Weekly Top 10

So I haven't blogged in a while. Things have been a little crazy, but life is good. So here are the highlights of what's been going on (in chronological order) over the past two weeks...

10. Dallas was covered in ice. Brandon was off work for like forever and I had to trek to work on the ice. I mean, kids were literally out on the streets in their ice skates. Insanity.



9. Documentaries. Brandon has been obsessed with watching documentaries recently, and I'm actually really enjoying them for the most part.

8. Superbowl Party with our friends. I mostly held friends' babies the whole time which was great to distract from having to actually watch the game.

7. More "inclement weather". Seriously?!?!



6. Parenthood on Tuesday nights never fails to make me cry. If you don't already watch it, you should.

5. BABY PORTER WAS BORN!!! My best friend from Nashville had her 1st baby on Saturday at 3am. I haven't even seen him and I already love him so much! He is so sweet and Beth is already such a good mommy. I could go on and on about this precious little baby and his sweet momma. And I'm counting the days till I get to hold him. Love yall!!!



4. Shower for the Browns and Baby Liam on Saturday at our house. Even with the boys all here, we had a great time showering baby Liam with lots of fun things. Check out the fabulous wreath that Melany made, the super cute cupcakes that Lindsey made, and of course the adorable letter pillows Lacey just "whipped up". Here's a few pics...




3. Valentine's Day- Brandon took me out on a nice date to a place we've been wanting to try. We had a great dinner at Tillman's in Bishop Arts District. It was yuuummmmy.



2. Dad's birthday. Yesterday was my wonderful father's birthday. Always sad I can't be in Nashville on days like that. Happy birthday Daddio!!!

1. Spring is on it's way and I can feel it. The days are getting longer and we're having a good some gorgeous weather in the 70s. Today after work I went running (yes, I said running- believe it) because it was just too pretty not to be outside. Hopefully this weekend will be another pretty one!

This weekend

This weekend I went to Houston for a VitalStim Conference. The course was really great, but it was a lot of information and a couple of really long days. But now I'm certified to do a form of therapy that I'm really excited about. VitalStim is a neuromuscular electric stimulation used to strengthen the muscles for swallowing. It's a therapy that I really believe can help my patients with dysphagia, and I'm excited to start using it in my therapy.

Anyways, it was a long but very helpful weekend. I was bummed to miss out on a gorgeous weekend in Dallas, but Brandon was very productive while I was gone. He did some finishing touches in the little bathroom and also replaced the shower head in our master bathroom. This is something I've been telling him I wanted since we moved in (the old one wasn't tall enough for me to stand under). So obviously I was verrry excited. I have the best husband in the world!


It's the little things in life :)

Bathroom Reno

For the past couple of weekends, Brandon has been updating our little 1/2 bathroom. Here's the before and after pics, because I love seeing the difference:) The big reveal...

BEFORE:





AFTER:



Check out that tile backsplash! He did a such a great job!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE!!!

Today is my little sister's birthday. She's the best. I am so blessed to have her as a best friend who I know will always be there for me. She's my cooking advisor, my greatest listener, my eye-makeup teacher, my brutally honest confidant, my family-oriented candy addict, my loyal but free spirited baby sis, the most beautiful singer and quoter of Friends, and the perfect combination of a confident and peacemaking woman of God. And about to be amazing business woman- she graduates in May:) I could go on and on but I won't...just don't know what I'd do without her. Wish I could be there today to celebrate her birthday. Love you Allie!!!

Goodbye Christmas

I'm always so sad that Christmas is over. I waited as long as I could to put away the Christmas decor, but finally did put it all away this weekend. So I wanted to post some of the pictures we've recently taken on our new camera around the house this Christmas. Some of them are pretty good and the lighting is right, and the rest are taken by me. But hey, I'm trying to get better at this whole photography thing. And what better time to practice than when the house looked so festive?! So, farewell, Christmas. I miss you already. Here are the random assortment of pictures...




Our fireplace




Love my Bailey Booley (and this picture, thanks to Brandon)


Love this photo


The wreath I made last year




Our 2010 ornament:)




Pumpkin Bread makes Christmas complete




My cute new basket I got from my sweet mother-in-law!


And to all a good night.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

We had a great weekend. My dad came in town to preach at a church in Arlington. I always love hearing him speak. Something about hearing my dad always puts things in perspective for me. He gave a great sermon about the gospel of Mark and how all the disaster and disease in the world are not the real tragedies. The real tragedy is when we humans don't practice Kingdom Living. That's why Jesus came to Earth- to show us how to live in a way that glorifies the Father and give us hope beyond this life.

Anyways, we had a great visit and got out of church this morning to find lots of snow. Luckily, dad made it back to Nashville just before the weather really got bad here and there. Richardson got a good deal of snow this afternoon, so Brandon and I took Bailey out to play in the snow a little. And Brandon took some photos on the new camera. Here are a few of the ones he took...






