taylor and brian

23 Week Update

2012-02-11T15:12:00.000-06:00

How far along? 23 weeks

Heartbeat? Still beating strong!

Total weight gain/loss: 15 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yep, I am loving my maternity jeans and new maternity work pants. It is nice not having to worry about buttoning or zipping up your pants. However, I do worry that after I have Tyler that I will forget to zip my pants again :).

Sleep? Still sleeping through the night

Movement: All the time now! He is a kicker. It is fun to look down and see your stomach moving when he kicks.

21 Week Update

2012-01-23T20:20:00.000-06:00

How far along? 21 weeks

Heartbeat? Still beating strong! At the 20 week sonogram he was moving around so much that it was hard to get a good picture of him. This boy is crazy flexible! His feet were almost always up behind his head...crazy boy.

Total weight gain/loss: 11 pounds

Maternity clothes? I finally started wearing a few maternity shirts. My sister in law gave me an awesome maternity camisole to wear under shirts. It is great because it's nice and stretchy and LONG. I did buy my first pair of maternity jeans at H&M and ordered some work pants online from Gap. I can still wear my jeans but my work pants don't really button anymore :).

Sleep? Still sleeping through the night

Movement: I hadn't really felt him moving much the first 20 weeks and during my last sonogram the monographer explained that it was probably because of the location of the placenta. (Sorry if that is TMI) However, during work today he kicked me hard. It was so hard I could feel it on the outside of my tummy. It is such a cool feeling :). I am sitting here on the couch hoping that he kicks again so Brian can feel him.

Tanner is 2

2012-01-22T21:44:00.000-06:00

I was uploading some pictures onto our computer and realized I never blogged about T-Man's birthday. Kali and Lance sold their house in record time and had to move out a few days after Christmas. Tanner's birthday falls right after New Year's so it was nice to spend his birthday at their new house. He loves trains or as he calls them "Choo Choo's" so he had a train themed party. He was running around the house squealing with excitement as all of the family and friends arrived. Here are some of the pictures from the party.

Aunt Tay Tay loves T-Man! He's just a little distracted by all the fun.

Surprise...Grammy and IPop got Tanner a bike. They are starting the brainwashing at a VERY young age. It really is a cool bike that is made for toddlers. There are no pedals so it teaches the kids how to sit and balance on the two wheels.

Uncle Grant likes it too!

He loves his Chic-Fil-A...

and icing!

Happy 2nd Birthday T-Man!

New Years

2012-01-08T20:05:00.001-06:00

We had so much fun spending the New Year's weekend out in Jacksboro on Travis' parents ranch. We have been out to his ranch a few times and always enjoy the simplicity of it. Of course Brian likes the fact that he can shoot his gun and hunt hogs. I enjoy riding around on the "mule" and staying cozy inside the house.

Here is the nasty hog they shot while out on an early morning hunt. I was still snuggled warm in my bed when they brought this home.

Here is Brian shooting some skeet...

and this is how I watched :) Those guns are loud!

Travis in his element.

Hanging out on the dock.

Another fun part of the weekend was spending a few hours in a deer blind with the Roitsch's. Even though we didn't see any animals it was super fun catching up with them. We were probably laughing too loudly and scared away all the animals...oops!

What an amazing way to bring in the New Year!

Christmas-Part 2

2012-01-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

This year we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the Pattillo's. It is crazy to think that this time next year we will not have just one grand baby to be entertained by... but 3! The Pattillo's have a tradition (that is 65 years old) where they all come together for a "breakfast for dinner" dinner. It was fun getting to share a meal with lots of family. I think there was around 20 people at the table. After dinner we have a time of singing and reading the Christmas story. This year was particularly special because Brian's granddad (who is 89 years old) shared the amazing story of how he came to know the Lord. Here is a picture of grand mom and grad dad and their grandkids.

After everyone left we helped Jackson set out his milk and cookies for Santa, watched It's A Beautiful Life, and then went to bed. The next morning Jackson was so excited to see his stocking and kept telling us that Santa left "crumbs" on his plate.

He was so excited because Santa brought him his bat cave!

Scott got a gift wrapped in Justin Beiber wrapping paper...hilarious!

After opening all of our gifts it was nice to have an afternoon to relax and spend time with family. Its nice to have an excuse to snick in a quick nap :). We had an amazing Christmas this year and look forward to spending it with baby Tyler and baby Will next year!

Christmas-Part 1

2011-12-21T18:08:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we drove down to Temple to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. Saturday morning we spent time hanging out, playing with Tanner, and doing a lot of relaxing. I think Brian read an entire book on Saturday!

Once Poppa and Uncle Mark arrived from Dallas we had a fabulous lunch and then opened up gifts. Tanner was a big help this year and had a blast handing out the stockings and gifts.

Every time he handed out a gift he would throw up his arm and say "YAY!" Let's just say that Tanner got to unwrap most of the gifts under the tree : ). Here are some of the pictures from the weekend.

My mom got all of the boys funny boxers. Of course we had to get a picture!

Tanner got a kitchen from my parents and loved it! He played with it for the rest of the weekend and would walk around the house pouring each of us a cup of coffee (sound effects included).

Later that evening the boys played a few rounds of Blokus while I did a little bit of this...

Here is our Christmas 2011 family picture. Look at how red T-Man's hair looks!

Merry Christmas from the Bailey's, O'Neal's, and Pattillo's!

16 Week Update

2011-12-20T15:55:00.000-06:00

How far along? 16 weeks

Heartbeat? 156 which the sonographer says is great! Honestly, I think it sounds like there is a little race horse inside of me!

Total weight gain/loss: So far I haven't gained or lost any weight.

Maternity clothes? I am still wearing all of my normal clothes but after I have eaten 3 meals my jeans aren't so comfortable anymore!

Sleep? This week I pulled out the big body pillow to help me practice sleeping on my side. I am a back sleeper so I need help staying on my side all night. I am sleeping great and usually don't have to get up in the middle of the night. Brian is convinced that I will never have trouble sleeping EVER since I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime!

Movement: Not yet. The doctor said I should start to feel little flutters in the next few weeks :).

Food cravings: I haven't really craved anything yet. I am just hungry all the time!

Gender: BOY! His name is going to be Tyler Grey Pattillo. We are excited that he will have boy cousins on both sides that are all within 3 years of him. They are going to have a great time growing up together!

Labor Signs: None

What I miss: Coke and margaritas!

What I am looking forward to: A bigger baby bump! When I wake up in the morning I have a VERY small bump that probably no one else would notice. After I eat a big dinner I get really excited because my food/baby bump is much bigger :). I'll take what I can get at this point. I am proud of that bump!

Well....

2011-11-30T06:29:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving break this year and I am a little sad that it is coming to an end. This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family. Thursday morning we started off by running the Turkey Trot in downtown Dallas. We met up with my parents and walked to the starting line. I think the Turkey Trot is becoming an O'Neal family tradition. This was mine and Brian's first year to do it since we were with the Pattillo's last Thanksgiving. It is a really casual race with lots of kids, strollers, and dogs participating. Here are some pictures of us walking to the race.

After the race we headed over to Kali's house for Thanksgiving lunch followed by about 7 hours of football. We were pleased with the Cowboys performance but very sad about our Aggies loss. We had a great time hanging out with family and also took advantage of my sister's new camera lens by taking a few Christmas card pictures. :)

Tiny Prints

2011-11-24T16:26:00.000-06:00

I am really excited that Tiny Prints is offering 50 free cards this year! I absolutely LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail and look forward to browsing the websites to pick ours every year. After browsing through their website I found some really cute options for this year. Here are some of the ones I found.

Click here to link to the Tiny Prints website where they have lots more to choose from!

Celebrating Brian's Birthday

2011-11-16T20:50:00.000-06:00

Brian's birthday was way back in August but we finally got to celebrate this past weekend. Brian's grandfather used to own a sail boat in the Caribbean and ever since then Brian has loved sailing. For Brian's birthday I got us a 2 hour sail boat cruise on Lake Lewisville. I know it is far from sailing in the Caribbean but it was still pretty cool. Here are some pictures from our cruise.

2 Year Anniversary

2011-08-01T16:05:00.000-05:00

For our 2 year anniversary Brian and I took a weekend trip to Asheville, NC. Over the last few years (and mostly because of the awful Texas heat) we have come to love the mountains. Brian took a half day on Friday so we arrived in NC around 4pm. We were hoping to escape the hot temperatures but apparently we brought them with us. While we were there the temperature got up to 95 degrees! BOO! It wasn't what we were expecting but at least the scenery was beautiful!

Friday night we walked around and got settled into the place. We had dinner at Cedric's Tavern and then headed to the creamery. Saturday morning we took the shuttle over to the Biltmore house. It is the largest home in America and was finished in 1895. It has 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more. I felt like I was at a chateau in France! It is incredible.

Later that day we decided to take the car and drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is an incredible drive through the mountains with many places to pull over and get in some incredible pictures. That would have been great if our camera battery hadn't died on the drive up! The rest of the pictures of our trip were taken on my iPhone. That would have been fine if either Brian or I had the new version of the iPhone with the fancy camera and flash....well we don't! I tried my best to capture the scenery on my phone but many of the shots didn't turn out so great. Lesson learned....I will always have the camera battery charged before we head out on vacation! (Thanks to piknic.com my pictures don't look so bad!)

