Weekend Parties

As I mentioned before, this past weekend was a little busy.

We had two parties to attend on Saturday:

Oliver's 4th birthday party, and my friend Tara's wedding. 

Unfortunately, one started an hour after the other and they were 40 minutes apart.

:(

We only got to spend about 20 minutes at Oliver's birthday party,

but we had a lot of fun in that short amount of time.

I really wished that 

A) I hadn't been in a dress

and B) that we could have stayed longer because that gym was awesome!

I can't believe that Oliver is already 4 years old!

He has grown up so fast!!

We didn't get many photos at the wedding, but here are a few

 The lighting just wasn't working with us in that room.

It really does look better in black and white.

 Downtown Guthrie

And lastly, we had a little engagement party for Bailey and Jon.

We just wanted to give them a little something to let them know that we are excited,

and ready to get this wedding started!

It was a crazy weekend, but I'm so glad we were able to be there all the festivities.

The only person who didn't have a great time was Daria, the cat.

Buster had a great time chasing her though!

Mom Wow

So many things went on this weekend, I'm not sure what to write about first.

The purpose of our trip was to attend my high school friend's wedding.

The wedding fell at just the right time for us to also be in OK for Mother's Day, 

our nephew's birthday party, 

and an impromptu engagement party for Bailey and Jon.

However, since the nation took time to celebrate mothers this weekend, 

I will do the same.

I love my Mom so much.

We are very much alike

(I can't tell you how many times we said the same thing, at the same time this weekend)

She is always there when I need her.

She is a great listener, and gives wise advice when I need it.

She is strong, loving, and giving.

She sticks up for me always, and defends me to the end.

She is kind, she is smart...

she is important, but I wasn't going to say that ;)

She is a great example of the Proverbs 31 woman, 

and the type of woman I would like to be someday.

I'm so glad we were able to spend the weekend with her,

doing nails, shopping, and catching up.

 I love you Mom!!

The Friends

Oklahoma, here we come!

We are headed to our great home state for a weekend full of friends and family.

The main reason for our trip:

To see one of my best high school friends, Tara, get married!

Wow.

This seems like forever ago.

Hopefully I will also get to see the rest of our group at the wedding too!

 The Friends (as I called us)

It has been WAY too long.

Can't wait to be reunited with these girls!

Passing the Torch

Tonight was the Family Therapy Student Association (FTSA) Graduation party.

This means a couple things:

1) My reign of Vice President is officially over!

Hallelujah!!

I am not sad about this at all, and won't miss it one bit!

2) Some of my very good friends are graduating and leaving me in the dust.

At least most of them are staying around Houston.

One has to be an overachiever and go get her PhD in Lubbock though. :(

It was a great dinner and party celebrating all the grads!

Graduation cake balls - Adorable and delicious!

Old and New Board

Train ride with some of my favorites!

 It has been such a roller coaster this past year.

I have enjoyed most of it, but I can still say I'm so glad its over!

Also, I worked at Shield Bearer today and it was everything I thought it would be.

And it was only orientation.

God is good!

Sneak Peek

My morning was spent helping out a dear friend with a new business she has just started.

I had such a blast spending the day with her, 

 getting all dressed up, and feeling fancy! 

Here is a sneak peek of her work!

I'll take one of each please!
(If you would like some details about her business, just leave a comment with your email address)
Hope your Wednesday is full of blessings from our Lord!

Michael's First

Yesterday Michael got a very exciting piece of mail. 

This is my sister and Jon's way of asking him to officiate their wedding.

He was shocked, to say the least.

But excited, and so honored!

I've known they were going to ask him since they came to visit almost 2 months ago.

It has been killing me to keep it secret this long!

I just knew he was going to be so happy that they would think to ask him.

They even wrote a nice little note inside the card.

Bailey and Jon, get ready for the ceremony of a lifetime!!

Freedom

Today is my first official day of absolute freedom.

The only things on my schedule today are a haircut, and a massage.

This is the life I love.

However, every now and then my brain forgets that I have no assignments,

or papers, or readings,

and it goes into panic mode again. 

Old habits die hard.

A lot has been going on around here, 

but I think after finishing 2 papers on Thursday,

the writing part of my brain refused to do anymore.

So here is a little catch up:

1) I got the internship site that I wanted!!

I will be spending the next year at Shield Bearer Counseling Centers.

This is a Christian (or faith-based) agency, not even 5 miles from my house!

My spirit, and my gas tank are overjoyed!

I can't wait to see what God has in store for me this next year!

2) I am now certified to do Prepare/Enrich with couples!

This is a couple assessment typically used with premarital couples

(hence the prepare)

but can also be used with marital couple therapy

(hence the enrich)

This is a great tool to add to my therapy box.

The certification came from a sweet friend's father, and the training took place at my old work, Memorial.

Several of my school friends came,

and it was just a great mix of a couple of my worlds.

*I don't care what you say, Sister, I'm practicing on you and Jon!

3) I finished a book in the first day of my freedom from school readings

It was Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

If you know me, you know I am a HUGE Chan fan.

I read all his books, and I always love them.

He is one of those writers that when you read his book,

you feel like he is just talking to you across a table at Starbucks.

This book was a great response to others that have tried to claim everyone will be in Heaven one day.

It was a tough read for my heart, 

but an excellent read for my soul. 

(I wish he would have finished it more solidly with baptism, but whatever.)

If you haven't read it - Do it!

And if you haven't read his others (Crazy Love and Forgotten God)

you're missing out!

4) We are in the process of becoming home owners!!

 Our closing is sometime in the next couple weeks!

We are so excited!

We are officially going to own the home we have been living in for almost a year.

We love it.

You should all come visit us!

5) We are also in the process of installing new floors in our home.

The house is pretty old (30 or 40 years)

but it has been very well kept up!

The only old carpet is in the living room,

and it was a little stained thanks to wear and tear, and teenagers.

So we are getting laminate.

But it is pretty, you can't even tell it's laminate, laminate!

We are going with the 2nd from the right.

I can't wait!

6) I only know 1 of my grades so far for the semester,

and it was in a class that I didn't think was going to end well,

but I got an A!!

It was our research class, where we did somewhat of a capstone project.

Here is a picture from our poster presentation.

I'm just glad it's over!

Well that is about it from here!

Hopefully updates will become more regular again now!

Happy Monday!