody basket ;) in the car with snacks so Matt and I snacked a little and read all the advice sheets that people had written during the rehearsal dinner. We finally got to relax and talk to each other, and we were so relieved that it was all over. Now we are finally and thankfully married and are VERY happy! Life is crazy right now for both of us with school and work but we know that we have good things in store for us! :)

P.S. I would like to give a HUGE shutout to all of those who helped with the wedding! There are SO many (Misty, Clint, Frances, Memaw, Curtis, Kristi, Landon, Clay, Kristin, KrisAnn, Paul, Patrick, KariAnn, Bailey etc.) and I am very thankful for those of you who bought lights, decorated, cleaned up, and everything else! I would also like to give a shutout to DJ and Meghan Bulls for decorating and doing last minute touches (like lighting candles) during the ceremony so it would be beautiful when everyone got to the reception. Also thank you to my guests of honor who stayed and cleaned, for all my family that stayed to help, for Nicole for getting all my stuff in the car, for Shannon who got the car started for Matt and I, to Lesa and Whitney who ran errands and brought stuff for the reception, and for our parents who did SO much to make that weekend possible! We LOVE all of you!

There is no possible way I could decide what all pictures to post on here-so I am just going to put a link to the Facebook albums I created so you can look at them there! :)

Album 1
Album 2
Album 3
Album 4

Here are a couple of the group shots...I have to have at least a couple of pics on this post!

Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

2010-09-18T11:43:00.021-05:00

Now for part 3 of 4: the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner! After the skeet shoot everyone ran home or to their hotel to shower and get ready. We all met up at the church at 5:45pm to rehearse. KariAnn and I pretty much ran the whole thing because we had met earlier in the week to talk about how the whole thing was going to go. I gave Paul my music and gave him a breakdown of the whole thing. ( By the way...thank you SO MUCH Paul and KariAnn for helping with the whole thing! Y'all were amazing and I couldn't have done it without both of you!) I made this step-by-step list (25 steps to be exact!) for how the whole wedding was going to go. At first I thought I was just being crazy OCD, but KariAnn and Paul said that it was refreshing to work with someone who knows what they want---so maybe I'm not so crazy after all! Anyways, once we got the music settled, Patrick said a prayer, I gave directions, and we practiced it through two or three times. One thing that I had a really hard time choosing for the wedding was the music. I had all these songs that I THOUGHT I wanted in the wedding...but when it really came time to choose I pretty much changed all of it. Matt and I spent hours searching for perfect songs and I even got some suggestions from Kim that I used in the wedding. When I heard the music play for the first time while we were rehearsing, I started crying! I was so happy and I thought it was perfect!!! Since I had such a hard time choosing music for the wedding, I decided to leave it off the programs in case I changed my mind at the last minute. Here is the list of music that I used in the wedding if you're wondering:

Pre-Ceremony Song: God Gave Me You-by Dave Barnes

Slideshow Song: Me and You-by Kenny Chesney

Guests of Honor, Grandparents, and Parents Song: Only You Can Love Me This Way-by Keith Urban

Wedding Party Song: Someday Soon-by Nathan Angelo

Walking Down the Aisle Song: Always Will Be Yours-by TJ McCloud

Unity Candle Song for Parents: Love Never Fails-by Brandon Heath

Unity Candle Song for Us: When I Say I Do-by Matthew West

Recessional: Smile-by Uncle Cracker

*** Here are some interesting facts about some of the music I chose. When I was playing these songs for the first time for Haley, she told me that TJ McCloud was the brother of a friend of hers! Which was really weird considering I just randomly found this song on iTunes one night when I was looking around. Small world! The song Love Never Fails by Brandon Heath was actually one Kim sent me. She heard it play it on the radio and they said it was a song that he sang in Carrie Underwoods wedding...so I knew it must be good! And the last interesting fact---the song Me and You by Kenny Chesney was a song I knew I wanted in my wedding since Matt and I met, because I thought it described us perfectly. Little did I know that this was actually a song that Misty played in her and Clint's wedding. I was her flower girl...but that is obviously something that I wouldn't remember. But anyways, I thought it was pretty cool that we both chose that song! :)

Another part of the wedding that we had to run through was the slideshow of pictures of Matt and I that Kim created. Let me just say that she did an amazing job! The slideshow was perfect and I really appreciate her doing it for us. Here is a link to the slideshow that Kim uploaded for me on YouTube! Enjoy!

When we were trying to come up with ideas for the rehearsal dinner, Haley told me that a really great place to have them was at Hole in the Wall. The Hanley's priced a few places around town and in the end, we all decided that HITW would be the best option. When we arrived at HITW it was all decorated with mason jars with candles in them and pink and purple flowers. It was adorable! Kim did a lot of special things for the rehearsal--including placemats that had pictures and trivia questions about Matt and I. There was also a mad-libs advice card that each person got to fill out and put in a jar for Matt and I to ready on the way to the honeymoon. Some had legitimate marriage advice...and some were just hilarious! I found the mad-libs idea on The Knot website, and I sent it to Kim and she thought it was cute and she decided to do it. She did a great job with the whole thing! Our menu at hole in the wall was a choice of monterrey chicken or chicken fried steak with sides of cream potatoes, broccoli salad, green beans, and rolls. It was DELICIOUS! My mouth is watering just talking about it. Oh and of course there was sweet tea and other drinks...and bread pudding or banana pudding for dessert.