That is the best shot I got on the drive through the mountains.

Due to a recommendation from Noelle, we headed to The Grove Inn for dinner at the Sunset Terrace. It was a perfect night. We were seated right around sunset and got to enjoy that while eating our dinner. It was a perfect way to celebrate!

Here is a picture of the Sunset Terrace on the back side of The Grove Inn and a picture of the view from dinner.

Sunday morning we had a few hours to kill before heading back to the airport so we rented some bikes. They have lots of mountain bike trails you can explore but since we only had a few hours we just stayed on the main roads. The roads were lined with beautiful sunflowers.

I am so thankful to have met and married such an amazing man and I look forward to the many many years ahead!

Father's Heart Sponsorship Program

2011-07-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

Although it is hard to leave the kids in Zambia, it is comforting to know that we have the chance to still make a difference once we get back to America through finding sponsors for each child in our group.

The “Father’s Heart” sponsorship program allows you to personally sponsor kids that were in our group at Camp Life this year. The cost is $85 one time and $40/month. This money will provide 100% of the child’s education expenses, the expense of having a Zambian Family Legacy staff member disciple these kids on a weekly basis, and access to the Community Resource Center in their community.

To show the tangible difference this makes here are two contrasting stories of kids who were in Brian's group a few years ago, Nyambe and Jackson.

Nyambe came to Camp Life in 2007 and like most everyone in Zambia, his family is extremely poor. Unfortunately I was not able to find him a sponsor in 2007 and he has not been able to go to school since then. Nyambe trusted Christ for salvation, but because he is not sponsored, he has not received continued discipleship. He is 12 years old and works every day busting up rocks to be made into cinder blocks.

Jackson also came to Camp Life for the first time in 2007. He didn’t speak any English at that time and wasn’t doing well in school. God provided a sponsor for him, and his life couldn’t be more different. He has since skipped two grades and is number one in his class. He speaks fluent English and aspires to be an accountant. He has received continued discipleship, and his biggest prayer is that he would be able to help his younger brothers and sisters get through school.

We have no intention to motivate through guilt, we only want to share with each of you a chance to use the resources God has given you to push back the darkness in Zambia. Together, we have 14 kids that need to be sponsored. Below is a collage of the 5 kids that we think are the most vulnerable. If you are interested in learning more about these kid’s stories and the possibility of sponsoring them, please email me (tayloro84@yahoo.com) or go to the Father's Heart website.

Zambia Video

2011-07-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

Here is a short video that we made using our Zambia pictures. Enjoy!

Make sure and turn up the volume.

Meet Chamba

2011-07-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

Chamba is a sweet girl that Brian came to know in Zambia during the summer of 2008. (That summer Brian was on summer staff with Family Legacy Missions and was able to get to know a lot of kids!)

During the 5 days of camp each counselor is to meet one-on-one with each child in their group. That is the time where you find out some of the hardships that these kids deal with on a day to day basis. Here is Chamba's story.

"Her parents lived in separate places and she rarely saw her father. Two of her siblings have already passed away. Chamba’s mother practices witchcraft and gets drunk almost everyday. Unfortunately, Chamba suffers severely from a lack of hearing in both ears because her mother sprayed rat poison in both of them on a regular basis as a form of punishment for no reason. Sweet Chamba has suffered from evil, vivid nightmares as a result of losing her siblings and her mother practicing witchcraft over her."

-This was taken from the Family Legacy website

After hearing about this during camp, Family Legacy did everything they could to help this sweet girl. Brian and another girl on summer staff would visit Chamba on a daily basis for a few weeks giving her shots to help with the infection in her ears.

Here they are on one of their visits.

The summer came to an end and Brian had to come home. Brian and I were not able to go to Zambia in 2009 or 2010 and so we didn't know how Chamba was doing. The very last day of camp after all of the campers have gone the Americans take a tour of The Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is basically an orphanage that Family Legacy has built as a safe place for kids in the worst situations to come and live. The parents must give up full custody to Family Legacy.

Well as we were walking around Tree of Life Brian sees a little girl running towards him. That little girl was Chamba. Here is the rest of her story.

"Now at the Tree of Life Children’s Village, Chamba has a whole new family! She praises God for her regular medical treatment with her ears and we are all praying for a full healing on her behalf. Chamba wants to be a doctor when she grows up and is now well on her way to her dream!"

There are countless other stories of children living at the Tree of Life that have been rescued out of situations like Chamba's. When you read the statistics and get overwhelmed with the problem it is so encouraging to realize that these kids are being transformed....even if it is just one kid at a time!

Here is a picture of Chamba at the Tree of Life.

If you would like to read about the other children living at the Tree of Life click here.

The next post will be about a girl named Grace. Stay tuned!

Zambia Post #1

2011-07-13T09:57:00.002-05:00

I know we have been back for 3 weeks now and I have still not gotten around to writing about Camp Life on here. To be honest, I am finding it very hard to even know where to begin.

Instead of trying to give every detail of every day I will just tell a few of my favorite experiences and stories. Here it goes...

This year I had a group of 10 girls ranging in age from 6-11. Here are the 10 girls that I had the privilege of spending the week with at camp.

Thursday is my favorite day of camp! Every other day of camp we have the kids bused in and do camp at a conference center type place. Many of the kids have never ridden on a bus much less leave the community they live in. It is so sweet watching these kids experience so many "firsts".

Thursday is different because we get to go into the communities where these kids live. My kids were from a community called "Ngombe". They tried all week to teach me the correct way to pronounce this word....they were unsuccessful! Let's just say they laughed at me A LOT.

This year we focused on how as believers in Jesus Christ we should love and serve our neighbors. So we put these kids to work! Once we arrived in Ngombe we split up the groups of kids into different service projects. Some of the jobs were picking up trash, cleaning the community schools, painting a local clinic/police station, walking around and evangelizing. Service projects are a foreign concept to the Zambian people. There is no "serving" your neighbor. It was so fun to have my girls walk me around their community pointing out places of significance to them. Here are some pictures of the different communities that I have been to in Zambia.

Imagine walking through these communities that are littered with trash, one room mud huts, and little kids wandering around alone. It is heart breaking. It is one thing to hear these kids talk about their living situations and all of the hard issues they have to face daily but walking through it yourself makes it all very real.

One of the hardest realizations when you are in a country like Zambia is that the problem seems overwhelming. Here are a few statistics that will help you understand better.

* Half of the population of Zambia is under the age of 16

* Of the 6 million children in Zambia, more than 1 million of them are orphaned

* Average life expectancy is 38

* 86% of people live on less than $1 a day

When I would look at the kids sweet faces, it would break my heart to know the odds they are facing. Orphans are seen as a burden in these communities and usually neglected because of their status. But in all of this there is hope...

I will be posting a few of these amazing stories of hope soon!

Victoria Falls

2011-06-28T11:36:00.001-05:00

We arrived in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday, June 13th after two 10 hour flights. It was a very LONG two days of travel but we were so excited to finally be in Zambia! We went through customs and loaded a bus that would drive us 6 hours away to Livingstone where we would stay for the next 5 days. Livingstone is home to Victoria Falls which is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. It was an incredible vacation! The falls is 1,708 meters wide and is referred to by Zambian's as "the smoke that thunders".

One of our favorite things that we did was take a helicopter tour to get an ariel view of the falls. The pictures turned out amazing!

The resort we stayed in gave us access to many trails that go along the edge of the falls. The first few trails give you a beautiful view of the falls but once you cross over a small bridge the experience changes drastically. The spray from the falls is intense and we walked out soaked!

The spray is so intense in this picture that you can't even see the falls behind us.

We stayed at a resort called The Zambezi Sun that is located in a national wildlife park where zebras, monkeys, baboons, and giraffes roam freely. We met a man called Benny who had been working with the animals for years. He took us around the resort telling us about the different animals. This baby zebra was born on Christmas Day this past year.

He also took us to see a group of giraffes up close. He literally walked us to the giraffe, made some weird noises, and the giraffe bent down and allowed Benny to hold on to it's neck. Amazing!

We went on a sunset cruise and had the opportunity to relax and see the Zambezi River. It was an incredible sunset!

The last day we had the opportunity to go on the Chobi Game Safari. The first part of the safari was on a boat. We saw elephants, hippos, and crocodiles. We got so close to these animals...it was a little frightening! Here are some of the best pictures.

After a few hours on the boat we got into these really cool safari jeeps for the "on land" portion of the safari.

Here are some of the animals that we saw on the second part of the safari.

Because we were in a jeep we were able to get very close to these wild animals.

The guide told us that seeing a hippo walking that far away from the water was very odd. You can't tell from this picture but the hippo had a large gash across his shoulder where he had been wounded.

We came across this pack of lionesses that were feeding on a recent kill. We drove a little farther and came across the rest of their pack. The crazy thing was that we were probably 10 yards away from these animals and the guide had the engine turned off, no weapon for protection, and there were no doors/windows on these jeeps. It was pretty scary!

Victoria Falls was an incredible trip and we had so much fun getting to know some of the people that we would do Camp Life with the next week.

