Christmas on the River

My grandparents live on the river.  It's awesome.  We spent our Christmas with them over New Year's weekend.  The weather was awesome - we spent plenty of time out on the back porch.  And lots of great time with family...and lots of pictures!

 Father & Son - my dad is a clone of his dad.

 FIRE!!!!!

 Deborah and Stephen were "there"

Evening at the park...

My friend Lisa's little boy Jack needed a night away not long after his little brother came home from the hospital, so we went on a little walk to the park.  It was a good night.  We took some pictures and did a lot of sliding.

Typical Wednesday Night

One night I was taking pictures at small group for an assignment for a photography workshop I've been taking. I thought I should post them to document what a typical Wednesday night in my living room looks like. 

 Karley and Tori

 Rachel, Karley and Tori

 Maddie and Rachel

My other Maddie.

30 (or 20) before 30

So, I've seen this idea on other people's blogs, and I love the idea.  I started a list of things I want to do before I turn 30 next year.  A lot of the lists I've seen are 30 before 30, but I couldn't come up with quite that might many.  And some of these are kind of cheating because I know that I'm going to do them already. :)

1.  Stick with eating healthy and get to my goal weight.
2.  Run at least one half marathon.
3.  Take a class and learn to use my camera on manual mode.
4.  Go camping (it's been so long!)
5.  Go wine tasting...preferably in the wine country.
6.  Paint pottery
7.  Throw more dinner parties.
8.  Get Mama's piano tuned and start playing again.
9.  Make my own peanut butter.
10.  Make fruit rollups from scratch.
11.  Finish sewing a piece of clothing for myself.
12.  Go on all my student ministries events, including ski trip, because it's the girls senior year.
13.  Stand by my sister as maid of honor while she gets married (blog post to come).
14.  Make an awning for the back patio.
15.  Paint the one hallway in the house...it's the only thing that's still white.
16.  Find an antique phone in a fun color for the phone nook in the said hallway.  I see to only be able to find them in black.
17.  Get settled in my new job (yeah, I haven't blogged about that) and build into relationships at work.
18.  Go the beach and not get sunburned (next week!!!).
19.  Make a fancy looking cake that actually looks good. (Maybe this one).
20.  Get my sewing room/office organized.

Goals for 2011

I don't usually do resolutions, but I decided that I do have a few goals for 2011. So here they are:

• Learn to use my camera on manual mode.  No more automatic!
• Use the envelope system for budgeting eating out, groceries and clothes shopping.
• Run at least one half marathon.
• Go to Body Pump (or do strength training) twice a week.
• Lose the last 30 pounds to get into the healthy BMI range.
• Eat healthy on a more consistent basis.
• Be "all in" for my last full calendar year with my small group girls.
• Bible study and journal consistently.

And last night at midnight I toasted to going on a date in 2011...that's not too much to ask, right? :)

Changing Colors

So...I have these great trees in front of my house. I've actually been excited about fall to see what they would look like when the leaves change color. But fall came, and they stayed green. This week they are finally changing colors and I absolutely loved it. I got home and took advantage of the last little bits of daylight yesterday to snag some pictures.

I'm going to have loads of fun raking these up this weekend!

And today's outfit:



8/30: Bulk Food & Outfit #1

So...since I've been eating healthier, I've been buying a significant amount of bulk foods from the bins at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Central Market.  The thin little plastic bags were starting to take over my pantry.  So, I stole the idea I've seen on several blogs and grabbed some canning jars.  Poured in the goods, and set them on the shelf.  It's food decoration!

And, of course, the first outfit of my 30 for 30 remix.  I feel really awkward taking pictures of myself.  And this was my first adventure with the self timer and trying to get the whole outfit in the picture, so please excuse the grill, it was the best shot that I got!

NaBloPoMo 2010

I can't believe I'm even typing this post.  But I think I'm going to do it again this year.  I'm committing to a post a day for the month of November. I've done it the last two years and have enjoyed myself...so I guess I'm going to go at it again. I am also going to try and post a picture every day.  One that I've taken.  Ideally on my camera, not my phone, because I want to practice more.  I want to become a better photographer, and I'm pretty sure practice is the best way to get there.  I'll be back Monday ready to go!

NaBloPoMo

Snow Goodness!

As I'm sure most of you know, it snowed last week in Dallas.  A LOT. I'm talking over a foot.  The kind of snow I'm only used to seeing when I'm at my parent's house.  It was intense.  And a lot of fun.  Until it started weighing down the trees and taking out power lines left and right.  Leaving our house without power for about two solid days.  It was an adventure to say the least.  I have a whole new appreciation for electricity. 

Thursday night, before the full extent of power loss had hit me, I went out and took pictures of my newly engaged friends Laura and Spencer in the snow.  I always love an excuse to play with my camera.  And they were loads of fun to take pictures of.  So, here's just a few.

Pizza & Quality Time

I spent a couple of hours last night with some of my favorite girls. We hadn't seen each other in FAR too long, so we met up at Michelle's place for some homemade pizza and catching up. Michelle, of course, came through with amazing pizza. The girl can cook. I love these girls and just how much time with them is refreshing. I am so thankful for some friendships that started our freshman year at Baylor...I can't imagine life without them!

Trip to Granbury

This weekend my sister and I ventured out to Granbury to visit our grandparents. It had been way too long since I had been out there to visit them, and I'm so glad I finally set aside a weekend for it. It's always good to get out of Dallas, and good to spend time with family. I also love that since Rebekah is in Dallas I now have company for my drives out there! While I spent a lot of time studying, I also got in a nice, long run on Saturday morning and a trip into town to a cute little fabric store. I also got a ton of sleep, I probably haven't slept that much since I had my surgery. My grandparents live on the Brazos River and it is gorgeous. I took some pictures of the beautiful scenery. Most of them didn't turn out great - I'm still learning. But I did get a couple of good ones.

Their dog Boomer. He's getting old.

PapaDub on the back porch.

View from the patio right by the river.

Love their house!

Grandma, PapaDub, and Rebekah

Practicing

I did some practicing this weekend. First, I practiced my baking skills, that hadn't been busted out in a while, to make a cake for the 7th anniversary of Natalie's 21st birthday. It was a lot of fun to make something from scratch again. And then, this afternoon, I decided to take my camera out and try to use something other than the automatic setting. It was really fun. I think I will do it more often. And maybe next time I'll get some people in the pictures!