Before the rehearsal dinner, when we were doing our pre-marital counseling with Patrick, he asked if it would be alright if he talked at the rehearsal dinner. So after everyone had filled out their mad-libs and we had gone over the trivia questions, Patrick stood up and gave a sweet speech about Matt and I. He then asked if anyone wanted to say anything (stories, advice, etc.) Little did we know that it was going to turn into a HUGE tearfest. Shannon was the first one to stand up...which of course made me start crying...I mean come on! He is my big brother..! To hear him say how proud he was of me and the choices I have made was amazing and is something that I will NEVER forget. Almost everyone there gave a speech about Matt and I and it really meant the world to us! The speeches probably went on for about an hour...so it was a LOT of crying! But honestly it was one of the best nights of my entire life. Hearing about how people felt about us and how people looked up to us was amazing...and it just reassured Matt and I that we were definitely doing the right thing. I think the thing that got me the most was when my single college friends stood up and told me that they hoped they could find a loving Christian relationship like Matt and I have. I think it just really showed me that Matt and I did a good job setting an example of what to look for in a husband/wife. A lot has been said about us over the years---and a lot of it wasn't good. Matt and I always stood firm in what we believed in and knowing that it meant something to my friends really moved me in a way that I can't even explain. Some of my friends came up to me and told me how thankful they were to be apart of a night like that and they wanted us to know that we were lucky to have the family and friends that we have--and I completely agree! The whole night was amazing and I get goosebumps just thinking about it. :)

But anyways...after all the speeches we hugged everyone and said goodnight. I want to give a HUGE thank you to Kim and James for making the night so special. I also want to thank Jennifer for taking the pictures that you are about to see below and to all my friends and family who supported us and made our weekend so amazing!

(The first picture is the monogram Kim created for us to have on the screen during the ceremony!)

Skeet Shoot

2010-09-16T18:52:00.024-05:00

So now it's time for the skeet shoot post. This one should HOPEFULLY be shorter...but I do tend to ramble! :) SO...after the bridal luncheon the girls and I headed out to the Hanley's for the skeet shoot. When Matt first told me he wanted to have a skeet shoot before the wedding I thought "okay...now we are getting in redneck territory...!" All my friends at school already say I have a huge TWANG accent and they think that Paris is just full of cows, tractors, and boot scootin' boogie. But then I thought about it and realized that Matt never really got to have a bachelor party. Landon (his best man) is posted in Alaska, it seemed like there was never a free weekend, and Matt wasn't really too interested in having one in the first place. I also realized how amazing Matt was through the WHOLE wedding process (letting me choose basically everything...me being grouchy...all the phone calls between me and my mom... and letting me make everything pink and purple!) So... we decided that we SHOULD have the skeet shoot! I definitely owed it to him! But anyways, once we got to the Hanley's we joined the men who had already been there for a little while. Two of my guests of honor's husband (Jacque's husband Cory and Nicole's husband Mark) were there along with Landon, Clay, Shannon, Curtis, Jason, Aaron, Dustin, Ross, James, Jennifer, and Kim. The girls were a little scared to shoot at first, so I immediately jumped in to show them how its done down here in the boonies! I grabbed one of the guns and went to town! I think I shot like 4 of the 5 skeet that were pulled during my turn. I was pretty impressed with myself considering I hadn't done it in awhile. But once I got done showing off the girls eventually got up the nerve to shoot---and they LOVED it! I was so proud of all of them. We all shot skeet for about an hour and then we all faded out and left to go get dressed for the rehearsal dinner. The Hanley's did a great job putting the skeet shoot together and even though Matt was not feeling well the whole day (because of Crohns pain) it was still a blast and I can't wait to have another skeet shoot!

P.S. This post has a LOT of pictures...so Enjoy!!! OH and yes I don't think the girls knew they needed to bring extra shoes for this event (whoops! sorry girls!) but watching them shoot in heels was definitely entertaining!!!! Haha

Bridal Luncheon

2010-09-11T17:36:00.020-05:00

So I have been avoiding blogging the wedding…because SOOO much went on that week and weekend! I am going to try to do this is steps to make it easier on myself. If I break it down into sections then maybe I wont get so overwhelmed. So first I am going to blog about the bridal luncheon, then she skeet shoot, then the rehearsal dinner, and then finally the wedding. So here it goes! Awhile back Misty and Grandmother told me they wanted to throw me a bridal luncheon sometime before the wedding. So the Friday before the wedding, some of the girls met up at the church and headed to Misty’s for the luncheon. She had decorated her house with pink and zebra décor…SO CUTE! I loved it. There were even balloons on the mailbox (yes…I noticed!) Grandmother and Misty had asked me what kind of things I wanted for the luncheon…and they KNOW I love me some Sandwich Etc. chicken salad… so they had that along with a few other things I requested (pasta salad, veggies, death by chocolate dessert, croissants, etc.) Matt’s grandmother Frances, along with both my grandmothers and Misty made/brought different parts of the meal and it was delicious. Luckily, all my bridesmaids and guests of honor could be there, along with Martha’s mother Laura and Martha’s two girls Lauren (flower girl) and Hailey. We all had such a great time and got to eat a lot of yummy food. After we ate, I handed out the wedding party gifts.

One night before the wedding Haley, KrisAnn, and I headed to DJ and Meghan’s to make the bridesmaids gifts and some other decorations for the wedding. Those girls were a LIFESAVER! WE worked for hours on the gifts and decorations and it all turned out soooo cute! Thanks girls for everything and thanks you Meghan for opening your home and allowing us to use all your fun craft supplies! (I also owe Meghan and DJ for a lot of other stuff…but you will see that in a later post).