Prayers for our trip

2011-06-10T17:23:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe that it is finally here! I have run all of the errands and checked everything off my "to do" list. We are headed to Africa!

While we are gone we would truly appreciate your prayers. Here are the things that the Lord placed on our hearts while preparing for this trip:

1. God would renew our strength daily as we seek to pour ourselves out at Camp (2 Cor. 4:16)

2. The Spirit of God would speak powerfully through us instead of us relying on our own words and wisdom (1 Cor 1:17)

3. That God would enlighten the eyes of the orphan’s hearts to know and love him (Ephesians 2:18)

4. Pray against the schemes of the devil and his desire to steal kill and destroy (Ephesians 6:11-12)

5. Pray that God would give us his heart for the orphans, and that we would learn what it means when Christ said “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:15)

6. That we would connect well with our Zambian partner and be unified in vision to make disciples (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Thank you for your prayers and I look forward to posting when I get back :).

Let the Countdown Begin!

2011-05-14T18:04:00.000-05:00

As of today we have only 13 days left of school. I am the queen of count downs during the school year. We make paper chains to count down the days till Christmas break, Spring Break, and the last day of school. We began our countdown with about 55 days left and now it is down to just 13 chains left. It is crazy to think that I have almost completed my 5th year of teaching. Time sure has flown by!

There is another countdown that I am excited about...in 28 days we (me, Brian, my parents, Brian's dad, and my brother Grant) will be getting on a plane headed for Zambia, Africa. We will be working with the organization Family Legacy Missions to bring the love of Jesus Christ to orphans in Zambia. This is the same trip where Brian and I met 3 years ago and I can't wait to share that experience with our families. Every time I think about our trip I get a huge smile on my face! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! Here is just a glimpse of what I am looking forward to seeing again soon.

This is the first picture we took after meeting earlier that week.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-05-10T18:38:00.000-05:00

I shared my 27th birthday this year with Easter. I got to spend the weekend eating great food and being with friends and family. On Friday night, Brian took me out for my birthday dinner at Fireside Pies. It was amazing! Saturday we had a party with friends and family at a barbecue place in Coppell called Hard 8 BBQ. It was fun having everyone together in one place. I especially enjoyed having my two nephews there with me. Too bad they aren't the best at posing for pictures yet!

Sunday we headed over to Kali and Lance's for Easter lunch. It was fun watching Tanner run around on his Easter egg hunt.

Tanner loves to drink out of a big cup :)

One of the best parts of my birthday was getting a new computer. For a while now our old computer has a problem with the screen blacking out. It was no fun trying to work on a computer that only opened to about a 45 degree angle. This is the old way...

and here is the new...

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so special!

No Teacher Left Behind

2011-04-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

We did it! After 5 weeks of training after school, we ran a 5K! After completing the Cowtown 10K with my family, I had this desire to run in a race with my co-workers. There is something special about training for a common goal and then achieving that goal together. When I threw the idea out to my fellow teachers I was unsure on the response I would get. Boy was I surprised! Thirteen responded YES! We began by walking a 3 mile course and slowly worked our way up in difficulty. There was a group of walkers, a group of walk/runners, and a group of runners. It is so exciting seeing these ladies set goals for themselves and then watch them achieve those goals.

This morning we all met at 6:15 am at the DART station and headed down to Fair Park. The weather was a little warm but at least there was no rain. The race went great and thanks to some of the very supportive husbands, we got lots of pictures. After the race we headed to Cafe Brazil for a celebratory brunch. What a great day!

Oh, I almost forgot the most fun part ... our t-shirts. We had hot pink shirts made that said "Dartmouth Runners" on the front and "No Teacher Left Behind" on the back. We got many compliments and comments on our t-shirts this morning. They are pretty cute :).

This is what the back of our shirts looked like.

Here we are pre-race

And we're off!

About to cross the finish line!

We did it!

Rock N Roll Half Marathon

2011-04-09T13:23:00.001-05:00

The week before we ran the Cowtown 10K, Brian and I were on a run and he was telling me how he thought we should train for a half marathon. I quickly told him he was out of his mind and the subject was quickly forgotten.

I don't know what happens to your body/mind after a race but it must make you have these super human abilities because that very day we decided we were going to run in a half marathon in just 5 weeks. It is still humorous to hear people's reaction to us training/running a half marathon. I get a lot of "I remember when you hated running." "I remember when I couldn't get you to run 2 miles with me." Yes, its true. I was very against running for a VERY long time. I think my mind changed when I just started out small with running one mile. Then moved up to 1.5 and then 2 and so on. Plus a lot of encouragement from Brian helped too :).

Anyways, back to the half marathon. We had to wake up super early because the race started in downtown Dallas but they asked people to park at the finish line (Fair Park) and ride the shuttle over. When 16,000 people are trying to get to the same place at the same time, traffic is just going to be awful! Thankfully we got to the start of the race with time to spare.

We had a great group of "cheerleaders" waiting at different mile markers throughout the race. Grant was at mile 7 and the finish line, Brian's parents were at mile 8 and 11, and my parents and Tanner were at mile 9 and the finish line. Surprisingly the race was great. I started to feel tightness in my left leg around mile 12 but other than that I felt good. We kept a good pace and ran the entire way. That was my biggest goal. I didn't care how slow we ran but I wanted to say that I RAN a half marathon. We finished in 2 hours and 35 minutes. Here are some pictures of us during the run.

Mile 11

Mile 11-Quick stop for a picture

FINISHED!

Tomorrow a group of 12 teachers from my school will be running in the Big D 5K. We started training the week before Spring Break and they have come so far! It is so exciting to watch people go from only being able to walk 3 miles to running 3 miles and wanting to try a 10K. I am so proud of their accomplishments. We had some awesome t-shirt made with our motto on the back "No Teacher Left Behind!" More pictures to come later.

Cowtown 10K

2011-03-02T21:51:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I ran my 2nd 10K race. Last year Brian and I committed ourselves to training and running in the Cowtown 10K, and we did it. This year we decided to make it a family event and everyone but Grant was there. I was so proud of everyone for running every mile...all 6.2! Here are a few pictures of us at the race.

Brian and I are going to hopefully run a half marathon at the end of March. Sound crazy? I know! I am a little terrified myself.

Running the race with my family was so much fun. I thought that it would be fun to do something similar with my co-workers. So....we are going to train and run a 5K in April. I am so excited to do this with them and cant believe the response. Training starts tomorrow!

A Serious Case of Cabin Fever

2011-02-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

This has been the craziest week for most of north Texas. I have been cooped up in our apartment since Monday night and starting to think I might go crazy if this weather doesn't change soon.

I knew that there was going to be bad weather so Monday night I headed to the grocery store (along with about 500 other people) to stock up for the next few days. I had NO IDEA that the weather would get as bad as it did and now I am wishing I had bought a little more food. I thought for sure that I would be out and about by Wednesday but I was very wrong. It is Thursday afternoon and I am still at home.

They cancelled school on Tuesday and Brian's office actually closed so we got to stay home together. We cleaned the apartment, read books, watched TV, did laundry, and had fun staying in our pj's all day. But around 7 o'clock the excitement of being stuck inside had kind of worn off. School was cancelled for Wednesday but Brian had to go in at 10am. I was sad to see him go since I had no idea what I would do to entertain myself while he was at work. This gives you an idea of what my day consists of...

...drinking coffee, looking at a lot of blogs of people I have never met :) , reading, playing on my phone, and lots of tv.

Brian said it was pretty difficult driving to work especially since the parking lot at our apartment complex looks like an ice skating rink. (Praise the Lord for 4 wheel drive on Brian's SUV.) When Brian got home last night he was so nice to take me out to dinner so that I could leave the apartment and get some fresh air :). We headed to Cristina's and treated ourselves to their delicious apple pie.

Let's just say it was gone in a matter of seconds. MMMMMMmmmmmmm! I was very nervous going out and driving last night but Brian did a very good job of driving safely. Since I had not been outside in 2 days and our balcony overlooks a grassy area, I had no idea (other than what I saw on the news) how bad it was. I am not joking when I say that parking lots look like ice skating rinks. So today (Thursday) I sit at home alone, again. (You know it is bad when I WANT to go to work and would RATHER be at work than sitting at home with nothing to do. It would be a different story if I could go out and do something but I don't think the Jetta was made for ice skating rinks. If the roads are causing 18 wheelers to get stuck...I don't stand a chance.) With snow in the forecast for tonight I am thinking that there is a big possibility I will be at home again tomorrow. At least we wont have to write lesson plans for next week, we can just start back up where we left off.

I decided to take some pictures of the ice and when I tried to open our balcony door I realized that it is completely iced shut. There is even ice on the inside of the door that is keeping me from opening it. Insane!

There is the small layer of ice on the inside of the door right above the carpet.

Our porch has looked the same since about 4:30am on Tuesday. I was worried that the grilling stuff would get blown off with the 25-30 mph winds and all but I don't think those tongs are going anywhere anytime soon.

The nice frozen pond at the bottom of the stairs. Days like this are when I am VERY grateful we don't have a dog that needs to be taken out to pee. Very grateful!

Best Meal EVER!!!

