Zumba

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

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

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

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

Me

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!

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

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

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