Ok back to the gifts…each bridesmaid got a tote bag with the initial of their last name on it. Each one of them had a different print that I thought went with their personality. We also made all the bridesmaids a decoupage canvas with their last name on it. Also inside their tote bags was a cross, picture frame, and lotion from Bath and Body Works (there might have been other stuff in there…but I can’t even remember anymore!) Lauren (the flower girl) also got a cute gift! Meghan made Lauren a pink and purple tutu and Haley and I got her a shirt made that said “Flower Girl” with flowers and rhinestones on it (Thanks T-Shirt Shoppe!) It was adorable and Lauren loved it. She also got a play microphone, some play jewelry, and a fun pink and purple jewelry box to keep all of it in. Now for the guests of honor…those girls each got a bottle of wine inside a cute box with their initial painted on it. Attached to the front was a beautiful cross that I LOVED and I think they all liked it too. And just as a side note….Haley Bulls was a freaking lifesaver to me through this WHOLE process. You will hear more about all the things she did to help me in the next posts…but she seriously did so much and I cannot thank her enough! She did not get the same gifts as the rest of the bridesmaids…because she already had a tote and canvas and helped me make all of it! She did get a cross and a picture frame and lotion…but she also got some cute décor from Hobby Lobby that I thought she would like. And the best gift of all….(which was a combined birthday and maid of honor gift) was tickets to see Lady Antebellum!!! I can’t wait!!! Oh and Kim and my mom also got a canvas…I didn’t want to leave them out.Well after all the gifts were handed out we took a couple of pictures and then headed for the skeet shoot. A HUGE thanks to Misty, Grandmother, Memaw, and Granny Frances for throwing me a bridal luncheon. It was SO fun and I am so thankful to have all of you in my life!!!

Honeymoon (Playa Del Carmen)

2010-08-21T09:57:00.049-05:00

Well I am finally getting a chance to get back to blogging :) Obviously there was a lot going on the past few weeks...but things are starting to get back to normal...even though school is about to start back up. BOO! But anyways...I decided that I better go ahead and post a blog about the honeymoon. Obviously I can't post ALL the pictures I took on the honeymoon because there were hundreds of them! But...I will post them to Facebook eventually...so you can see them there once I get a chance to post them. I picked out the most important ones to include on here. When I get the pictures back from Tara I will post a wedding blog. But if you want to see a little bit...check out Kristin's blog post about our wedding here. She did a great job!

So here goes nothing! After the wedding, Matt and I headed to Dallas to stay the night at the W Hotel. We checked into the room, took some pictures, and then headed out for dinner. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and it was delicious. Matt had never been there before so we thought it would be a good place to go to get some American food before heading to Mexico!

Our hotel room at the W

At the Hard Rock Cafe

The next morning we got up, packed our stuff, and headed for the airport. We had to make a trip to Wal-Mart to get some things we forgot, and we both stopped and got breakfast at different places (Starbucks for me and McDonalds for Matt!) We got a place at the Parking Spot and made our way to our gate. We hung out at the airport for a bit before hopping on the plane for Playa! We were SO anxious to get there!

Before heading to the Airport

On the Plane

Once we got to Playa we were greeted by our transportation from Lomas Travel. We got a private ride to the resort which lasted about 45 minutes. By the way....people in Mexico drive CRAZY. I didn't even know if we were going to make it to the resort! Haha I was freaking out the WHOLE time. But...we did make it there alive thankfully. The resort was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there we were greeted with a drink (some kind of wine cooler...so good!) and taken to the Romance Concierge for a private check-in. After we got checked in, we headed to our room. It was absolutely beautiful! We has champagne and a cake that said "Happy Honeymoon" waiting in the entryway. They had also set up the bead with rose petals!

Finally in Playa!

Our Resort: The Royal

Our Suite

Once we got settled in, we went to walk around the resort for a bit. For the first half of the week we swam, went to the beach, ate, had a few drinks, and took naps! It was very relaxing. Here are a few pictures from that part of the week.

At the Beach

This guacamole was AMAZING! and I don't even like guacamole!

Matt's favorite shrimp!

Yummy BBQ Chicken and mashed potatoes

Tacos

Hanging out by the Pool!

Before dinner one night

Parasailing...which was a BLAST!