2011-01-24T19:18:00.000-06:00

I know that my last post was about one of our favorites recipe but tonight's dinner was incredible and I have to share! Please know that this was not my doing, I am just good at following other people's recipes :). There is a recipe blog that I follow that converts every day recipes into healthier ones. I had recently made tortilla soup and had left over celery and carrots so I thought I would give this recipe a try. The only part of the recipe that I changed was the part where you add the cheese rind. Honestly, I didn't know what that was so I left it out and it was still incredible. One thing I would add to the recipe is a great glass of red wine.

Click here to go to the recipe blog.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Old Points: 4 • Points+: 5
Calories: 215.7 • Fat: 0.7 g • Protein: 8.7 g • Carb: 42.0 g • Fiber: 6.7 g

1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind (I didn't use this)
1 fresh rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
salt and fresh pepper
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
extra parmesan cheese to top (extra pts)

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper.Ladle soup into bowls and top with extra parmesan cheese.

!ENJOY!

A-Mazing Meal

2011-01-19T15:42:00.002-06:00

I recently found these two recipes that instantly became a favorite in our home. Whenever I find a great recipe, I have to share it. Click on the link below and let me know how they turn out.
(If you cant see the link just click right below this sentence and hopefully you will find it. I keep trying to change the link font color to black...)

Stone Soup and Cornbread

Tis the Season Part 2

2011-01-15T13:27:00.000-06:00

We headed back to Dallas a few days after Christmas to celebrate with Brian's family. We had a great lunch, exchanged gifts, and climbed in the car to begin our drive to Atlanta. Brian's dad's side of the family lives there and they try to make a trip up to visit as often as possible. Scott and Adrian decided to fly because Jackson, being a year and a half, would not enjoy the 13 hour drive. It was fun watching almost the entire first season of the show Community. (If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. The show is hilarious!)

Brian, David, and I stayed at Aunt Linda's house. We had fun hanging out with our cousins (Daniel, Andrew, and Michael) and playing their new XBox Kinect. It was so much fun battling on the dance game and playing all of the adventure games. We spent many hours in the "man cave" as they call it. Every time Brian's family goes to Atlanta they have a big game of ultimate frisbee. The last time I went up to Atlanta with Brian's family (the month before we got engaged) we played in very cold weather. This year was much warmer and therefore more enjoyable :). The boys get pretty competitive and the girls run around the middle of the field so we dont get in the way. Here is a picture of us after our game in 2008.

I wish I had more pictures to add to this post but our camera was dead and we didnt pack the charger. Just imagine all of us looking 3 years older.

They also have a tradition of a white elephant gift exchange. This year I was the lucky winner of a box of live mice. Thanks boys! That is what happens when you have a lot of boy cousins. The adults weren't to happy and quickly released them into the backyard. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and look forward to making it back to Atlanta soon!

This is the whole crew starting from the left-Jeff, Brian, Keri, Michael, me, Brian, grandad, Adrian, Jackson, Scott, Andrew, Leigh, grandmom, Linda, David, Beth, Jerry, Andrew, Ben, and Andrew.

Tis the Season Part 1

2011-01-03T11:07:00.000-06:00

Being a teacher, I am so lucky to get a nice 2 week break for Christmas. Our last day of school was Friday, December 17th but instead of getting to spend that last day with my kids, I was home with strep. I went in to the doctor Friday morning to get tested so that I could get something to help me get better fast. They gave me a penicillin shot that was awful! Apparently, it is a very thick liquid that has to be given slowly. It was the longest minute of my life. When they were done I was so dizzy and nauseous that I thought I would faint. The only positive outcome was that I was fully recovered and well by Sunday. This was not how I intended to begin my Christmas break.

Brian had to work through Thursday so we headed to Temple early on Christmas Eve. Instead of doing gifts this year, my family adopted a family that was in need. It was so fun shopping for the kids and they were so excited when we delivered the gifts on Christmas Eve. Later that evening we headed to our church's Christmas Eve service. Christmas morning we opened up some gifts that were in our stockings. Tanner definitely had the most toys! It was fun watching him squeal as he ripped the paper off the boxes.

After opening gifts it was time to get ready for our big Christmas lunch. It was a big group this year. We had our family there, Poppa, Uncle Mark, the Cunninghams, the Burchels, and the Arnolds.

What is a get together without a little game of Gestures?!

Merry Christmas from the O'Neals, the Baileys, and the Pattillos.

Happy Birthday Tanner!

2011-01-03T10:33:00.000-06:00

Today is Tanner's birthday but we had his party on Saturday (New Year's Day). Kali did a great job with decorations and the cake looked awesome!

He had so much fun opening gifts and playing with his cousins and friends that came to his party. He wasn't quite sure about his cake but I think he enjoyed it. He still likes to pick up his food with his pointer finger and thumb so he didn't get too messy. I think one of his favorite gifts was the car that my parents got him. He loved riding around in it!

Happy Birthday Tanner!

We love you so much and can't wait to see how you grow this year.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2010-11-20T18:12:00.001-06:00

In September, we took family pictures for my mom's birthday. They turned out great and I am excited to have a good picture of Brian and I for our Christmas cards. Here are some of my favorites.

Usually I am not one for endorsing things on my blog but when I can get something free...count me in! :) Shutterfly is offering 50 free holiday cards to any blogger that creates a post about the deals they are offering this holiday season. Here goes nothing...

There are two reasons why I love Christmas cards so much. First, I love catching up and seeing pictures of friends and family, especially those I haven't seen in a while. Second, I love getting mail! Last year Brian and I sent a photo card and it turned out super cute. Click on this link to see our card from last year.

Scott and Adrian (Brian's brother and wife) made a picture mug with a picture of Jackson on it. They gave it as a gift to Mimi and Pops. So cute! I don't know how many people want a picture of Brian and I on a mug. Maybe I will just make one for Brian with a picture of my face on it. He would love to take that to work! Perhaps we should save that idea for when we have kids. :)

The holiday cards and calendars have to be some of my favorite things that Shutterfly offers. I think they have some of the cutest designs out there. We were so happy with the way our card turned out last year and look forward to creating one for this year.

Send your cards our way...our fridge is looking very bare!

Happy Holidays!

A Weekend In The Woods

2010-11-09T18:40:00.000-06:00

We spent this past weekend in a small town in north Texas playing horseshoes, roping a fake cow, playing with Jackson, sitting around a campfire, and doing a lot of reading. Brian's parents rented an amazing cabin in the woods. We got there late Friday night and Brian's parents already had everything set up. Scott and Adrian had high hopes of seeing Jackson eat his first s'more over his first camp fire. His reaction was not what we were expecting. Chocolate AND marshmallow, who could resist?! Maybe next year we will have better luck.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Jackson was helping Brian rope the cow.

I wasn't quite as successful as Brian...even with the cowboy boots.

Jackson found a tractor.

Cozy around the campfire.

Jackson loves Uncle "Bri"

I am not a huge reader so when I find a good book I have to share. Brian's mom recommended this book to me and told me it was such an easy read. She was right. I read the entire book over the weekend. I highly recommend reading this book! Thanks Beth and Jerry for a fabulous weekend.

Zumba

2010-09-24T17:38:00.000-05:00

I have started up a little business on the side....teaching Zumba to my fellow teachers. I started taking Zumba classes over the summer and really enjoyed it. I learned a few routines that were posted on YouTube and led 2 classes after school this week. We had so much fun! Kali and Tanner have come both times. Tanner loves watching the ladies shake their hips. He just sits there and smiles. Who knows...maybe I missed my calling. :)

My Classroom

2010-09-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

I promised to show the "after" pictures of my classroom. Last year, I took a picture of what my room looked like right before I started my summer break. I have done a lot of work since then :). Here are the pictures.

Here is a link to what my room looked like at the end of last year.

You Hold Me Now

2010-09-14T20:54:00.000-05:00

This song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it or sing it at church. I think that is because this song creates such a longing in my soul for the day when Christ returns or chooses to bring me home. Because of sin, the world and everything in it has been fractured. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I know that I am a slave to sin and it is only through the saving grace that the Lord has given me, that I have life and meaning. This song is such a good reminder that I should keep my eyes focused on Christ.

It says in Romans 8:22-24 "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved." I encourage you to read through the lyrics and watch the video. I hope it touches you as much as it has touched me.

On that day when I see

All that You have for me

When I see You face to face

There surrounded by Your grace

All my fears swept away

In the light of your embrace

When Your love is all I need

And forever I am free

Where the streets are made of gold

In Your presence here to hold

Let these songs of heaven rise to you alone

No weeping, no hurt or pain

No suff'ring You hold me now

You hold me now

No darkness no sickening

No hiding You hold me now,

You hold me now

In this life fin'lly stand

Through my joy and my pain

Knowing there's a greater day

There's a hope that never fails

When You're name is lifted high

And forever praises last

For the glory of Your Name

I'll be livin' for the day

When the world has finally cease

All creation rest in peace

Let these songs of heaven rise to you alone

No weeping, no hurt or pain

No suff'ring You hold me now

You hold me now

No darkness no sickening

No hiding You hold me now,

You hold me now

For eternity

All my heart will give

All the glory to Your name

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

Here on earth as it is in Heaven

You Hold Me Now by Hillsong

(click for the video)

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

This weekend we celebrated Labor Day by relaxing out on Lake Palestine. My parents, Grant, Kali, Lance, Tanner, Brian, and I all headed to Tyler to join Lance's parents at their lake house. We had so much fun relaxing, swimming, reading, and wakeboarding. The weather could not have been better. The breeze was cool and it made sitting on the porch so much more enjoyable! There were many funny moments on the boat. My dad tried wakeboarding for the first time and after he figured out how to get up his biggest challenge was staying up. Let's just say his falls were NOT graceful! Kali captures some of the best moments on camera.

