Happy Birthday Sister

Today is my sister Bailey's birthday.

She is 24!

Exactly 23 years and 11 months ago, I was doing this.

Not too many years later, our entire lives were consumed by all things Barbie.

And somewhere along the line we grew up into adults,

and even more than that, friends.

I love you so much, Sister, and I hope you have the most wonderful day!!

Happy Birthday!!

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

After several refusals, my mother finally got me to agree to speak at Ladies Day.
How did she do it??
She had one of her best friends ask me, knowing I couldn't say no.
It worked, and so I've been working stressing the past couple of weeks to get my lessons together.
Ladies Day is an annual event at my home church that has been going on since the year I was born.

Ironically enough, I had never actually been to a Ladies Day.

Every year I lived at home, I was the child care,

and once I moved to college, I was never available to be there.

Needless to say, it was more than a little difficult to prepare for something I had never been to.

Lucky me though, I am married to a guy that has a gift for preaching and teaching.

There is no way I could have made it through these lessons without Michael.

I would create an outline of what I wanted to say, and he would 'sermonize' it for me.

And 3 days before the event when I decided to completely throw out one of my lessons, 

he helped me to re-write a newer better one.

^^Each and every detail of the day was so perfect.

The theme I chose was "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" based on Proverbs 3:5-6.

Everything was decorated with maps, and globes, and other travel objects.

The favors were Eiffel Tower keychains, which if you know me, you know it is perfect.

And the food, oh the food!

They had different recipes from all different countries...

and each one was amazing!!

^^This was less than half the room of ladies.

Yikes!

The last count I heard was that there were 94 women there.

This picture is during my 2nd lesson when I gave everyone time to share with each other.

It was a special moment.

^^In the words of Eminem, "on the surface I look calm and ready"

But really, I was sweating buckets.

^^Some incredibly important women in my life.

I really did feel unworthy to be teaching them, but am so thankful for their kindness and encouragement.

^^She was my flower girl in our wedding.

It meant so much that she was there, and listening to every word I said.

She even called me 'awesome'!

^^Just reading a little Dr Seuss to the ladies.

I had no intention of reading the book, or even referencing it, but then I read it.

And I loved it, and I just had to share it.

I used the book to share some practical applications in the second lesson,

while the first lesson was based entirely on my theme scriptures.

^^The best part of the day was having both my mom and my mother-in-law there to support me.

These are two women that have been such important influences in my life.

I have seen them go through many journeys, 

some good, some more difficult,

and I have witnessed the growth of their faith through these journeys.

I am so thankful to have two wonderful, strong, loving women to help guide me as a wife, and one days as a mother (though sooner would be better for them on this one)

I am so blessed to be their daughter.

All in all, the day turned out to be pretty wonderful!

Its amazing the ways that you are blessed, simply by trying to bless others.

I was so blessed by the women that were there: whether my old teachers, mentors, babysitters, or friends, they all mean so much to me, and my spiritual journey.

Living the Aunt and Uncle Life

Continuing in my efforts to catch up:

The next weekend Michael and I were off to California for a wedding,

but we made it into a little vacation, and its going to take much more than one post.

So, I will move on to the next weekend when we had family come and visit.

It means so much to us anytime that friends and family come and stay with us,

but this visit was extra special because it was the first time Josh and Krista purposely came to visit us.

They arrived late Thursday evening, and we started the visit off with ice cream sundaes and games.

^^Kayley was most excited for the ice cream

 The next day as soon as every one woke up, we packed lunches and hit the road to Galveston.

The girls were so excited to be going to the beach. 

They talked about seashells, and Ariel, and all things ocean the entire way.

We also sang Disney songs during the drive.

It took a little longer than expected to find a good beach where we could eat, so by the time we got there we were all starving.

It didn't matter how hungry the girls were though, because as soon as we got there, 

they were in the water!

^^Kayley was covered in sand the minute she got out of the car.

They had such a blast, and I had so much fun watching them run and play in the water.

After lunch we let the girls play and search for seashells a little longer.

Well, except for Kayley, we were just trying to keep her warm.

Baby girl made a beeline for the water anytime we put her down, and with the water being so cold, she was freezing!

I love this picture of her and her uncle Michael though.

I also love this video of the older running through the water.

I might have told them to do it.

And then they both fell in, and then they got in trouble.

Oops.

Ash and Em at Beach from Brittany Johns on Vimeo.

After the beach, we had to make a quick Walmart run to get the girls some dry clothes, 

and then we went to ride the Bolivar ferry.

I brought the bread that was left over after making sandwiches so the girls could feed the seagulls.

 ^^They loved it!

They thought it was especially when one of the birds pooped right on the back of Michael's neck.

We ended the day with dinner at one of our Galveston favorites, the Spot.

Saturday, Michael started the day by making pancakes for everyone,

then we went to a trampoline/inflatable place called Cosmic Jump.

The girls had so much fun jumping, and sliding, and before long they were worn out.

We came back to the house to cook out hamburgers and hotdogs,

and then while Kayley slept, Michael and I took Ashley and Emily out to walk Buster.

They said it was the first time they have ever walked a dog.

The rest of the day was spent at the outlet mall, and then the drive-in to see the new Muppet movie.

We did squeeze in a short stop at Buc ee's though.

You can't come to Houston and not go to Buc ee's.

At least according to my family.

Michael and I decided to get the girls a little souvenir to remember there trip, 

and they were so happy with their little Buc ee dolls.

We had so much fun with these girls, and we were sad to see them go.

I just can't believe how quickly the time goes and how fast they have grown.