The last two days of the week didn't exactly go as planned. Matt's Crohn's was acting up pretty bad during the wedding weekend and during the first half of the week. The nurse at the doctors office didn't exactly give him the right information about his medicine...and because of it he was in pain off and on. BUT--we did have a great time anyways. Once he got his meds in order....he was feeling MUCH better. But then...something else happened! On Wednesday...Matt and I decided to go on a snorkeling excursion. It was beautiful...but it definitely wasn't easy to do! The waves were coming in a we would get salt water in our snorkel...which did NOT taste good. Our guides were great and they threw fish food out so the fish would swarm around us. It was amazing. But...once we got done the guides pulled out a thing called a spinnaker. It was basically a parachute with a ghetto swing attached. Matt of course wanted to do it...so he did! I was freaking out the whole time because I thought he was going to ram into the boat. He did make it off safe though. Even though it looked scary I wanted to be brave and try it. I was pumped and ready to go because it looked like a LOT of fun. But Matt did not think I would be able to hold on...and even thought I might get hurt. When he got off he was rushing to get on the boat because he didn't want me to get on the spinnaker. Once he got on the boat he was walking fast and the boat was really wet and then slipped! When he did... he caught himself with his hand but his toes went right between a cable that was attached from the top of the boat to the deck. It sliced right between his toes. He acted like he was ok...but then a girl on our boat said "Dude...you are bleeding everywhere!" And he was. I started running around trying to find a first aid kit...which the boat did NOT have! Once of the guides on the boat said "Here I have this cleaner" (who knows that that cleaner really was!) and he splashed some on there and wrapped it up with gauze. It looked pretty painful! They told us they had a paramedic on hand back at the beach...but we wanted to wait until we got to the hotel to get it checked out because we figured it would be more legit. Once we got back to the beach we had to wait for 45 minutes for our van to get there...and then a 30 minute ride back to the resort. I know he was in pain but he was being tough! When we got back to the resort they called the lifeguard to clean it up. He cleaned it up right there in the lobby...and was NOT very delicate. But he did do a good job. They then called the resort doctor (who of course was not in at the time) and he came up there about 30 minutes later. We went to the doctors office and he ended up putting 10 stitches in (OUCH!) and gave him some meds. Poor Matt just could not catch a break! But he was my hero! He saved me from getting hurt on that spinnaker...and in the process got hurt himself :( He even said "I am glad it was me and not you who got hurt on this trip." He is the sweetest husband ever! But here are some pics from this adventure!

Snorkeling

On the DANGEROUS spinnaker...he is such a rebel!

BLOOD everywhere! AHHHH

With the doctor at the resort

Matt telling his parents on Facebook!

Needless to say...the last two days we ordered a lot of room service. Matt wasn't supposed to get it wet or walk on it much. So the resort also had a DVD library so we watched movies, ate, took naps, and just spent some quality time together :) I did get a little antsy a couple of times so once I went out and took pictures at the beach. We also went out to dinner one night and it turned out to be the best food we had! Here are pictures from the last two days in Playa.

My poor hubby having to lay around...

These are some of the pics I took when I got antsy!

Some of our room service orders

At our favorite restaurant on the resort

Ceasar Salad

Matt's HUGE steak!

Grilled Chicken...SO GOOD!

Some kind of chocolate cake

He made me a flower!

This was the surprise Haley left for us when we got home. So sweet! I LOVE her!

Overall, the honeymoon was great! We had a few mishaps...but it was the best time we have ever had together! Thanks Kim and James for the wonderful gift! We had a GREAT time and are so happy that we got to go! :)

P.S.

....wow that was a long post! lol I'm exhausted!

Since this was such a long post...ignore spelling/grammar mistakes. I don't want to proofread this a million times...it's just too long!

This dessert was also waiting for us when we got back to the room! It was a "thanks for staying" gift along with a very sweet letter. It was left in our magic box! There was a box that connected from inside our room to the outside hallway. Room service would sometimes leave food there and when they did a little light would shine in our room! When we were done...we would put the dishes in it and they would come by and get them. It was so cool!

The outside view of the magic box!

I made us take a few more pictures on the balcony before we left!

Time to go :(

Our plane home :(

This was the surprise Haley left for us when we got home. So sweet! I LOVE her!

P.S.

....wow that was a long post! lol I'm exhausted!

Since this was such a long post...ignore spelling/grammar mistakes. I don't want to proofread this a million times...it's just too long!

Shannon & Kristin's Wedding!

2010-07-29T17:43:00.014-05:00

So obviously I haven't posted a blog in awhile. Things have been CRAZY! Matt and I are both working 40 hours a week while also trying to get everything in order for the wedding, honeymoon, moving, etc...so it has been pretty hectic!!! A few weeks ago (July 17th to be exact) was Shannon and Kristin's wedding! It was absolutely gorgeous! Matt and I headed to Denison the Thursday before the wedding to help decorate. We did a little decorating and then it was time to get ready for Kristin's bachelorette dinner. We went to dinner at a restaurant on the lake...it was really nice! Our waiter was a little awkward....but oh well we all had a great time! Once we got done with dinner, Kristin, and the other bridesmaids and I met up with my mom, Misty, Kristin's mom Wanexa, and some other friends of Kristin's at her brother Justin and sister-in-law Ashley's house. (By the way...their house is beautiful!) Kristin's matron of honor Lauren threw her lingerie shower there and we had such a great time. We ate, played games, and there was even chocolate fondue!!! YUM! Overall, it was so fun and I think Kristin had a great time. The next morning all of us girls met up at Kristin's grandmother's house for a bridal brunch. The food was AMAZING! One of Kristin's family friends made it...I was so impressed! We had soup, quiche, crab cakes, and all other kinds of yummy stuff. While we were there we got our gifts from Kristin which included handmade make-up bags that Kristin and her grandmother sewed (SO CUTE!), a coffee mug, little lotions, a candle, a notepad, and all other kinds of cute stuff! Later that night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Matt and I ended up being late because my granddads got lost and we went with my grandmothers to find them...but it all turned out alright and we made it in time to find out our part of the ceremony. (Let me just say that I was an emotional wreck all weekend! Every time a sweet song played I cried!!! lol) But anyways, after that we drove to downtown Denison to a restaurant called Devolli's. We had salad, pizza, and pie. It was also delicious! My mom did a great job of decorating and I was so proud of her for pulling it off. ;) That night, I was seriously exhausted! The next morning, we all woke up and started getting ready for the wedding. We got to the church and I saw Kirstin and she looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! She was also SO CALM! I was so impressed because I KNOW I will be a nervous wreck! But we all got dressed, took pictures, and then hid out till the ceremony. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful!!! During one part of it, the preacher gave me a shout out and mentioned that I introduced them...well if you thought I was an emotional wreck before...you should have seen me then! I couldn't even look at Matt because that made me even more emotional!!! But regardless, the ceremony and reception was flawless and beautiful. After the ceremony we all headed to Willowood Ranch for the reception. Kristin and her mom did a great job decorating! The food was awesome, the speeches were great, and I especially enjoyed the slideshow they put together! Oh and July 17th is also our Poppy's birthday...so Shannon and Kristin brought him out a cake during the reception and we all sang to him. It was SOOO sweet! But the whole weekend was amazing and I am so excited to now have Kristin in our family!!! Congrats you guys!!! (This is the only picture I have from the wedding but I will link to Kristin's blog once she posts or post more pictures on here later.)