Grant made us all look bad!

Dad's signature fall. We laughed so hard after this one.

Lance

Kali

Brian and I on the boat.

Tanner couldn't get in the lake water so he "swam" in his little pool. He loves to splash! One of the other fun parts of the weekend was Tanner's new noise.

Thank you Bailey's for letting us spend the weekend at your lake house. We had an awesome time!

Brian's Big Day....a week late!

2010-09-06T20:40:00.000-05:00

Brian celebrated his 26th birthday on August 31st. He was really lucky to have the chance to celebrate his birthday 4 times. We went to Gloria's with my side of the family, ate quesadillas at Brian's parents house with his side of the family, celebrated with close friends at Mi Cocina, and ended the celebrations at the last pre-season Dallas Cowboys game. He was very celebrated! Here is the gang (minus one couple) from Mi Cocina.

Last Thursday night, I treated Brian to a Cowboys game. The best part of the game (other than the awesome seats) was the fact that Stephen McGee played the entire game. Brian and Stephen were friends at A&M and it was fun to see him play such a great game.

This picture was actually taken by one of my co-workers. During the game I looked at a group of people walking up the aisle and realized I recognized one of them, it was Julie, the 5th grade teacher at my school. She was sitting 4 rows in front of Brian and I....so random! Another fun part of the game was being on the "Kiss Cam". We looked up and saw our faces on the huge screen. I almost didn't recognize myself because it was so unexpected. We got a lot of text messages from people that were at the game that saw us on the screen. The best comment was from the CEO of Brian's company! :)

View from our seats

It still is crazy to think that we have been in this for just over a year. Marriage has been such a blast and we continue to be blown away by the blessing the Lord has given us. When I look at the man I am married to I am just filled with such joy because I know without a doubt that his number one desire is to pursue the Lord. It is so exciting to sit and talk about the way we want to live our lives and the things we want to do together. He has such a passion for living his life with purpose and desiring to follow full hearted after the Lord. I am so excited to see where life leads us over the next year. Happy Birthday baby! I love you :).

Winter Park vacation

2010-08-10T19:24:00.001-05:00

I don't know if I have ever looked forward to going on vacation as much as I did last week. We flew up to Winter Park, CO to spend a long weekend with my family. I was looking forward to a break from this excrutiating heat we are having in Texas! My parents rented a house for us and it was incredible. The best part was the hot tub on the back deck. :)

The boys chilling in the hot tub.

We love to play games!

This is where Brian spent each morning. It was beautiful. We did a lot of bike riding and poor Brian got stuck riding with my dad and brother on some mountain trails. Let's just say his butt was very sore the next day!

The boys: Tanner, Lance, Uncle Mark, Brian, dad, Grant, and Poppa

The girls: me, mom, and Kali (We were out numbered!)

We spent Saturday on Colorado's beautiful Grand Lake. We rented a pontoon boat and road around the lake. Tanner was a trooper on his first boat ride. My dad and uncle decided to jump into the lake and go for a short swim. I think the people on the boats around us thought that we were strange. Let's just say we laughed a lot!

After our fun outing on the lake we decided to hike up to a waterfall. Tanner was strapped onto my dad and laughed the entire way. He loved the hike!

It looks little but you had to hike down the rocks to get to this shot. Grant was scaling rocks and climbing trees. Weird! :)

T-Man loved Colorado! We had a great time relaxing and spending time with family. O'Neal family trips are always full of fun. I am looking forward to making this trip a yearly tradition.

I Do...1 Year Later

2010-07-28T08:21:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since I walked down the aisle and said "I Do". Brian and I celebrated our anniversary by staying at The Joule Hotel downtown. I had done my research and thought that The Joule looked awesome.

We checked in at 3 and headed up to the pool to check it out. I don't think I have seen so many people in such a small place...ever. It was like Spring Break Cancun! Needless to say, we skipped the pool and decided to walk to the Dallas Farmers Market. It was both of our first times and we loved it. On the way to the DFM we stumbled upon the Main Street Garden. Who knew Dallas had a place like this downtown?!

We had dinner reservations at our hotel's restaurant The Charlie Palmer. It was amazing! We both got the filet and were given complimentary cookies and dessert sampler for our anniversary.

Champagne was also given to us by the hotel staff. The Joule hooked us up! We checked out around 10 so we could make it to the 11 o'clock service at The Village. When we got to the garage, we noticed the sign that said the elevators were broken. This is Brian carrying our stuff up 4 flights of stairs. It felt like a sauna in there! The best part about it was that we only paid $2 for parking instead of the $27 the hotel charges to valet.

It is crazy to think that we have been married for a whole year. We truly have been blessed to have had a great first year. During the first year we have made so many memories. We celebrated the birth of Tanner (Kali and Lance's first baby), Jackson's 1st birthday (Adrian and Scott's first baby), took a trip to L.A. and San Diego, got rid of Brian's explorer, celebrated Grant's college graduation, ran a 10K, and competed in the Warrior Dash. These are just a few of my favorite memories. I have truly been blessed to have such an amazing husband. (I will save all the mushy stuff about Brian for his birthday at the end of August). We are so thankful to our parents for giving us such a good picture of what marriage should look like. They continue to be some of our most important role models. Looking forward to the next year of marriage.

7/26/09

Sad to see them go...

2010-07-18T14:14:00.000-05:00

The month of July is normally a happy month for me. I get to celebrate my anniversary with Brian and it is summer break...no work! However, this year two of my best friends are moving away. Noelle married JT and will be moving to Houston while he finishes law school. Leslie is moving to New York state while Justin gets his MBA. Last night we had a going away party for Leslie and Justin that was so fun. It is so sad to think that by the time August rolls around they will both be gone. I thought I would blog about some of my favorite memories with each of them.

Here we are at a casino we stopped at on our way to Destin (where it all began) :).

John Mayer Concert

Cruisin to Cozumel

Vegas Baby!

Tami's wedding

Leslie's wedding

My wedding

Noelle's wedding

Looking through all of my pictures brings back a lot of fun memories with these girls. I am sad to see them go but am excited about the new adventures in each of their lives. It better not take one of us having a baby to be together again! :) Leslie, I can't wait till you guys come back in a few years. Noelle, tell JT to find a job in Dallas when he finishes! I love you girls and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you.

Greetings from the Smoky Mountains

2010-07-13T09:59:00.002-05:00

This past weekend a good friend of mine (Noelle) got married in Bryson City, North Carolina. I had never been to North Carolina or the Smoky Mountains and I have to say it is beautiful! Leslie, Heather, and I flew into Atlanta and drove up to Bryson City. The drive took about 3 hours but it didn't feel that long because we were surrounded by incredible scenery.

We got to the Hemlock Inn and unloaded the car just in time to head to the rehearsal dinner. Here are a few pictures of the view from the Inn.

The next morning we had some hours to kill so we decided to go on a little hike through the woods. I should have known to bring bug spray or at least wear long pants because when I got back to Dallas on Sunday I had 5 huge chigger bites all over my legs. They itch SO bad!!!

The wedding was outside with the incredible view behind everyone. Noelle and her mom did a great job adding fun details to make the wedding even more special.

JT surprised Noelle with a honeymoon to Portugal. Incredible! I can't wait to see pictures. Noelle and JT will be living in Houston so that he can finish out law school. I am sad to have another friend move away but look forward to our reunions in Belton :).

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. JT Carpenter!

Brian's Turn to Post

2010-07-11T15:28:00.000-05:00

Taylor is out of town at a wedding this weekend so I found a way to break on to this site! I wanted to take a second to tell everyone how absolutely blessed I am to have Taylor as my wife. The moment I met Taylor two years ago in Africa, I was struck by how fun she is to spend time with, how easy it was to talk with her, and how deeply her love for Jesus Christ runs. Taylor has a contagious joy and is always up for an adventure. She is so much fun to live with and we have a blast even just doing daily routines. She challenges me with her perspective on the Lord. She is so faithful to get in the word every day and feed herself with truth. She is also incredibly gracious with me. Even when I am harsh, she remains respectful to me. She is everything the Bible describes as a Godly wife. She is always anxious to serve our church and to love on other people. I have the privilege of working with Taylor in the 3 year old class at church and I can already tell how good of a mom she will be. She is not perfect, but very quick to admit she is wrong. I have such high hopes for how the Lord will use our marriage and I honestly can’t imagine someone more perfect to go through life with than Taylor Pattillo!

