Christ Has Risen

HAPPY EASTER!

This weekend we were truly blessed with family time, an amazing church service, great food, good wine, and a drop-in from the Easter bunny.

Saturday night we decided to go the 7:00 church service. We ate dinner at my parent's house, and then my parents, the hubby, my sister, her boyfriend, and I all went to church together. The music was amazing and put us right in the mood to worship and celebrate that Jesus was and is still alive and with us today. One of the songs that we sang is one of my current favs called "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher. Take a look...

Sunday we slept in and then went back over to my parents for a late Easter lunch. Our good family friends the Spears joined us. My mom, excuse me, the Easter bunny brought us some goodies. 

The Topsy's popcorn bunny ears may or may not be missing because someone started eating it right away. Not me. No way.

I love that I still get an Easter basket full of goodies. Still loved and spoiled at 26. :)

After stuffing ourselves silly we had an English dessert in honor of the Royal wedding (according to my mom and I at least) which is happening on Friday at 5AM central time in case you're interested. I am recording it on two channels and going to attempt to wake up early to watch before work; the hubby just rolls his eyes every time I mention this. I am so excited to see what Kate is wearing, how happy and handsome Prince William is, the scenery (I LOVE London!), and of course catch a glimpse of Prince Harry. I have had a crush on Prince Harry since 4th or 5th grade. I follow him on twitter which I think is a-ma-zing! Shhh, don't tell the hubby.

Anyways, for dessert we had a fruit truffle. Yummm. It was so good but so hard to eat because I was so full. According to my mom, who is an amazing cook unlike her eldest daughter (aka me), it is very easy to make. It's made with pound cake, fruit (strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and mango), a blueberry liqueur, and top it with homemade whipped cream. I will try to post the actual recipe sometime.

After dessert we had some picture and relax because my buttons are about to pop off time.

 The "kids"

 The hubby and I

 Sisters and Harriet

Morgan and Diego

One month from tomorrow my sister leaves for Italy. Then a month and a half later we will meet these two love birds in Venice. Can't wait!!

What a wonderful weekend. Thank you Jesus for the cross. One of my favorite things we do every Easter service is Pastor Adam says, "He has risen!". Then we reply with, "He has risen indeed!" We repeat this three times, every time a little louder until we pretty much yell it the last time. He has risen indeed!!!

10 Years Ago

I'm a few days late on this post, but last Saturday (April 16) the hubby and I celebrated. Ten years ago, we were sophomores at Blue Valley High School. I was on drill team but also decided to be a manager for boys' baseball that Spring while our season was not as busy. The hubby just so happened to be on the baseball team. We met, had a love for baseball and the Braves, had sisters the same age, and had both lived in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Actually, we were both born in Missouri and pretty much followed each other around our whole lives; in Atlanta we lived maybe 15 minutes apart. We were also in history together which is ironic because that's just where our history began. Too cheesy? OK, sorry.

At first our relationship was a bit of a "high school scandal". (He was my ex-boyfriend's good friend, gasp!) We fell pretty hard for each other and soon realized this was unlike other relationships we'd had in the past. I laugh when my students say they are so in love. But really, you can find true love at 16.

The past ten years we have gone through our rough patches, taken a break, kissed and made up, fought a lot, loved a lot, dreamed a lot, became puppy parents, bought a house, and have treasured growing up and growing more in love with each other. I can't believe it's been TEN YEARS! I love you Mathew!

Here is a little trip down memory lane in pictures... 
Note: some of the early ones are pictures of pictures and a little blurry.

 Summer 2001 (in a frame Mat painted for me on a date)

 Junior Prom, 2002

 Senior Prom 2003 (we are actually broken up here but still went to Sweetheart and Prom together, lol and aw.)  

Then we graduated and went to separate colleges. We had a love/hate relationship until summer 2004.

 

 Summer 2004

"Tough love" 2005

 Amelia Island, FL, November 2006

 "We're engaged!" December 20, 2006

 Summer 2007

 December 28, 2007

 April 2008

 Fall 2009

 Punta Cana, DR, July 2010

 

     

  You have to love family pictures with animals... December 2010

 April 2011

Here's to ten more years..wait. How about 90? That's better. Here's to 90+ years and a lifetime of love and happiness. 

That cheese is back again. Sorry. ;)

Sunshiny Saturday

Today, it is gorgeous out! The Beagles have been in and out, in and out, coming in with panting tongues and open mouthed grins. They lap up some water, nap, and they're back outside exploring their yard and soaking up the sun.

