Happy Birthday Gaggy!!!

Well today is my mother-in-law's birthday, so I thought I'd just take a second to wish her the best. The title "Gaggy" is because I always tease her that we're going to have our children call her that someday. And let's be honest...I love to see her squirm in the uncertainty of whether we would ever do that to her. Bwahahaha. But really truthfully, I love her dearly. I don't know how, but I really lucked-out in the mother-in-law department. She's actually someone who I hope to be very much like someday. She's sweet and very sarcastic, but also very giving and compassionate. She has so many great friends and she has a very approachable and fun personality. I love her hospitality and how she has such great friendships that she has carried through life. I could go on about the great mom she is, but I won't. I just want her to know how cherished she is and how appreciative I am that she came in to this world and brought up such a wonderful boy for me to marry. There are many ways in which Brandon and I hope to model our family in the same ways she did. Wish we could be there to celebrate your birthday with you!!!

Blessed

We're so blessed. We have spent a wonderful few days in Nashville with family. Dad, Brandon and I got up early to go run the Boulevard Bolt on Thursday morning. I got to see my best friend Beth, who caught us and ran on ahead around mile 3. So good to see her. When we got home, Jess was still feeling sick from the night before, so Dad and I took her to the hospital because she had a bad stomach bug. After some good IV fluids, we were home for a late Thanksgiving lunch with the fam. The ENTIRE fam on my mom's side. Lots of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cream corn, green beans, homemade rolls, and too many desserts to name. It was good to see all my cousins and their wives and especially my grandparents. Then, between naps, we watched the Cowboys game of course and my family pretended to care as much as we did- another big win for Romo! After all the extended relatives left, we did lots of shopping and catching up. I got to see another of my best friends from highschool, Grant, for a few minutes. We went to see The Blind Side, which was AMAZING and I would highly recommend it. Jessi and her boyfriend Jonathan were in heaven because it's all about Ole Miss, their favorite team ever. It was so nice to get to just relax and talk with my family. That's Brandon's favorite thing about our family, that we are all totally ok with just relaxing and catching up on life. We also got to spend some good quality time with Matt and Ashley, our surrogate big brother and sister. Jonathan got to be there after Jess got over the pukes, and we finally got to meet Allie's boyfriend Blake. Saturday night we watched Home Alone (Brandon's favorite Christmas movie by far) and put up the Christmas tree as is the Black family tradition. So fun. We had such a good visit. And they loved Bailey- she actually behaved pretty well. Despite all of the table scraps Mom and Jess kept slipping her (against Brandon's will), Allie became Bailey's new favorite because she gave Bailey a brand new Christmas outfit. Here are a few pictures I took from the weekend...


Jessi and Allie, miss yall already!



My wonderful family + Jonathan


Allie and Bailey in their matching Christmas attire :)


My goober bear

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for.

Cold!

Well, it got COLD last night. I walked out to leave for work this morning and was definitely not prepared for the bitter chill! BUT the good thing is that I can now start to get in the Christmas mood. Luckily for Brandon, we still have to get the room finished before I put up the Christmas tree. Otherwise I might have already broken down and decorated with everything Christmas. That's something I've been looking forward to since we bought this house in June. Putting up an actual (artificial) Christmas tree in our home is so so very exciting for me.

Tonight was a wonderful evening. I actually cooked dinner and Brandon got some work done. And I got to cozy up by the fire while watching Dancin with the Stars. Other than coming down with what I think is a yucky sinus infection, life is pretty perfect.

Flying By

Life has just been crazy. And we've been exhausted. It's been tough to just take time to slow down and enjoy life amidst all the stress of work and life and short days. But even though it's been getting dark wayyy to early, it's been GORGEOUS outside and we've loved every minute of the pretty fall weather. Weird that it's mid-November and we still haven't broken out our heavy coats. I don't know that I've ever been as ready for winter weather as I am this year- it just doesn't feel like the Holiday season yet. As always, I have been a little homesick this fall, thinking of the gorgeous Tennessee trees and wishing I could have carved pumpkins with my sisters. But every time I start to get down about it, it seems like God reminds me of His purpose. Dallas has really been a wonderful home for us that we never really expected. Brandon and I feel so blessed to be where we are surrounded by the friends we have. God is so faithful, and it's hard not to be satisfied by His presence when you look outside at the changing leaves, even in Texas:) Here's a picture of the little tree we planted a couple months ago in our back yard, now changing colors- I kinda think it's bringing me a little piece of TN every day.



Soon I'll update a little more on life. We started remodeling the dining room this weekend. It's a wreck right now, but I hope to have it ready soon to put the Christmas tree in the front window. Other than work, sleep, and tearing down wallpaper, we've been filling up our days getting together with friends, trying not to get too sick, fishing, football games, Brandon doing some freelancing, running with Bailey, watching Grey's and Brothers and Sisters (my newest addiction- I LOVE it), and doing a little early Christmas shopping:) We're looking forward to seeing family for Thanksgiving in a couple weeks. Maybe the Cowboys can get their act together before then. Brandon was more than just a little upset today at the game. Hope everyone had a good relaxing weekend!!!

Halloween Weekend

Brandon's family came in this past weekend, and we had such a fun few days with them. His parents live in Atlanta, so we always cherish the time we get to spend with them. Kim and Philip even got to come in town to hang out. We did some shopping and cooking and football watching, but mostly just relaxed and caught up with each other. It was fun being able to have all of Brandon's family in our new home. I really love nothing better than cooking and laughing and relaxing with family. I just wish we all lived closer together! It wasn't a very long visit, but we had fun. We got a few pictures of the dogs playing...

