a little r&r

Lake weekends are truly the best!  Mr. H and I took a friend to the lake and had such a fun and restful time.  Sometimes after being so busy it's nice to get away from it and be still.

While I did have to edit pictures most of Saturday I still had a great time.  It's just what I needed.  I have been getting stressed with work...it's our busy time of year so it's normal. 

Here's a little recap of what we did...

• -slept in (at least I did.  Mr. H wakes up at before 7 am most mornings!!)
• -ate yummy food
• -played skip bo
• -cooked out
• -made s'mores
• -sat outside
• -went out to breakfast
• -made homemade vanilla ice cream
• -lounged inside
• -enjoyed the view
• -had fun with Mr. H, our friend Mel and Mr.H's brother and his girlfriend

We're so blessed to be able to drive 3.5 hours to escape at the lake house and enjoy time with family and friends.  I'm going to try to hold onto this idea of being relaxed so I don't stress myself out.  

I hope YOU had a relaxing weekend too!

p.s. I never showed you my purchases from last weekend.  I still want to show you my great deals and my new brown boots to see if you approve.

Happy MONDAY!

food truck

Happy Monday.  Another weekend is over.  Mr. H and I had a VERY relaxing weekend.  It's one of the last ones we'll have for a long time.  It's about to get really busy people!!  

Have you ever been to a food truck?  I hadn't until last weekend.  Mr. H and I met up with some friends at a food park in Fort Worth.  It's such a cool idea.  It's like a food court, but out of trucks.  

Friends Mary (from Put a Ruffle On it!!!) and Melissa.

I got an amazing hamburger from Fred's Texas.  I got homemade guacamole on it.  Yummy!!

Mr. H got a grilled cheese with three pepper colby jack and BBQ pulled pork from Lee's Grilled Cheese.  It was delicious.  I of course had to take a bite (or two).  They also had grilled mac & cheese, that looked so yummy, but I neither one of us got it.  We'll have to try it next time!

If you don't know by now, I have a love for desserts!!!!  It's no surprise that I had to try a cupcake from the Red Jett Sweets truck.  I was so excited to try their new flavor for fall: Peter Pumpkin, but they sold out right before we walked up to the window.  Uggg.  

I settled for Nuts for Kentucky which was bourbon cake, carmel buttercream and rolled in candied pralines.  It was very yummy.  Mel was living on the edge and tried their other fall flavor: maple bacon.  Sounds kind of weird, right?

This was such a fun outing.  Mr. H and I will for sure be going back to try out other trucks.  It's a fun place for a casual date night or a fun evening with friends.  Maybe they'll have a pumpkin cupcake next time too.  

Have a very HAPPY Monday friends!

who doesn't love an overnight getaway!

Mr. H and I were excited about this weekend.  We decided to do a $$ date from our date jar and chose to stay at a hotel on Friday night.  There is this trendy loft hotel in Las Colinas I'd heard about so we thought we'd stay there.  The NYLO hotel was pretty cool and it was super trendy.     

Who doesn't love a mini getaway?!?!  It's nice sometimes to escape reality and spend a little time way even if it is only for one night.  We don't have a king bed so I always love when we get to stay one!

The shower was AMAZING.  I have never taken a shower with a shower head that is above.  After experiencing it, I know that we'll eventually need to upgrade to this.  There was a cool sliding door on the bathroom.

See what I mean about it being trendy!  No that little bitty couch was soooooo not comfortable.  It's more like art than anything else.  I sat down on it thinking it would be bouncy...nope!  I love the art over the couch though.  The walls were cement which was kind of cool.  

I arrived to the hotel before Mr. H so on his way over, he stopped and got us a yummy Chicago style pizza: pineapple and canadian bacon...my favorite!  It's our tradition so even though we weren't home, we still enjoyed Friday night pizza.  

Being the sweet eaters we are, I talked Mr. H into driving us around the corner to get a shake from In & Out.  I had actually never even eaten there before, but knew they had shakes.  I got a small shake and Mr. H got us an XL iced tea.  Look how huge the XL size is!!!  It almost didn't fit into our cup holder in the car.  Hahaha.  We just lounged in the hotel and watched TV.  It was a really fun date night!!  

Remember all the weddings we have this year???  We'll one sweet couple from our Bible study group is getting married September 8 (two days before our anniversary!).  Our Bible study threw them a Western themed couple's shower Saturday night.  We had a BBQ pot luck and omg it was so yummy!!  

I made this banner for them in the Western theme.  I'm all about details when it comes to parties.  No I wasn't planning on getting a new dress for the party, but I had to stop by Target to get a card and obviulosy with it being tax free weekend I had to check out the clothing section.  I found this adorable lace dress and knew I had to have it.  I was planning on wearing my cowboy boots and knew it they would go great with this dress.  Mr. H even said this was a great purchase because I looked super cute. Haha.  His words, not mine.  