One thing is for sure though, they know their aunt and uncle love them SO much!

Looking Back at 2013

I posted a collage on Instagram already, but I wanted to take some time to share some of my favorite memories from 2013.

It was an incredibly blessed year!

And I am already looking forward to 2014 being even better.

I can't wait to see what God will do in our lives, and how he will change us this year.

^^ Sister got married and it was perfect!

See the full story here.

^^ Michael and I shared our first dance EVER!

It was also perfect...perfectly awkward.

But the picture came out great!

^^ I spent an entire month studying, shed lots of tears, and finally 6 weeks and 5 day later,

I got the letter that said PASS.

^^ We found our first bluebonnets!

If we claimed it, we would officially be Texans on this day.

But we don't.

Oklahomans forever!

 ^^ I got to spend an entire week with my Mom in May!

We shopped, we relaxed, and we threw parties.

It was awesome!

^^ I graduated in May and my whole family came to see me walk across the stage!

It was so special to have them all here!

Probably my favorite memory!

 ^^ I joined this wonderful group as an official Marriage and Family Therapist!

Couldn't have asked for a better place to work,

or better people to do it with!

^^ The day we took more pictures with people we don't know than ever before!

And later found ourselves on some rando's facebook page!

Perfect!

^^ I painted the hallway, and almost died.

But now it looks great!

^^ I went on the trip of a lifetime with some of my most favorite people!!

It was the most Diva weekend I've ever lived, and I loved every minute!

^^ We also saw Celine Dion in concert while in Vegas.

You can't top that!

^^ My bestie got engaged!!!
And we threw her a surprise party.
No one has a better surprised face than Claire!

^^ Michael's favorite memory of the year.

Century Link stadium in Seattle.

 ^^ We checked another state off of our list when we went to Oregon to see Multnomah Falls.

It was breathtaking!

^^ And we drank coffee from the first Starbucks.

^^ Michael got asked to officiate his 2nd wedding!

We love this couple and can't wait to watch them say 'I do!'

^^ We spent a weekend at the river with this crew!

It was a blast!!

^^ This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning the JV Youth!

We have had a wonderful year working and growing with them!

^^ We ended the year with some beautiful pictures of our family.

I am so happy that we have these pictures to remember this stage in our lives.

The stage where the most important thing to us is our puppy.

And where we just get to spend lots of time together.

It is a blessed life that we have!

Christmas Time in Tulsa

On this trip we went from Houston to OKC to Enid, back to OKC, then to Tulsa, and 

finally home to Houston.

Like I said in my last post, the holidays can be stressful.

Let's just say, we were more than a little happy to get back home.

The great thing is that our short time in Tulsa was spent with these beautiful girls.

I mean come on, you can't find more gorgeous sisters!

We love them!

Christmas Day was mostly spent with my family in OKC, 

but we got to Tulsa in time for dinner and gifts.

My Grandparents were there early in the evening, and his Grandma Johns gave me the best gift.

This is a quilt that her mother made, and she passed on to me.

I was so touched that she thought to give it to me.

It really meant so much.

The rest of the night was pretty focused on our nieces and the gifts we got them.

^^ Uncle Mike helping the girls open their gifts

^^ Emily told me that night that she loved her new puppy.

You can see the necklaces we got Emily and Ashley in this photo.

It had their first initial.

Last but not least, I drew my mother-in-law and mad her this wreath.

I made one for myself a couple years ago, and she loved it and wanted one for her door.

You can find the tutorial for the wreath here.

Though our time in Tulsa was short, it was great to see Michael's parents, and those sweet nieces of ours.

I will never forget the way Emily and Ashley's faces lit up when they saw us.

They are so precious, and we love the 3 of them so much.

We ended the trip with breakfast with some great friends.

They are preparing to move to Brazil next month to do mission work, and we are so excited!

I'm going to hate having them so far away, but I know God has big plans for them!

Brazil is one lucky country!

Christmas with the Bairds

If I were to choose one picture to represent our time in Enid it would be this.

Those dogs did not get along.

Mostly due to our little fur ball, who thought he was king of the house.

It was sweet the way Oliver kept reassuring me that "Buster is not a bully" though.

Other than the dogs, we really did have a great time in Enid.

My Mom always goes above and beyond with Christmas, and makes the house feel so magical.

^^ Even Buster got in the Christmas spirit.

We played games, ate way too many no-bakes (okay, maybe just me)

watched movies, ate at Wee Too, didn't get to go to the thrift store because it was closed - sad day, and just spent lots of time with each other.

Here are some highlights from the days we were there:

^^ Michael was pretty excited about his gift!

^^ Buster was equally excited about his gift from cousin Maddy

^^ But I think Grandpa was by far the most excited.

I mean, who doesn't want a yard of cookies!

^^ Sweet picture of the Dad's holding their boys.

*Mom, don't show this caption to Ben ;)

I love my family SO much!

Holidays can be stressful, especially with 2 crazy dogs,

but I am very thankful for the time that I had with them over the holiday.

Mom - Thanks for spending every waking minute in the kitchen making delicious meals for us!

Dad - Thanks for picking out the perfect gifts for me 2 years in a row!

Ben - Thanks for getting our precious boy Oliver to Enid to spend Christmas with us!

Oliver - Thanks for being so kind to me, and for taking family photos before opening gifts!

Bailey - Thanks for opening your home to us on Christmas day! 

Jon - Thanks for taking care of Maddy, and pulling yourself away from the family to keep her and Buster separated. I hated it, and look forward to actually talking to you next time ;)

We love you guys!!