P.S. You probably won't see many posts till after our wedding. There is just too much going on! Only 9 more days!!!

Engagement Announcement

2010-07-12T14:09:00.012-05:00

Our engagement announcement was in the paper this past Sunday, July 11, 2010! Here is what it looks like. I couldn't get it any bigger on here, but you can see it closer by clicking on this link: The Paris News

Matt's 21st Birthday!

2010-07-09T14:10:00.005-05:00

This weekend Matt and I went to Paris for his birthday. His family and I ate at China Star once we got into town on Friday. Yummy! On Saturday, mom and I ran a TON of wedding errands. Luckily we got a lot done, including table settings, renting table cloths and decorations, dress alterations, etc. That night Matt's family and my family went to Applebee's to celebrate his birthday. After we got done eating, we headed out to Matt's house to hang out. Kim made Matt his favorite banana pudding!!! (see pics below) On Sunday we went to church, ate lunch, ran by to see my Memaw and Poppie, and then had our last marriage counseling with Patrick. We then got our stuff together and headed back to Denton. That night, we went and ate dinner with our friends Cory and Jacque at Logan's Roadhouse. We had SOOO much fun and can't wait to hang out again!!! Overall, it was a great weekend! Matt and I are really looking forward to Kristin and Shannon's wedding this weekend. I love the two of them SO much and can't wait to see them get married and start there lives together. Good luck Kristin and Shannon! I am sure everything will be great!!! :)

4th of July

2010-07-07T19:45:00.016-05:00

Sooo I haven't posted in what seems like forever! I have been crazy busy with wedding errands, regular errands, and defensive driving...(yes I am taking defensive driving for the ticket I got at the end of May...and by the way...I highly recommend the Comedy Defensive Driving Online. Its kind of corny but at least it makes the time go by faster! I figure I should get this over with before all the weddings.) Anyways, this past weekend Matt, Shannon, Kristin, and I decided to go to our Aunt Betty's for the 4th of July! We all kind of needed a break from...well life. haha so we decided to head down to Cedar Creek Lake where they live and have some fun with our family. Shannon and Kristin met up with us on Friday and we stayed the night in Denton and headed to the lake Saturday morning. We made it to the lake by lunch time...which is always the best. Our Uncle Mike always smokes a lot of meat and everyone brings side dishes. It is DELICIOUS! Kristin made a sour cream chocolate chip cake and lemon cookies! (YUM!) I made a pasta salad, ranch hot crackers (recipe from Wilma Lalk...I'm addicted! Let me know if you want the recipe), and Funfetti cookies! (I tried to make no-bake cookies the day before...but that was a bust! Stupid humidity.....) Anyways, all of the food was great! We met mom, Misty, Grayson, and Grandmother there and we spent the day playing games and floating out on the lake with the whole family. My favorite game that we play is Bananagrams... if you haven't heard of it....buy it and play it. That night, we ate leftovers and played even more games. The next morning, I got up, went outside, had coffee, read some, and talked to my relatives out on the back porch. It was absolutely beautiful outside. I would LOVE to live on a lake one day!!! But later that afternoon, we ate a really late breakfast consisting of strata (breakfast casserole) and cinnamon bread. Again, delicious! Mom thought it would be a good idea to work on wedding invitations while we were down there. So Matt, Misty, Mom, and my second cousin Kim all made an assembly line around the table and stuffed invitations. Misty had already addressed all the envelopes...which was a HUGE help! (Thanks Misty!!!!) Once we were done with that, Mom, Matt, and I worked on the wedding announcement for the paper. When we got done with all that wedding stuff, we decided to have some more fun and go swim in the lake again with Grayson and Misty. My Uncle Hunter (Aunt Betty's wife) got the boat working, so Kristin, Shannon, Matt, Misty, Grayson, and I all got a ride with him and my second cousin-in-law (haha I guess thats what you would call it...) Jeff. When we got back we swam a little more, got showered up, and ate lunch. For lunch we had mom's famous ham, and a bunch of other good sides. After lunch, Matt, Shannon, Kristin, and I packed our stuff and headed back to Denton. We had such a great 4th of July and we loved spending it with family and friends. I can't wait till next year!!! :) The pictures below are some my cousin Kim and another relative Bleu took while we were there.

