Texans Banned From Memo Board!

Last night, we had a few friends over to watch the Texans play the Titans. Before the game, our good pal Dave came over to help with a little project....one that would help get a little team spirit going on around here!TOO BAD THE TEXANS HAD TO GO AND TRAMPLE MY HEART!

YOU HURT ME BAD THIS TIME BOYS! YOU HURT ME BAD.
KRIS BROWN...I DON'T THINK I CAN SPEAK TO YOU RIGHT NOW.
(If only I could send him a howler via owl! ;) Just started book 4 by the way!)

Anyways...I'm glad to have my memo board up. Thanks Dave! We will stick to holiday greetings and Bible verses from now on. (Grrrrrr....Texans!)

Wedding Weekend

This was the weekend we had 2 weddings. Casey preached at the first wedding here in Brenham, and then we packed our stuff and headed to Galveston for the second.
Some pics:

The fam...at wedding #2 at The Hotel Galvez.

Dancin' with daddy

Look at those beautiful gals! My mom and B.

Me and the hubs. I heart him.

My sweet B

So here's the dress...modeled with pigeon-toes and all. (Learned that from a Mrs. Heidi Klum.) You can go here to see what it's supposed to look like. I left my crazy legs at home along with my cashmere beret. CanNOT forget those next time!

A close up of the big ruffle collar...it's kinda hard to see in this picture.

The shoes...modeled by Braelyn

It was a super fun day. Braelyn has decided that she LOVES weddings. Dressing up, dancing, cake...what could be better than that?!

Traditions

After reading this book, I have really tried to change the way I think about the holidays. For the past year or so, I have tried to create traditions that do nothing but honor Jesus and give my family time to talk about Him, acknowledge Him and praise Him together. You can read my big post on this issue here.

Anyways, for Thanksgiving, I like to spend the each day of November telling God what we are thankful for. Last year we did this. This year, I'm a few days late, BUT...we pulled it together this afternoon and made a Thanksgiving Tree.
The best part of this project was that it didn't cost me a dime!
My supplies:
- a vase
- dried beans
- sticks and small branches from outside
- decorative paper (I had a pad of card stock cards with coordinating patterns, thankfully in fall colors)
- raffia

I just arranged the sticks in the vase, and filled it with beans to keep them in place. Then cut out leaf shapes out of the card stock and hung them on the branches with the raffia. Each day, (we did several today because we're so far behind) we will write something we are thankful for on a leaf. Also, on the front of our vase, I tied on our memory verse for the month. 1 Chronicles 16:34 "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever!"

I am really happy with the result. I think I will even adapt the idea for Christmas. I was thinking of hanging paper stars or Christmas ball shapes and writing the Advent Scriptures on them or perhaps writing some of the attributes of Jesus on them. Don't know yet. Still thinking. I'm working on some other Advent ideas and will post those as soon as I'm done. Hopefully, before it's actually here! ;)

I Have Issues

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a couple of weddings coming up and instead of going out and buying a new dress, I was going to alter one that I already had. Well...I did that and my frugality DID NOT pay off. When I got my dress back from my tailor in Sugar Land (Yes, I went to SUGAR LAND because I didn't trust anyone in Brenham to do it!) I was not happy with the result at all. I needed it taken in in the chest area, and to do that they took it up in the shoulders, but now the little cap sleeves look ridiculous! I was FURIOUS, cause I paid pretty good money for alterations that will now need to be altered.

So, last weekend, Casey and I took a little shopping date to get a dress for the weddings this weekend. I will not bore you with details, but, let me tell you something I'm sure most of you already know...I HAVE ISSUES!

Some women, go in, buy a dress, pick out their accessories. Done. Not me. I have a disorder. An ensemble completion disorder.

After:
3 Outings
2 dresses
3 pairs of shoes
2 visits to Charming Charlie
3 returned items and one still to go

After all that, I have managed to put together an outfit.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::SIGH:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I now have and am sticking with:
One dress from Banana Republic.
One pair of shoes from Dillards (thanks to a little love from mom and dad ;)
Jewelry and Bag from home.

Wars have been won,
People have become doctors,
NASA has launched rockets,
Congress will pass a health care reform bill with less effort than it takes me to put together an outfit.

What is wrong with me, women?! What is wrong with me?!

I have decided that the next time I have to put an outfit together, I am taking someone with me...someone with a great, DECISIVE sense of style. Someone who will tell me try this on and put this with it. Someone who will shove me in the checkout line despite my ridiculous questions and hesitations. Someone who will not put up with my nonsense. Be firm. Tell me to get dressed and shut up.

Any volunteers? Anyone? Please?
Really, I am not kidding...who will go with me?!

Homemade Bread and the Bread of Life

Thursday mornings, while Braelyn is at school, I clean. Sometimes, I listen to a John Piper sermon while I clean. That's what I did this morning. I listened to his sermon from this past Sunday. He spoke about Jesus feeding the 5,000, and how Jesus is the Bread of Life, and how Jesus alone SATISFIES. He also addressed the fact that rather than believing in Jesus and loving Jesus, we believe in what Jesus can give us and we love Him because He is "useful."

Man. He was preaching my face off. Literally. I was cleaning with a normal face on. And then, by the middle of the sermon, I'm not cleaning at all and my face was all distorted and scowlish...just cause I am thinking so hard. There were tears at one point. Sigh... It's like he takes your heart and shakes it real hard...but in a good way.

A couple quotes:
"Jesus didn't come to serve your unregenerate appetites. He came to give you new appetites."
"Jesus came into the world not to GIVE bread, but to BE bread."

All this to say...I've had much to think about. Pray about. I enjoy cleaning with Dr. Piper. You should try it.

Coincidentally, today I had my first go at baking homemade bread. I've been thinking about it for a long time now. Been putting it off. But this week beef stew was on the menu (also a first for me) and I thought, what goes better with beef stew than fresh homemade bread? Nothin'.

I got the recipe from a very experienced bread-making friend, Amy, who used to live here in Brenham. This gal makes the most delicious bread ever and it looks so beautiful. Perhaps there are simpler, more beginner-appropriate recipes that I could have chosen, but my heart was set on Amy's. So that's what I did.

Let me say...now...my bread wasn't Amy bread or anything'...but...it wasn't half bad, my friends. It was NOT HALF BAD! The texture was just about right...could have used maybe one more minute in the oven, and it needed a little salt, but other than that, I was very pleased with my first attempt at bread-making. :)

Before the oven.
I think traditionally, you are supposed to do a 6-strand braid, but I thought I'd better not get crazy. So just 3 strands for me.

The first loaf. LOOK! It looks like bread! Who woulda thought?The second loaf. It looks like a mummy. But tastes like bread. :)

Amy...thanks so much for this recipe and for the inspiration! We miss you!

Halloween 2009: The Little Mermaid

Braelyn's favorite part of this costume..."the sparkly bra." Awesome. Notice the tank top underneath!

With Mama. And yes...I put a little make-up on her. Just for fun.

With Daddy at the Brenham Fall Festival. No Halloween celebrating here! We celebrate fall...in costume...pay no attention to the Boo candy bag. ;)

With Punkin Pie Crayon J.

And sweet Lady Bug Betty.

Very fun. Although, I have one regret. We did not carve a pumpkin this year. Sad. What kind of a mother am I?! Oh well...next year. Moving on to the next holiday.