Bailey and her cousin Baxter, the best of friends. They never stopped playing.


Bailey dressed up as a turtle for Halloween- so funny.


Trying to control the ferocious snapping turtle


This is the pretty wreath I made on Sunday with instruction from Brandon's crafty mom :)
Happy Fall!!! Hope everyone had a good weekend, I know we did!

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Brandon's 26th birthday, and I just have to write a quick little note about my wonderful hubby. I feel so immensely blessed to get to go through life with such a wonderful Christian man who makes everything so fun. I love how I know that I see a side of him that nobody else in the world sees, yet he is so true to himself and what he believes in. I can't believe we've been married 1 1/2 years already- time really has flown by. Happy birthday, my love!


Ok so there's a story behind this wonderful picture. Brandon has been wanting a dart board for several months now to go in his "boy room". So I've been thinking about it for a little while now. But little did he know that when he opened up the box to find this little plastic one that I found at work with only 1 dart. I did buy him the real one I knew he would want, but I had him thinking that this was the one I picked out. He tried to be so nice, telling me that maybe someday we can get a bigger one and he might not go hang it up just yet. I kept a straight face for a while, telling him we can return it if he wants to. But I pretty quickly broke down and gave him the real one. It was just about the squirmiest I've seen him in a while, really not knowing what to say. But boy was he relieved when he saw the one he wanted. Happy birthday Brandon!!! I loooove you.

Briana's Wedding Weekend

This weekend, I headed to Tyler to meet up with friends to celebrate Briana's wedding. We stayed at Callie's apartment and had such a fun little reunion with all my girlfriends. It was the perfect weekend for the girly time I was needing, and we had a blast. It's always fun getting together and being immature with them, and we didn't stop laughing all weekend. We helped Callie put the finishing touches on the cake and transported it to the church, which was so very chaotic and funny. But I really have a whole new respect for cake makers- Callie did so good. And Briana looked amazing-- now she is Mrs. Briana Singleton! Yayy!


Krystina, Briana, me, and Brooke at the Bridesmaid's Brunch


So excited for you Briana!!!


Excited to be having girl time :)


Love you Brookie


Callie made the beautiful wedding cake, so yummy!


Brooke and Tina


The beautiful bride- gotta stay hydrated!


I miss my Callie :)


Mrs. Briana Singleton


The skilled cake servers- just don't look too close :)


Thanks to Brooke, I wore heels for about the first time in my life


Thanks for letting us stay with you Callie!


I had such a fun weekend, love you girls!


And also, GO COWBOYS!!! We had a big win today against
the Falcons- woo woo Miles Austin!

Happy Birthday Mamacita!!

Today is my mom's birthday and I wanted to wish her the HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! I always hate being so far away on days like today. I just wish I could be there with Jess and Allie to bake the classic Black-family tradition for her birthday, a big chocolate chip cookie cake with extra chocolate chips and yummy icing and tons of candles. Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family, the one day to show someone how much you love them and how glad you were they are in your life. Well, my mom is amazing, and I can't imagine my life without her support and encouragement. She is one of the most intelligent and independent women I know, and she has a love for people that is really inspiring. I hope to have just an ounce of the strength and compassion that my mom has. Some of my favorite things about my mom--I just had to make a cheesy acronym- it just seems like the 'mom' thing to do:)

M is for all the ways she was a great example for the Mom I want to be to my kids someday
A is for the the way her Accent changes when she talks to people who don't speak English
R is for the way she is always Reaching out to help people
G is for the way she demonstrated how to live in a way that glorifies God
O is for the Only person I know who might love the beach more than I do



Happy Birthday Mom! I love you more than anything!!!

Our weekend

It was such a gorgeous weekend, we literally spent all of it outside. Saturday morning I ran 6 miles for the first time in my life. Running is actually going ok, but more on that another day.

When I got home from my morning run with my girlfriends, Brandon had already mowed and weed-eated (haha, how do you write that?) the yard. So we decided to go and get some plants for the yard since we heard this is the best time of year to plant. We planted a Red Oak tree in the back yard and several shrubs in the front. But the biggest project was removing the shrub/tree monster from in front of the bay window in the front. We had NO idea what an ordeal it would turn out to be. Brandon ended up recruiting our friend Chad to come and stare/ponder what to do with the huge stump that was left after Brandon cut off the top of the tree. Long story short, they ended up strapping a tow rope and using a truck to pull the massive piece from the earth. But after hedging and weeding and lots of digging and planting, the yard is looking good. We still have lots of landscaping hopes and dreams for the future, but we're happy with it for now.

Here's a picture to show what it looked like before, even before we painted the shutters:



And here's what it looks like now:



Can you tell I love this time of year? Happy Fall!!!

Pajama Party

Last night we got to hang out with Brandon's little cousins, Samantha and AJ. We really had a good time. Samantha helped me cook while the boys grilled out and played with Bailey. It's amazing how many stories those two have to tell. After dinner we got in our pjs and watched Monsters vs. Aliens, which was SO GOOD! Brandon and I both really enjoyed it. After they warmed up to Bailey, they had a good time playing with her and snuggling during the movie. And then we had a good time playing cards and trying to beat Brandon by cheating as much as possible.


Comfy cozy movie time:)


Thanks for coming to play Mantha and AJ!!!