An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels. Strength and dignity are her clothing,  and she laughs at the time to come.  She opens her mouth with wisdom,  and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.   “Many women have done excellently,  but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,  but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I love you so much babe,

--Brian

Florida Bound

2010-06-27T20:30:00.002-05:00

We had the amazing opportunity to start the summer by heading to Destin, FL to meet up with Brian's family. It was so much fun having time to relax and spend some quality time with everyone. Not only did we get to spend time with Brian's parents, brothers, Adrian, and Jackson but his family from Atlanta came too! We had not seen any of them since our wedding and even then we didn't get to spend much time together. We had fun catching up, fishing, playing volleyball, and games. I did have a slight wardrobe malfunction while playing sand volleyball. The clasp that holds my swimsuit top together is made out of plastic and decided to break during the game. Thankfully, I caught my top before it completely fell off. It was a nice "welcome to the family" moment for me! :)

Brian's grandparents were there celebrating their 80th birthday's. We all went out to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Here are some pictures from our time in Destin.

This is everyone at Logan's.

This is a picture of us and the cousins.

From left to right: Drew, Molly, Keri, Brian, Michael, Daniel, us, Andrew, and Aunt Leigh

Hopefully, we will get to return next summer!

Jackson's 1st Birthday

2010-06-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had so much fun celebrating Jackson's first birthday! He dominated the cake and got blue icing all over himself.

Adrian opened most presents because he wasn't too interested in the wrapping paper. We got him the corn popper and he loved it! I think his favorite present was a huge dump truck that Grandmom and Granddad gave him. He spent most of the afternoon pushing it around the house.

Jackson wasn't interested in posing for pictures :). He was was too distracted by all of his fun new toys. Adrian and Scott threw an awesome party! We loved celebrating with them. We love our little nephew!

Trinity Railway Express

2010-06-27T11:53:00.000-05:00

Last night we had so much fun hanging out with Nate and Jenny. We were feeling adventurous and decided to ride the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) into downtown Fort Worth. We got so excited that we jumped on the first train that showed up only to realize that we were going the wrong direction! We jumped off at the first stop and got on the correct train. We had an amazing dinner at Taverna and then headed over to The Flying Saucer. Thanks Nate and Jenny for a fun night! Let's do it again soon.

Keeping me busy...

2010-06-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

Obviously, the biggest "perk" of being a teacher is having summer's off. Many of you might find this hard to believe but it can get boring after a while. You can only run so many errands before you start spending money on things you really don't need. :)

We were lucky to start the summer off with an amazing vacation to Destin, FL with Brian's family and will end the summer with a trip to Winter Park, CO with my family. To fill some of the time in between, I offered to help paint a mural in the Kindergarten room at The Village Church. I got paired with an art teacher, Lindsey, and together we painted trees, clouds, and animals to make the room more enjoyable for the kids. I have to give all artistic credit to Lindsey though. Here are the pictures I took throughout the week.

Monday's finished product.

Tuesday's finished product.

Wednesday's finished product. Yes, we did get to use the lift to go up really high. It was so fun!

The finished product. I can't wait to come to church this weekend and see how excited the kids will be!

Brian's New Look

2010-06-16T09:49:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while, Brian's company has a "theme day" where everyone has to dress up. Yesterday's theme was "Guidos and Guidettes". All of the managers had to create their own t-shirt for the event. Here are some pictures of Brian before he left for work.

Float Trip #2

2010-06-14T08:28:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing weekend with our home group! Friday night we drove half way to New Braunfels and stayed at my parents house. The next morning we woke up early and headed down to the river.

I wish we had a waterproof camera because we had a blast on our 5 1/2 hour float. We spent a lot of the time laughing hysterically. Our float was followed with dinner The Gristmill. Our waiter told us that Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton were eating there too. Sadly, we never saw them.

Dinner was amazing!

The next morning we headed to Schlitterbahn and enjoyed a day of water rides. More than anything it was awesome spending time with our home group and getting to know each other better. Looking forward to next year's trip!

Another Year Under My Belt

2010-06-04T15:19:00.000-05:00

Today marked the end of my 4th year of teaching. This year was one of my favorites because I had the greatest group of kids. I can't wait to see how much they have grown over the summer when they come back in August.

Today I spent the day cleaning and getting my room ready for summer cleaning and hopefully painting! My walls used to be covered with blue paper but I ripped it all down so that I can start fresh next year. The paper had been there for about 8 years and I think it is time for a change. Here is a picture of my room when I left. I will have to post a picture when I have fixed it all up for next years group.

View from my classroom door

Looking at my room from the other angle

Let summer vacation begin!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! We drove to Temple on Friday night to stay with my parents and then woke up bright and early to make our drive to Boerne for Mason Finley's wedding. Brian was invited to the Groomsmen Brunch so I headed up to Fredericksburg to have lunch with one of my best college friends, Valerie. It was great catching up with her while Brian was hanging with the boys. The wedding was beautiful! We enjoyed spending time with some of our friends, Charles and Jordie.

Charles, Jordie, Me, Brian in the courtyard of the church

The next morning we woke up and headed to Gruene to float the Guadalupe River. The water was FREEZING but it was fun being with everyone. We borrowed tubes from a friend that lives there and Travis loaded up 9 tubes into the back of his truck. It only took us an hour and a half to float because the current was strong but after sitting in freezing cold water, an hour is long enough! We are headed back to float the river again this weekend with our home group. I hope the water has had time to heat up a little bit! :)

Grant Graduated!

2010-05-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend my younger brother, Grant, graduated from John Brown University in Arkansas. Brian and I had fun spending time with my whole family celebrating Grant's graduation. I am so happy that he is moving to Dallas and that I will get to see him more than a couple times a year!

My Inner Warrior

2010-05-03T17:53:00.001-05:00

Saturday Brian and I participated in the Warrior Dash (along with around 17,000 other people from the DFW area). This is how their website describes the event:

Warrior Dash is the ultimate event for thrill-seeking athletes. This running series is held on some of the nation's most demanding and unique terrain. Participants will conquer extreme obstacles and celebrate their feat with music, beer, warrior helmets and muddy shorts.

Charles, Jordie, Travis, and Whitney ran with us. It was harder than I thought (3 1/2 miles of running with obstacles all throughout) but so much fun! Here are some pictures! Looking forward to next year...maybe more friends will join us!

On our way...still clean!

Waiting in line to get hosed off...not so clean anymore

Semi clean and very cold!

dinner

2010-04-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last night I cooked what Brian calls "the fanciest meal you have ever cooked" thanks to Sherry's bday present. Sherry gave me ingredients to make this amazing pasta so I had to share!

( I dont know how to rotate so you will just have to look sideways.)

Sundried Tomatoe Pasta

1 pkg. bowtie pasta

1 jar of sundried tomatoes

1/4 c. pine nuts

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. olive oil

4 oz. feta cheese

2 T. fresh basil strips (or 1 T. dried basil)

Cook and drain bowtie pasta according to directions on package. Heat pine nuts and toast them a little in the oven. Saute garlic and olive oil for 1 or 2 minutes. Add to pasta: sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic and oil mixture, basil, and feta cheese. Stir gently, and serve with garlic bread.

26th Birthday Celebrations

2010-04-28T18:45:00.000-05:00

I had an awesome birthday week! It all started on Tuesday with dinner at PF Changs with Uncle Mark, Poppa, Kali, Lance, Tanner, Brian, and I. Kali and Lance got me a new purse and some clothes. Poppa and Mark got us tickets to Wicked and Dream Girls this summer with Dallas Summer Musicals. I can't wait! It was fun being with everyone and listening to Tanner "talk".

Brian and I celebrated on Friday night because of 2 weddings we had on Saturday. We got all dressed up and headed to dinner. (The whole evening was a surprise to me.) Brian knows how much I love a good steak, and treated me to dinner at Bob's Steak House. He also knows that I am a sucker for a nice hotel, so he had booked us a night at the W hotel downtown. It was a perfect night of good food and an awesome view!

The room was AWESOME!!

Saturday (my actual birthday) we went to see the movie Oceans by Disney and then it was time to get ready for wedding #1. We headed to Kyle and Jana's wedding at 6 and then met up with Kyle and Brittany at Casey and Ashley's wedding. Thank you Brian for making my birthday so special. I LOVE YOU!!!

Sunday I got to celebrate again with the Pattillo's. Beth cooked up a fabulous lunch for Jerry, David, Scott, Adrian, Jackson, Grandmom, Granddad, Brian, and I. I got season 1 of Glee, a massage, gift card to Yogurtland, and a running shirt. I definitely feel over celebrated. Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special. Oh, and thank you to my mom and dad (even though they couldn't be here) for the sweet card and gift. I love you guys . :)

Really Knowing Christ

2010-04-15T18:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had Brian load a bunch of Matt Chandler's old Metro sermons on my iPod so that I could listen on my way to and from work. I started listening on Monday and have loved it! I look forward to my drive because I love the passion that Matt has for Christ.
A few weeks ago, in our church home group, we went around and shared our list of things that "stir" our affections and the things that "rob" our affections for Christ. Since that night I have really been trying to incorporate some of those things into my daily routine and listening to Matt was one of them.
I think it was Tuesday when I heard Matt say something that really got me thinking. He said that if you have little to no affection for Christ it is because you probably only know what other people have told you about Him. I started to think about that and it really convicted me. I have been a believer in Christ Jesus since I was a little girl. When I hear people talk about Christ, quote scripture, and have a genuine affection for Him and living a life that is consumed with him; I am "stirred". I don't want to know just what others have said or preached about Him, I want to KNOW him! So yesterday I sat down got out my Bible and computer and started looking for reasons to memorize scripture. Here are some of the reasons I came up with: 1) to teach us about the character of Christ 2) it helps us fight temptation and sin 3) it provides comfort and counsel for others 4) helps us to accurately share with non believers 5) for the JOY of knowing Christ and walking in His truth.
So I started a list of basic scriptures that most people are familiar with so that I can start really thinking and knowing them fully. I want to be able to quote them accurately and know where to find them. Here are a few:

Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 2:8-10 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-not from yourselves, it is a gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Philippians 4: 6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prater and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

My prayer is that Christ will continue to stir up these desires that I might know Him deeply and not just know what others have taught me.