Sunday is our lazy day at home, grocery store day and church time.  What a fun weekend, but they aways seem to go by so fast!!!  Why is that?  Well another Monday is here and I hope this will be a great week!!!  

Tonight, Mr. H has made us ribs and we'll be watching Bachelor Pad.  I'm pretty excited.  

fashion friday...summer sunset

Happy Friday!!  Man do I love the weekends.  They are my favorite time out of the week!

Okay ladies, today's Friday's Fancies is all about summer sunset.  These two outfits I'd wear on a date with Mr. H for a sunset dinner.  I used the colors of the sunset as my inspiration and then added some animal print for extra pizzaz.

think pink

This dress is from H&M and I think it needs to be in my closet ASAP.  I love animal print paired with pink.  This outfit would be perfect for a date night with Mr. H.  I 'm always cold in restaurants so I always make sure to carry a cardigan with me.  This one is especially cute because of the rhinestone buttons.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

mellow yellow

Like the dress from above, this top is from H&M and I think it needs to be in my closet ASAP. It comes in white and light pink so I'd have a hard time deciding on which color.  This would make a cute  outfit for a date with Mr. H out to eat or a night with friends.  I'm nil one with those Michael Kors earrings.  

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Mr. H and I have a fun night planned.  We will be having an overnight date night!!  We chose a $$ date from our date jar and I am so excited for a mini staycation!  Then, Saturday night we will be helping host a western themed couple's shower for a sweet couple from our Bible study group.  They will be getting married in September!

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend FRIENDS!

do you watch dallas?

Where do the weekends go?  Seriously, I feel like I blink and then it's Monday morning again.  Why can't the weekends go by as slow as the weeks go?  

Mr. H and I got hooked on the new show Dallas when it came back again.  Neither of us had ever watched the original, but thought we would give it a change seeing that we live in Dallas.  We actually both really got into it.  It's nice finding a show we both enjoy watching.  Usually I make Mr. H watch my girly shows.

via

Friday night is our usual pizza night and I picked up a Papa Murphy's pizza to bake at home...delicious!!  I had DVRed a bunch of Dallas episodes from the following week when they were playing a marathon leading up to the finale.  We ended up watching five episodes!!!  That's right, we had an extremely lazy Friday, but totally enjoyed it.  It was actually nice to watch them all together because then we didn't have to wait to see what happened.  Now we have to wait until January to watch it again.   

I'm so lucky to have friendships that have lasted for over 20 years!  These two girls have been lifelong friends and it was so wonderful to have brunch together with baby Neal.  Michelle (left) lives close by, but with our busy schedules we don't get to see each other very often.  Valerie (middle) is a world traveler and is in DC now while her husband is training; and then in November they are headed to Niger, Africa.  Whenever we get together, it's like time hasn't even passed.  Love you girls! 

Saturday night Mr. H and I went to an Texas Ranger's themed engagement party honoring Rachael and Daniel!  These two got engaged a few weeks ago and will be getting married in November.  Rachael is a dear friend and I couldn't be happier for her!  I'm also super excited because I'll be taking her bridals in a few months.  She's going to be one beautiful bride. 

The newlyweds Laura and Chris along with Mr. H and I  pose for a picture.  We felt awkward with the mailbox in the middle, but I wanted to get the TX Rangers balloons in it.  

These boys were all in a Bible study together and are still all great friends.  We had a great time and it was wonderful celebrating with them!  I can't wait until November and I KNOW they can't wait either!!!

Happy MONDAY!

simply lovely series {part 4}

Here we are on {part 4} of my simply lovely blog series.  I took last week off because I was pretty busy so I'm excited to continue the series today!

I've almost been married for ONE YEAR.  Wow, that's crazy.  Anyways, there are three things I've learned during this time that I think are key in any marriage (or relationship for that matter).

communication

I think it's a given that communication is important; however, the challenging part can be putting it into action.  Communication with your spouse is essential for a great marriage.  Being able to communicate well can take time.  It's important to share what is going on with each other.  It can be as simple as sharing how your day was or as complex as how you will raise your children.  

It's also important to share how you are feeling with your spouse.  I think lot of girls assume their spouse will know what's wrong, but husbands are not mind readers (as much as we would like them to be sometimes!).  