P.S. The wedding is exactly one month from today!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Wedding Website

2010-06-24T19:06:00.014-05:00

There is a LOT going on right now...but I did get a chance to make a few small changes to our wedding website! Check them out at www.theknot.com/ourwedding/matthewhanley&allisonboyd

Feel free to sign the guest book if you haven't already. :)

Bachelorette Party and Lingerie Shower!

2010-06-21T13:21:00.024-05:00

This past weekend I had my bachelorette party and lingerie shower! I have a lot of pictures from both so this is going to be a LONG post. So... on Friday after work, I went home to Denton to get dressed and packed (VERY frantically I might add!) Once I was ready and I went and picked up Haley and we headed to Frisco. Once we made it there, we met Kristin at the hotel Haley booked in Frisco called the Aloft. It was SUCH a cute hotel and I loved it! After we got settled, we headed to meet mom, Misty, Kim, and Martha at TruFire grill. It was delicious! I highly recommend it. (Chicken flatbread it amazing!) Once we got done with dinner we all headed over to the cheesecake factory and had dessert. Also delicious. After that Misty, Kristin, Haley, and I headed back to the hotel for drinks. Once we were done there we headed up to our room, got in out PJ's and watched goofy youtube videos and laughed a LOT! The next morning, the four of us woke up, got dressed, grabbed a bagel from Einstein Bros. and headed to Hollywood Nails and Spa in Frisco to meet up with mom and Kim. While we were there, we each had a massage and pedicure. It was SOOO relaxing!

After the spa, we headed back to Denton to get ready for my lingerie shower. I was soooo gross but I did not have time to take a shower. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off---but somehow managed to get dressed and look halfway descent! My shower was held at Martha's house (and if you don't know...Martha is one of my bridesmaids and the lady I work for). She did not come to the spa that morning because she was getting ready for my shower :) But we made it to her house and she had set everything up! It was SOOO beautiful! Everything was pink and I was so happy! I know she worked very hard and she did a great job! We ate, drank, and then I opened gifts. My friends Jacque, Michelle, Leslie, and Marlene also came to the shower and I was so glad they did. I have the greatest friends ever!

Thanks again to everyone who supported me this weekend! Thank you to Haley for planning/paying for the weekend, thank you to Martha for throwing me a beautiful shower, thank you to my mom for paying for my meals, and to mom, Kristin, and Misty for paying part of my spa stuff, thank you to Kim for taking pictures, and thank you everyone else for all the beautiful gifts! I love you all so much! :)

At TruFire

In the hotel room

At the Spa

Lingerie Shower

Summer Class

2010-06-17T08:27:00.011-05:00

Today marks the day when my actual summer classes become serious... first test of the semester... Finance 4310 - "Valuation and Financial Decisions" is the class heading... My prof told our class that our test will strictly be problems and no multiple choice... quite unfortunate when you have to try to remember a thousand formulas... check out the pics of the formula sheet we are to know for our test... -Matt

Engagement Pictures!

2010-06-14T13:47:00.007-05:00

Our engagement pictures were posted today on Tara's blog! We LOVE them! She did SUCH an amazing job and I could not be happier!!! Once we get the disc from Tara we will post our favorites. But for now check out this link and feel free to leave comments! http://www.taraswainblog.com/ Thanks again Tara!!!! :)

Fun Fun Fun!

2010-06-14T13:19:00.007-05:00

So this last weekend Matt and I got to take a break from our busy schedules to have some fun! On Saturday Matt and I went to eat lunch at McAlisters with my friends Marlene and Michelle. When we were done we went back to the apartment and watched the new Alice in Wonderland (which I actually liked...I wasn't really sure if I would!) We took a few pictures and had a good time! Later that evening, Matt and I decided to go on a date. First we cooked and ate dinner at home and then went to see the A-Team in theaters. It was SOOO good! It was funny, clean, and full of action! We both really enjoyed it! (And we of course took pictures before going to the movies. Hey I had actually fixed my hair...I have to show it off somehow!) On Sunday we went to church and then started to run errands. We went and bought groceries, cleaned out the pantry and fridge, did laundry, cooked dinner (well Matt cooked...not me!) and wrote some thank-you notes. Shannon was coming through town so we fed him too. We cooked a recipe Kim found called Rosemary-Ranch Chicken K-Bobs. They were delicious! Matt and I forgot to buy skewers...but they still turned out great. Thanks Matt for cooking! :) Anyways...here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Rough Riders Game

2010-06-11T12:48:00.008-05:00

Last night Matt and I drove to Frisco to attend the Frisco Rough Riders baseball game. The LACOC youth group was going and Matt's parents included us and bought us some tickets too (Thanks by the way!) We had a lot of fun! The Rough Riders were losing BAD. They tried to make a comeback and ALMOST won it...but ended up losing 9-10 (I think...haha). On the way to the game I said to Matt "Hey are you going to catch a ball for me tonight?" and he said "Sure." haha I was just joking...but he really did! About halfway through the game a foul ball was hit and Matt ended up catching it! He gave it to me right away and we took some pictures with it. Some of the younger church kids that came to the game were so excited that he caught it and kept saying "Can we just touch the ball please? That is SO cool!" After a little bit Matt asked me if he could give it to one of the kids and of course I agreed! He is SO thoughtful! (Another reason why I love him so much!) He went over to the four boys and asked them to pick a number between 1 and 1000. Matt's number was 777. One kid said "767" and the last kid to guess a number said "fine I chose 768" (sneaky sneaky!). So he won by one number! Haha anyways it was a really fun game and I am really thankful that I got off work and was able to go. :) Here are two pics from the game.