Happy Easter

2010-04-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my Example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He's coming, O glorious day!

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door,
Then He arose o'er death He had conquered;
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore!

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glories will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;
Glorious Saviour, this Jesus is mine!

1 Peter 1:3-9- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

California Love

2010-03-18T09:59:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, Brian and I decided to take a vacation together instead of buying each other gifts. Traveling is something that both of us enjoy. We quickly started thinking about a place both of us wanted to visit and after much discussion we chose southern California (LA and San Diego). Friday night we flew into LA. We were so excited when we got there that the first thing we did was drive down Hollywood and Sunset Blvd. Saturday morning we got up early so that we could spent the day out in Malibu and Santa Barbara. Driving up and down Hwy 1 was one of my favorite parts. It is incredibly beautiful!

We stopped in Malibu to have lunch at Bob Morris Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. We walked right out on the beach to our table. The weather was so nice the entire trip so we ate outside every chance we got.

After lunch we headed up to Santa Barbara. We enjoyed an afternoon of walking up and down the boardwalk and out on the pier. It was a cute town with lots of neat shops and restaurants.

Sunday morning we started our drive down the coast towards San Diego. We drove to Newport Beach to have breakfast and then followed Hwy 1 down the coast through Newport, Laguna, and then on to San Diego. Here is our stop in Laguna.

(Disclaimer: It may look like I wore the same outfit the entire trip but I promise I didnt! :) The weather was chilly along the coast but when we got to San Diego it was a lot warmer than I planned and I only brought 2 short sleeve shirts.)

When we got to San Diego we checked into our hotel. I totally lucked out on this trip by booking our hotel's through travelzoo.com. We were able to stay at incredible hotels for very cheap. Our hotel in San Diego was on an island in Mission Bay.

Something Brian quickly learned about me was just how much I LOVE hotels. I am a sucker for a nice hotel room so this trip was heaven for me! :) Monday morning we woke up and headed to the San Diego Zoo. I had no idea how big and hilly the zoo would be. I was exhausted when we were finished!

Hippo

The rest of the day we spent walking up and down Mission Beach. That night we went to dinner in La Jolla at a place called George's. It was incredible! The first available reservation they had was 8:45pm so it was hard to see much of La Jolla. We decided to go back on Tuesday morning to see it in the daytime. They have a private beach where a group seals live so we had to take a look.

It was such a relaxing trip and so much fun to spend 4 days with my husband. It is crazy to think that we have been married for 8 months next week. Time sure does fly! I love you babe!

Fort Worth Cowtown 10K

2010-02-28T15:30:00.000-06:00

Friday night I picked Brian up from work and we headed over to downtown Fort Worth to pick up our bibs for the 10K. When we made it to downtown our plan was to park, go pick up our bibs, and walk around the tent that was set up with all kinds of fun things. That plan quickly changed when we saw the massive amounts of people and cars trying to navigate all of the one way streets. Instead I dropped Brian off, circled the block a few times, picked him up, and headed out of downtown. We met up with my parents for a nice carb loaded dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Saturday morning we met my dad, Charles, and Jordie in our hotel lobby at 7am. I was quite nervous because I kept getting flash backs of middle school track and cross country meets where my coach would run beside begging and pleading with me to just pass one person so that I would not come in last place. Painful memories! (I did try to look her up on facebook to tell her of my new accomplishment...no luck!)

It was the most perfect day for a run. Charles and Jordie ran at a faster pace than me so we let them go ahead. We consistently ran 12 minute miles and to my surprise it wasnt that hard. My dad and Brian kept me company and encouraged me the whole way. It was such a great feeling to cross the finish line and be able to say that I ran a 10K without having to walk. I look forward to next years Cowtown race and maybe, just maybe, we will attempt the half marathon. :)

Valentine's Day

2010-02-19T09:03:00.002-06:00

These are the beautiful roses that are sitting in my classroom. Isnt my husband great?!

Lately...

2010-02-19T08:49:00.000-06:00

My parents were in town last weekend for their annual "Fab 5 Weekend" in Dallas so we caught up with them on Sunday at Norma's Cafe. I got to feed Tanner a bottle and loved it! Brian is probably rolling his eyes as he reads this :). I just love babies...I cant help it! This picture is so cute so I just had to share it.

Isn's he cute!? Tonight we get to babysit Jackson for the first time and I cant wait.

Next weekend is the big Cowtown 10K run. Brian and I havent been the best at training for this run because the weather has been so stinkin cold! This morning we got up at 5am and ran 3 miles. I just hope the weather stays above 32 degrees the morning of the race. I will be posting pictures of the race next weekend so that people dont just think I made it all up! Keep your fingers crossed I can finish.

Snow Day!

2010-02-12T10:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Brian and I woke up and got ready for work with no clue what awaited us outside.

When we opened the door everything was covered in white and the snow was falling hard. After trying to clear the many inches of snow off my car windows we both went to work.

When I got in my car this was my view.

My class was loving the weather so I took them outside to play in the snow. Usually I don't post pictures of my class but I thought this picture was safe. Earlier that morning our school acted out the Olympic Opening Ceremony. We were representing Italy. It was so much fun waving our Italian flags and saying "BUONGIORNO!" to everyone we saw.

When Brian got home from work we went outside to do some sledding. We have a pretty steep hill right behind our apartment building that was perfect. We first attempted to sled down in a laundry hamper but the snow was so deep that we kept getting stuck. Randomly, we found an oversized baking pan and used that instead. Here are some pictures of us playing in the snow.

Today (Friday) school was cancelled for me and Brian doesnt have to go in until 11am. We are enjoying our late morning together watching all of the stuff about the Olympics. I cant wait for tonight's opening ceremony!

Hope for Haiti Now

2010-01-24T19:52:00.000-06:00

Hope for Haiti Now was broadcasted on most major networks on Friday night. There were actors, performers, and many other famous people answering phones to raise money for Haiti. There was one performance in particular that I thought was incredible and I have found myself watching it over and over. I thought I would share it with you. Take a look.

(I don't know how to directly upload the video so here is the link.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJV_v6cwARs

Sambuca

2010-01-23T16:07:00.000-06:00

Brian and I splurged a little last night and went on a date to Sambuca in Uptown. I have to say that it was one of the best meals I have ever had. ( I had a filet and it was incredible!) It has such a fun atmosphere from the decor to the live band. I highly recommend that you check it out.

Dinner at the Pattillo's

2010-01-23T15:55:00.000-06:00

I never would have thought that I would enjoy cooking as much as I have during my short time of being a wife. Before I got married my dinner usually consisted of a bowl of cereal or if I was feeling really good maybe a bowl of spaghetti (just noodles and sauce, of course). When I got married I quickly figured out that a bowl of cereal would not cut it for my husband. I guess that is more of a "girl" meal.
Thankfully my mom cooked all the time so I quickly started requesting recipes from my favorite foods that she cooked. I thought I would share some of Brian and my favorite recipes. Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

1 pkg. Medium size corn tortillas ( I use around 8-10)

grated cheese

16 oz. Sour cream

1 can black beans

1 (4.5oz) chopped green chilies (optional)

1 can cream of chicken soup

chicken, cooked and chopped (you can even use canned chicken)

Mix soup, beans, chilies, sour cream, and chicken together. Put 2 tablespoons of the mix in each tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in a large baking dish. Pour excess filling on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or 350 degrees for 45 minutes if you have made a double recipe.

Lasagna

1 pound hamburger meat

1 small and 1 regular size can of tomato sauce (8 oz. & 15 oz.)

1 small can tomato paste (6 oz.)

3/4 t. pepper

1 t. oregano

1 small carton of small curd cottage cheese

1 package of mozzarella cheese

1 package lasagna noodles

Cook your noodles according to the directions on the package. Brown hamburger meat...season it with garlic salt while cooking (I just sprinkle some on). Drain off excess grease if any. Remove from stove.......(turn the burner down) and add the seasoning, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Simmer for 15-20 minutes on low.......long enough to blend the flavors. Pam the baking dish.

Layer...............