Isn't that gorgeous!?! I hate the cold but I LOVE SNOW! Hope
everyone had a great weekend! And hope we have a snow day
tomorrow! It's supposed to be down in the 20s! Ahhh!

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy Birthday Kim!! Just wanted to take a second to send our birthday wishes from Dallas. Even though Kim and Philip live only a few hours away in Austin, we just don't get to see them enough. But I feel so lucky to have such a great sister-in-law. Hope you had a good one, Kim!

New Camera

So Brandon's been pretty occupied with his newest toy recently. We gave each other a digital camera for our Christmas/Anniversary gift. We've been looking at them for a while, and Brandon did a lot of research about which one he wanted. We ended up with the Canon Rebel T2I. He's pretty good at the photography thing, but I have a LOT to learn. Luckily this camera makes it easy. I'll post some of the pictures very soon!

2010

Brandon and I had a great year. We are so blessed beyond measure. As so many others are doing, I've been thinking about the past year, and here are some of our best memories in 2010...

Enjoyed the snow.
Watched the Olympics.
Read the Twilight books. No longer ashamed to admit my obsession with them.
It kept snowing and snowing all the way into March.
Landscaped the back yard once the snow was gone.
Sad that 24 and Lost were in their final seasons.
Finished my Clinical Fellowship Year. Finally a certified SLP!
Apples of Gold class with the church ladies.
Threw Jaime a baby shower.
Bailey turned 2.
Found out Melany was pregnant.
Jessi got engaged. Flew home to surprise her.
Cruise with some our closest friends.
Nashville floods ruined Granny's home. So upset I couldn't be there to help.
Watchin Bachelorette with the girls.
Went to Austin with Brandon's parents to visit Kim and Philip. The bats didn't fly for us.
I skiied behind Brandon's boat.
Church Softball.
Got a few veggies from my little veggie garden before they fried in the Texas heat.
Tim McGraw & Lady Antebellum Concert with Brooke. Amazing.
Found out Josh and Suzie are pregnant.
Our small group keeps growing, physically and spiritually.
Everyone we know had babies- Lily Kate, Addi, Jaxon, were born.
Mema came to visit.
Went to Canton with some friends.
4th of July with all our church friends. Great fireworks show.
Kinley was born. Wish I could have been in Nashville for that.
Bailey's playdates with Nightlee, playdates with Katie, playdates with Nightlee.
Brandon fishing all the time.
I turned 26. Jess came to visit me for my birthday. Saw Michael Buble. Best birthday ever.
Went to see the Rangers game with Chris and Lacey.
Brandon is obsessed with the Rangers.
Found out Beth is pregnant!!!
Went to Michael and Melissa's beautiful wedding.
Wonderful week vacation in Hot Springs with my family.
Read the Hunger Games series. Love those books.
Drove to Jessi's wedding shower #1 in Southaven.
Chaz came to visit. Went out on the boat.
Dad came for a short visit to teach a class in Ft Worth.
Kim and Philip visited. Went out on the boat.
Threw Melany's baby shower.
Cowboys got off to an embarrassing start of the season.
Obsessed with the show Parenthood.
Threw and attended wedding showers for Jessi in Nashville.
Baby Landry was born!
Mema came to Dallas for a few days.
Rangers won the American League Division Championship! Brandon is beyond obsessed.
Rangers are in the World Series!
Camping at Lake Tawakoni with friends.
Several days in Nashville for Jessi and Jonathan to get hitched. The PERFECT wedding.
Hail damage to my Civic on our trip home. Ugh.
Brandon turned 27. Whoa.
Camping at Broken Bow. Thought I might freeze to death.
Carved pumpkins and had a quiet Halloween.
Brandon is on the news with his BeLEEve posters. Go Rangers!
Conan back on TV.
Avery was born!
Sold the Civic. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Brandon surprised me with the car I was dreaming of!
Kickball Champions with our church class.
Thanksgiving feast with our church friends.
Floors are leaking uh ohhhh.
Atlanta (finally) for a great Thanksgiving. Not quite a long enough visit.
Got the slab leak fixed and replaced the damaged wood floors.
Jessi and Jonathan got a new puppy.
Learned to sew pajama pants.
Meagan moved away. What will I do without her here:(
Brandon went to a fancy photo shoot in LA.
The Lees closed on their house. Yay new neighbors!
Went to Nashville for a White Christmas.
3 Year Anniversary- I am so blessed.
Several days with Brandon's family to celebrate Christmas at our house.
Celebrate New Year's at home with the fam.
What a perfect year.

Christmas with the Craddocks

Last week the Craddocks stayed with us for a few days and we had a wonderful few days celebrating Christmas. We did lots of eating, playing games, shopping, and of course, playing with the dogs. We had a great time and here are some pictures we took while they were here.


The girls


The whole fam


Our little family


Brandon had fun playing around with the camera while the pups played


Cool shot of Philip tossing Baxter into the sky