Allison's Grandad - An American Hero

2010-06-09T08:36:00.017-05:00

Time for Matt's second installment lol... I just wanted to give anyone who passes by our blog a chance to read the article the Paris News ran about Allison's grandfather, Terrell Boyd. He is truly a great man and served our country in one of the most trying times in history. His example of patriotism and loyalty is definitely one to be admired. Everyone please go check out the article and read briefly about Terrell's heroism.

LACOC Wedding Shower

2010-06-07T22:05:00.027-05:00

This last Sunday we had our wedding shower at Lamar Avenue Church of Christ. It was GREAT! We got a whole lot of gifts and we are very appreciative to those that gave to us. We had so much fun and will never forget what our church family and friends did for us. Thanks to the great hostesses, our family, and everyone who made it possible. (Also, a special shout out to Haley for writing down all those names and gifts and to Jennifer for taking pictures!!!)

Snow cone

2010-06-04T15:59:00.005-05:00

The boy LOVES his strawberry snow cones!!! :) Sweet summertime!

Matt's First Post

2010-06-04T09:39:00.022-05:00

Well since Allison has decided to blog she has been dropping articles like they are runnin out of style. I don’t think she mentioned it but she had been wanting a Kindle for quite some time so for her birthday that is what I ended up getting her. It turns out that after seeing her kindle it has made me quite envious that I don’t have an ebook reader myself. I, being an early adopter for technology, have considered the iPad pretty heavily but just don’t have the extra money to drop for one right now. It turns out that my timing couldn’t be much better. Just starting this blog we are trying to get in the groove and are now linking to other blogs. One blog that I follow daily is a great site called Christian Personal Finance and it covers all things personal finance and tries to implement those things in a Christ centered focus. If anyone enjoys reading about how to improve their financials or would like to enter the iPad giveaway you should definitely stop by ChristianPF's iPad giveaway, then check out the rest of the site!!!

Yumm!

2010-06-03T22:12:00.007-05:00

OK so now I am all caught up on what is going on with us....and I really don't plan on blogging this much (probably like a few times a week...not a few times a day!) But Matt cooked a yummy dinner tonight and I wanted to give him some props on the blog so here is a pic of it!. It was a recipe in an Campbell's Soup cookbook that I recently bought at the recycled bookstore. Matt calls it modified chicken cordon bleu! It was chicken breasts, egg noodles, a cheese sauce, and ham bites. It was delicious! I am SOOO thankful to have a fiancé who will cook for me! I love him sooo much!

Wedding Errands Galore

2010-06-03T21:28:00.013-05:00

I think after this post I should be caught up! So here we go...! After we spent the weekend with Kristin and Shannon, we headed off to Paris on Monday morning. (Matt and I both took off work for two days so we could get some wedding planning done). I got a giftcard to TaMollys for my birthday from one of the Hanley's family friends name Jerry! He is such a nice and caring man and I am really thankful that he cared enough about me to get me a gift. :) Well naturally, mine and Matt's family decided to go out to eat so I could use the gift card. We had a really good lunch, and then I went with my mom to run some wedding errands. We went to my dad's shed to look for some vases and things that we wanted to use in the wedding. Once we got those, we headed up to the church to check out the lighting in the auditorium around 3:00 (because that's what time the wedding is). I want to use candles in the wedding so we needed to see how bright it would be in there. Once we were done with that, I headed out to the Hanley's. Kim, Clay, Matt, and I went to check out some locations for us to use for our engagement photo session. We ended up choosing the spillway at Pat Mayse lake, an old bridge that is beside it, and an overlook of the lake. We also wanted to take pictures with some of Mr. Hillard's (Matt's neighbor) cool classic cars. He had a lot of fun things for us to take pictures with! That night, my family and Matt's family went to dinner at Chili's. We all had a good time--but after a long day I was ready for bed!

The next day (Tuesday) was CRRAAZZYY! First, I went up and got some coffee at Paris Coffee Co. (my favorite!) After that, I met up with my mom, Kim, and Matt at Paris Florist to talk to Benette about wedding flowers. I never knew how much goes into something such as simple as flowers until that moment! But it was pretty fun! After that, Matt and I went up to the church to do our first premarital counseling session with Patrick. That went very well and I know it will be very beneficial for us as a couple. When we got done with that, Matt and I headed to Hole in the Wall (where our rehearsal dinner is going to be) to meet Kim and Clay for lunch. We ordered some gooood food and made some decision about the menu for the rehearsal dinner. When we left there, we picked up Joel and Jason and went to Tony's Tuxes so we could pick which tuxes we wanted and to get Matt, Clay, and Joel fitted. After this (I am getting tired just typing this!) we went to go get ready for our engagement photo session!!!!!! Matt went home to shower and shave and then he went to get a haircut (which was much needed). During this time, I was running around like a mad woman! I went home and packed all my stuff and loaded it in the car, I drove to Walgreens and got finger nail polish, drove to my Memaw and gave her my clothes to iron (thank goodness she was home and able to do that! As my dad always says "Memaw to the Rescue!"). While I was there, I remembered I hadn't shaved my legs! Ha so I had to get my razor and shave them in her bath tub. My Memaw and Poppy probably thought I had lost my mind. After this, I ran to get my hair and make-up done by Tiffany who has a great business called Smokin' Hot Make-up! She did SUCH a great job and I was very proud of how my hair and make-up turned out. Once I got done, I went back to my Memaw's, grabbed my clothes, drove to the Hanley's, touched up my toenail polish, got dressed, and headed for the first location for our pictures. Whewww!