Lasagna noodles

Cottage cheese

Meat sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tanner Michael Bailey

2010-01-06T18:38:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was one of the longest/most exciting weekends of my life. Kali was induced on Saturday around 8am. Brian and I got to the hospital around 1:30 that afternoon but since she wasnt anywhere near having Tanner some of us decided to go to the movies to kill time. We got back around 8 and that is when we were told she was getting closer. We all waited in the waiting room until 12:30am the next day. FINALLY, Lance came and told us that Tanner had been born. He was 7lb 8 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. I am so excited and in love with that little baby that I can hardly stand it! He is such a precious gift and I cant wait to watch him grow up.

Aunt Taylor and Uncle Brian patiently waiting!

How much longer!?!?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

This holiday season has been so much fun! We spent New Years out in Jacksboro at Travis Black's ranch. It was so much fun but I was definitely out of my element. It is not every day that you see me shooting guns, wearing camo, trapping and killing hogs, and driving through the mud in the freezing cold.

Travis took us for a drive when we got there and it was so cold and snowing! The rest of the night was spent playing Blokus, Catch Phrase, and Jackson 5. The next morning we got up and all had breakfast and soon after the guns were brought out to play. I managed to get enough courage to shoot once but it didnt take long for me and some of the other girls to go back inside to get warm and watch The Biggest Loser marathon that was on tv. :)

I forgot to say that the night before (New Years Eve) while we were preparing dinner we noticed a hog outside the house. Everyone ran outside to see if they could shoot it but I stayed inside. After all, pigs are my favorite animal and Brian was worried I would be scarred for life if I saw it being shot! Here is the picture of the dead hog. YUK!

We truly enjoyed being out in the country and spending some quality time with some of our favorite people. Brian and I are looking excited to 2010...our first full year of marriage!

First Married Christmas

2009-12-28T11:30:00.000-06:00

So Brian and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple. We started our first tradition on Christmas Eve morning by waking up, making pancakes, and watching a Christmas movie. This year I got to pick so we watched Home Alone. So much fun!
This Christmas we spent with Brian's family and will continue to alternate in the years to come. My family was in Dallas this year though because my sister is due to have Tanner any day now and she cant travel. This year my family decided to adopt a family through Kali and Lance's church instead of exchanging gifts. We delivered all kinds of goodies and gifts to their house on Christmas Eve. It was fun listening to their stories of where they are from (Tanzania) and their experiences in Texas.

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Brian's family. We had breakfast for dinner, read the Christmas story, sang songs, and watched It's A Wonderful Life. We had so much fun opening gifts together and watching Jackson experience Christmas for the first time.

We love baby Jackson!!!!

Brian got a shotgun and a Stephen McGee Cowboys jersey.

After all of the gifts were opened and lunch was eaten, we headed over to my grandfathers to see my family for a few hours. My uncle bought these remote controlled helicopters and gave everyone their own. It was a huge hit! Brian still chases me around our apartment with that helicopter! Thanks a lot Mark!

We finished up the weekend with dinner at Mi Cocina with Charles, Jordie, Whitney, and Travis. We had a blast!! Cant wait to spend New Years with you guys. I hope we have just as much fun at the ranch as we did at dinner. haha

The girls

The boys

I couldnt have imagined a better first Christmas with my husband. I hope everyone else made as many fun memories as we did!

Cute Kindergarteners

2009-12-14T18:44:00.000-06:00

I was watching my class during centers today and this is what I overheard.

Girl sitting in my rocking chair: "This is how Mrs. Pattillo sits in her chair." (She proceeds to cross her legs.) "I sit like this in her chair because I am not a grown up yet." (She sits with her legs straight out.)

Too cute!

Turkey Day

2009-11-30T17:35:00.001-06:00

Brian and I had a fabulous first Thanksgiving together as a married couple. We decided to wake up and drive to Temple on Thursday morning because Brian had to work on Wednesday and to avoid the crazy traffic! We got to Temple around 8:30am...just in time to participate in our own little Turkey Trot. Oh and dont be fooled by the pictures, Grant was not in first place the whole time...he ran ahead when he saw the camera. :)

Dad, Brian, Me, Lance, and Grant

The rest of the afternoon was followed with food and football. I dont think I have ever sat and watched that many hours of football in my life! It was fun being with family though. Here are some of the pictures of the rest of the day.

The O'Neal's, Bailey's, and Pattillo's

I am most thankful for him :).

Over Thanksgiving, Brian was referred to as "ladder" by my mom because he is the go to guy if anything high up needs to be reached. He was standing on a step ladder helping put up the tree so I held on tight just in case he fell. After a few days in Temple, we headed back to Dallas to hang out with Brian's family. We had fun eating, playing with Jackson, and playing cards.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Call me crazy...

2009-11-09T21:23:00.000-06:00

Starting around early September Brian and I started running together. Around 3 weeks after we started running I got mono and the running stopped. I have been mono free for the past month and can no longer use the "mono" excuse to get out of running. We finally got back into the routine of running and actually ran 2.65 miles on Sunday. Crazy, I know! For those of you that are thinking that is nothing, you must not know me very well. My most fond memory of my running career was in middle school when my athletic coaches thought I should be on the cross country. I was so bad and hated it so much that my coach would run next to me (as I was crying) and offer to buy me dinner if I would just pass one person. How sad is that?!
All that to say, I have decided to run the Cowtown 10K on February 27, 2010 with Brian. If anyone is interested in joining us please let me know.

A Mislead Youth

2009-10-30T19:25:00.000-05:00

This being my 4th year teaching kindergarten, you would think that I have tons of cute stories to tell. The sad thing is that they are so commonplace that I forget them by the end of the week. (Sad, I know!) Now that I have a blog I have a place to share those fun stories before I forget them.
Earlier this week my class was practicing writing simple sentences. I was working through the sentence "We are at the zoo." and was asking for help from my class to spell the word "we". I called on one of my kids that is pretty smart and thought for sure the would easily be able to spell it. In the most serious face he spelled it "wii". Turns out that Nintendo is actually educational! Wow.

Then yesterday I overheard two of my kids talking about God. This is the conversation:
Girl: God is everywhere.
Boy: God lives above heaven.
Girl: No, he lives in heaven.
Me: You are right, God does live in heaven.
(Then the boy brought over a book with a map of the US, pointed to the word he saw above the US, and asked me what the name of that place is. I told him it is called Canada.)
Boy (to girl): God lives in Canada.

A Hippie Halloween

2009-10-25T18:51:00.000-05:00

We had quite a busy Saturday this weekend. My parents were in town so my mom, Kali, and I spend the afternoon running errands and helping her finish getting things for Tanner's nursery. I cant wait for him to be born! :) Brian and I went to the 5 o'clock service at The Village and it was amazing. Matt spoke about the role of men and women in marriage. I highly recommend that you listen to the podcast! Tony Romo was there as well...3rd row center. Brian noticed right when we got there and sat down and I quickly started texting people...haha! After church we headed to a wedding shower and then to our home group Halloween party. We dressed up like hippies and had a fun time hanging out and playing the game "Loaded Questions". Here are some pictures of the fun costumes.

Red Ribbon Week

2009-10-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

This week was Red Ribbon Week at the school I teach at. It is always interesting teaching 5 year olds about drugs! My favorite part about the week is that we get to wear fun things. Monday was twin day, Tuesday was Hawaiian day, Wednesday was jean day, Thursday was PJ day, and today was slipper and favorite team t-shirt day. My favorite day was Thursday because my kids had the cutest pj's! I couldnt believe that two of my girls showed up in fleece onesies...haha! There were a lot of Sponge Bob, Transformers, Superman, and Dora outfits. I wish I post pictures of their cute faces but I dont know how their parents would feel about me posting their kids pics on the internet :). The best I can do is to post a picture of their slippers.

We also competed in a door decorating contest. I was so excited that we tied for 2nd place. (Kindergarten never wins stuff like this because the kids dont come up with the theme, I do.) For the contest, our door theme was "I promise to be...DRUG FREE!" and each kid told me how he/she promises to do that. It was so cute because most kids promised to either not smoke cigarettes or not drink beer. Here is a picture of my door and some of their comments.

Dinner and the Drive-In

2009-10-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Brian and I had so much fun spending all of Saturday with our friends Travis and Whitney. We started the day off by watching the Texas/OU game while squeezing a trip to the grocery store during half time. When the game was over we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather by heading over to a park near our apartment. We threw the football around and then the boys got out the slack line. Whitney and I attempted it but werent very successful. When the slack line came untied (while the boys were on it) we decided it was time to head back to our apartment. I cooked dinner....lets just say that I have done a better job before :).

After dinner we headed to Ennis to see a double feature of Where the Wild Things Are and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at the drive in. It was so much fun pilling in the back of Travis' truck while watching the movies. I highly recommend a trip out to the drivein! Thanks Travis and Whitney, come hang out again soon.

We Got Married!

2009-10-17T12:21:00.005-05:00

We absolutely LOVED our wedding photographer (Aves Photographic Design) and are still in awe of the amazing job they did capturing every special moment. Here are a few of my favorites.

Feel free to visit their blog at http://www.avesphotographicdesign.com!

It's about time...

2009-10-16T17:50:00.004-05:00

I have wanted to start a blog for so long but Brian and I couldn't think of a "catchy" name for our blog. You probably already noticed that we gave up and went with the very original title of taylor and brian. Needless to say, I am super excited to start blogging about all of the fun and exciting things that are going on in our lives. I hope you enjoy!