From the start of our relationship, Mr. H and I communicated was very well together.  We both care about each other and want to know how each are doing in all aspects of life: emotionally, work, family, friends, events, etc.    

friendship

Having a true friendship with your spouse is so important.  I mean once the puppy love wears off, you'll need to be able to still be friends and want to be around your spouse.  Friends have similar interests, they encourage each other, they are loyal, they listen, they offer advice, they laugh with you, they cry with you, they support your passions, and so much more.  And the best thing about being more than friends with your spouse is that you can shower your spouse with kisses!  

The best thing about being friends with your spouse is that you always have a friend with you.  That has been something Mr. H and I have loved so much about being married!  An outsider looking in might think we live a very boring life...our favorite thing to do is stay at home and watch TV or a movie together.  It's not much, but the best part is that we are together.   

laughter

This is something Mr. H and I love to do together...laugh.  We laugh with each other and a lot of times, we laugh at each other (in a loving way though!).  Being able to have fun with each other is so important.  Life can get overwhelming and it's nice to have someone who will make you laugh on days that are rough.  

Mr. H and I have the best time together be silly and laughing together.  One of the things that makes me laugh is when Mr. H makes up songs about things.  He made one up recently about me.  I think he was trying to finish it though.  I'd love to record him singing it so you all can enjoy it like I do.  I'm sure it will bring a smile to your face like it does mine. 

My life is so wonderful and I am so lucky to have an amazing husband.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect spouse.  The Lord has blessed us both!!!

Stay tuned for {part 5} coming up next week.  I'll also be counting down the days until our one year anniversary on 9.10.12 with our beautiful wedding pictures!  I can't wait!!

*All photos done by Catherine Clay Photography

awesome birthday!!!

 I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband, family and friends!  They helped make my 28th birthday so special!!!!!!  I can certainly say that I had the best birthday.

My mom helped me start my birthday by taking me out to lunch at a yummy pizza place.  We then went shopping at a cute little boutique where I got a few clothes and earrings.

Mr. H took Friday afternoon on to spend time with me on my birthday.  I had lots of gifts to open....it felt like Christmas.  

Mr. H got me that cute tote from J.Crew and lots of jewelry.  I love jewelry so that was perfect!  One of my sweet friends got me that Scentsy warmer and lemons and berries scent.  I've never had anything Scentsy so I'm excited to try it out.  My mother in law embroidered an "A" for me and framed it.  I love personalized gifts so that was perfect.  I put it up in our room already!  I also got some birthday money from my parents and several family members.  I'm soooooo blessed!!!  

Then after I had opened all my gifts...Mr. H tells me to close my eyes.  He had another surprise for me.  I opened my eyes and saw this HUGE Michael Kors bag.  He had already told me not to expect a super fancy gift, which was totally okay with me.  Needless to say, I was sort of in shock when I saw this!!

Mr. H got me my first big girl purse. Haha.  I've never had a designer bag before so I was giddy!  He did SOOOOOO GOOD!  I am in love with it.  It's a light cream so it's perfect for fall and summer plus the size is just right...not too big/not too small.  

Mr. H planned a fancy dinner at Old Hickory located in the Gaylord Texan.  I of course needed a picture of me and my new purse!!

Mr. H and I pose for a quick picture before we had one of the best dinners EVER!  Let's just say that Old Hickory will become a birthday tradition.  We each ate a filet mignon and then split olive oil and thyme whipped mashed potatoes and habanero cream corn.  Then we had carrot cake cheesecake for dessert.  Mmmmmmm.

We of course had to take a picture with the statue guy.  Mr. H was being silly pretending to be a statue too and then pretending to kiss him.  Oh Mr. H!

Saturday night we celebrated Chris and Laura's wedding!  She looked stunning and the reception was so beautiful.  I love weddings that are personalized.  You know when you leave the wedding and say...that was so "enter name."  Laura (and Chris) did an amazing job putting their wedding together.

Instead of a cake, they had mini bundt cakes and cookies.  I would describe their theme as rustic chic.  I loved all the burlap accents.

For the favor, they gave each guest an old fashioned bottle of coke with a cute picture of them and a prayer on the back.  I love all the little details at weddings.  It makes them so personal.

  

Here's one of my sweet friends Rachael and she actually got engaged just after the wedding!  I got a text at 11:24 pm saying she got engaged!!  I'm so happy for them.  They will be having a very short engagement so that will be #7 this year.  This is the year of weddings for Mr. H and I!

The groom and Mr. H are best buds.  Chris and Laura, Mr. H and I are so blessed to have you as friends.  We are so happy to walk along side you in marriage.  I pray the Lord will always be at the center of your marriage and remember to love each other daily!!  Congrats!

In addition to my birthday extravaganza and the wedding, my cousins are in town from Amarillo so we spent some time with them.  They'll be here all week and I'm excited to spend more time with them!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes on Friday!