I am inside recovering. I have allergies and usually end up with a sinus infection as a result two to three times a year. I felt this sinus infection coming on early in the week, and by Thursday I was done. I ended up with a fever (something I haven't had since probably high school) and stayed home in bed all day Friday, minus a quick trip to the doctor and Target to get a prescription. But, no worries, the medicine, sleep, and sunshine are nursing me back to health quickly.

I recently found out about a new app for my iphone called Instagram. I love it. It's kind of like photoshop (although I have never used photoshop, but that's what I've been told) for your phone. You take a picture and then you choose a setting (is that the correct term?) for your photo - like black and white, 1970's looking/old school picture..that's the best way I can think to describe it. Check it out. You'll love it too.

Here are some of the photos. Notice we are all in bed the majority of these. We have done a lot of napping in the last 48 hours. I think the Beagles actually enjoy me being sick. Rude.

I love my girls sleeping. So cute. Enjoy the sunshine everyone! :)

Never a dull moment

Our lazy Sunday evening turned from a fairly peaceful one to a few moments of excitement and screams...

The evening started off with me trying out a new recipe - a casserole I found from The Pioneer Woman's website. It's called Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole. You can check out the recipe here. I've tried a couple of her recipes and so far have had excellent results. As always with her recipes, and my lack of cooking experience - something I'm working on, it took a while to make. I wasn't as big of a fan as I have been in the past, but I still thought it was pretty good; the biggest plus was that we had plenty of leftovers which means less cooking for me this week.:) The hubby absolutely loved the dish. I think he is enjoying this new hobby (can I even call it that with how little it occurs?) of mine.

Here's a picture of it. I forgot to take one when it came out of the oven, so the leftovers will have to do.

After dinner and some more down time, the hubby told me we should probably close the windows. It's been a gorgeous days with the windows and doors wide open, pups in and out all day with panting tongues and grins from exploring their yard. Just as we were closing the windows we saw flickers of lighting and bam! Is that rain? Nope. Hail. Major hail. Holy hail! At first it was like snow, then the size of large ice cubes. Then, for a couples minutes, golf ball size. It was so loud the dogs were barking and we were backing away from the windows. The news reported that some people had tennis ball size hail. We are thankful we didn't lose power like many in our area did. 

 We are now under a tornado watch and probably will be throughout the night as there will be more storms rolling in. I love this kind of weather, Spring storms, with the excitement of hail and potential bad weather. What can I say, I'm a Kansas girl. My dad still runs outside, even when the tornado sirens are blaring, to try to get a glimpse of something exciting. I have a distinct memory of when we moved back to Kansas during one of our first storms. The sirens going off while my dad stood outside watching the clouds and my mom yelling at him while gathering my sister and I, the dog, our baby pictures, and her grandmother's vase, making us sit under the basement stairs. She is a California girl. I will say it is a little scarier now that I have a house of my own and my weather-watching father 15 minutes away usually getting the storm after us.

To add to the excitement, after the first string of storms calmed down a bit, I let the dogs outside. I yelled at them to hurry up, and they continued to take their sweet time. Finally, Gertie wandered in...with feathers sticking out of her mouth. Oh no.

I screamed. She (thankfully) dropped the dead bird. She ran and hid under the coffee table while I screamed and yelled for the hubby to get his hiney up here now!! Like I've said before, I don't do well with dead birds. Giddy was not far behind her, paws covered in mud (of course). I'm not entirely sure the girls killed the poor bird. I'm guessing it was the storm. And being Beagles, I know they couldn't resist. They brought us a present. Thank you girls, I love you too, but please don't out do yourselves again.

Now I'm off to climb into bed and fall asleep to the soft rumble of the thunder. Thank you God for a {mostly} peaceful and lazy Sunday.

Harriet Bella

*Warning! Cheesy dog post alert. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Nine years ago yesterday, this little one came into our {mine, my parents', my sister's, and even the hubby's} lives.

Harriet Bella was no April Fool's joke, even though I couldn't believe she was mine..err ours. :)

Her life started out a little rough, but once she landed in our arms, she's been kept safe and loved beyond belief. Isn't it funny how such a small animal can bring such love and joy into a home? God's little miracles. Other than babies of course. But I don't have any babies yet. Just precious pups.


Here are some photos of "big moments" in her (and my) life:

Harvey, her best friend and companion for seven years.

College - the only time I cried when I went to college was when I had to tell her goodbye. Pathetic? I think not. ;)

 My graduation - we had just lost Harvey and I was getting married in two weeks. Bitter and sweet.

 "The puppies" - Moose came into our lives January 2008. The Beagles April 2008.

Love Harriet's expression here - "You brought not one, but three damn puppies into my life? 

Jeez. I'm turning gray just thinking about it." :) 

Harriet will be 10 in August, and I am so thankful for her.