If you don't already know, we are using Tara Swain (who owns Tara Swain Photography) to do our pictures. Tara and I were good friends when I was in eighth grade and when I found out she was doing photography I KNEW it would be great! I was impressed since day one and I knew I wanted to use her for my pictures even before we got engaged! She is great and is SOOOO talented! We met up with Tara at Mr. Hillard's house and got shots there and then headed out to the lake to take the rest of the photos. It was RIDICULOUSLY hot outside! At the lake, we climbed rocks (and I almost fell many many times), we got bit by ants and chiggers, and we saw alligator gar and dead fish. It was definitely an adventure! But Tara, Matt, and I were all willing to do what we had to do to take these incredibles pictures and I have no doubt in my mind that Tara was the right choice for us! Here are the two sneak peek pictures Tara posted on facebook. I LOVE them and think they turned out great! The bug bites and bruises on my knees from hitting the rocks were totally worth it! I will post more once I get the disc from her. Enjoy!

Fun/Busy Weekend!

2010-06-03T15:23:00.008-05:00

Even more stuff has happened since my birthday...so I am trying to catch up! This last weekend, Shannon and Kristin came in from Abilene to celebrate my birthday! They got to the apartment Friday night while Matt and I were watching a movie. Matt and I rented Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Waterboy. We felt like watching some old funny movies and I had never seen Fast Times before. Shannon watched the Waterboy with us and Kristin fell asleep! Lol. Saturday was another busy day. We went and ate at New York Sub Hub for lunch (which is one of my FAVORITES!) After that, Matt and I ran about 100 errands. We met back up with Kristin and Shannon and got ready and headed for Sherman to meet my parents for dinner. On the way...I got my first speeding ticket! AHHHH! I was NOT happy. But I figure it was bound to happen sooner or later (and I would like to throw in there that I didn’t cry!) I was going 72 in a 55....which I guess is a little too fast. But, I would like to add that a 65mph sign was like 50 feet in font of us and the 70mph sign was not that much further either! But anyways...lol we finally made it to Sherman and went to a restaurant called City Limits. It was really good! We met up with our parents and with Grandmother and we had a really good time!

On Sunday, Matt, Shannon, Kristin and I went to church at the Village and it was great as usual! We then went to eat at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop (another great place to eat!) While we were there, we got a call from Matt’s parents and they were in McKinney running some errands. They told us that if we would come meet them then they would buy Matt some clothes (because our engagement picture session was coming up). We of course took the opportunity! The four of us then met up with them in Allen and we broke up into groups and went shopping. After that, we said bye to Matt’s parents and headed back to Denton. We ended the night by cooking a favorite recipe of Kristin and Shannon’s and then watched The Ugly Truth (this time...Shannon fell asleep!) We always love it when Kristin and Shannon come to visit and we have all become very close. We are both very thankful to have them in our lives and I know we have a lot more fun times to look forward to! :)

First Blog Post

2010-06-02T23:27:00.020-05:00

Hey guys this is post numero uno! We have a LOT going on, but we (mainly me...Allison) felt the need to make a blog for the two of us. If you don't know by now (which hopefully you should if you are looking at our blog...) we are living in Denton, TX. We are both going to school at UNT. I am majoring in education and Matt is majoring in finance. This summer, Matt will be going to school and working and I will be working full time. I am starting my first semester of student teaching in the fall so right now I am kind of on hold until the next school year starts. Also, if you know us, then you know that we got engaged last December and are getting married August 7, 2010 :) YAY! (which is coming QUICK!) This summer is definitely going to be a fun--BUT BUSY time in our lives. But we also know that these are some of the happiest times so we are doing our best to embrace it!

So, this last week was pretty crazy! My (Allison) 21st birthday was last Wednesday so we of course we went out to celebrate. I took the whole day off and spent time with Matt and Haley. I got a pedicure and a eyebrow wax first (and boy did I need it!) and then I met up with Haley and Matt ate lunch at a good local restaurant in Denton called Bochy's Bistro. We then went to the mall and I bought myself a purse for my birthday. After that, I went to the pool with Haley to catch some sun. Once we were red enough (and as you can tell from the picture...my face did get a little crisp) then went to sonic for Happy Hour. I had been wanting to go to a place in Denton called Candy Haven for awhile, so I figured why not go and get some candy on my birthday right? Well I thought Matt and Haley were acting a little weird and I didn't know what was really going on...but Matt had been ordered a surprise birthday cake for me and they were stalling me from going to Candy Haven because thats where they ordered it! When we walked in the door Matt said "Is it ready?" and I said "What are you talking about? Is what ready? They don't........." and then the light bulb went on and I realized Matt had ordered me a birthday cake! It was pink and purple and it was DELISH! After that, we all got ready and met my friends Michelle and Marlene at Texas Roadhouse for a fun birthday dinner. Our waitress was very nice, but she did make me sit on the horse saddle which was very embarrassing! (Those pics will NOT be posted on here... lol) After dinner we decided to do something else random. I kind of talked Haley into getting her nose pierced! She has been talking about doing it for a LONG time, so she finally got the guts and did it! and THEN we went and saw Sex and the City 2 (which neither Matt or I really recommend...) ! By the end of the day, we were EXHAUSTED! But it was definitely a fun and memorable day!