springtime in austin

What a whirlwind March has been! Probably due to my being away from home 19 out of the 31 days of the month... I truly can't believe tomorrow is April 1.

Last week I got to visit my dear friend, Carrie. She has a beautiful home in Austin and I timed my trip just right. Smack dab in the middle of bluebonnet season.

The Texas state flower grows rampant across the state this time of year, and it is just plain beautiful. Seeing fields of wild bluebonnets always takes me back to the Springs I spent at Baylor. Awwww.

Anyway, Carrie and I have seen each other a few times over the past few years, but we decided it was time for an extended weekend together. Southwest ran some great deals on tickets, so before I knew it, I was headed to Austin.

My first night there, we ate on the deck at The Oasis on Lake Travis. We truly couldn't have asked for a more magnificent sunset as we polished off our fajitas.

We planned to drive up to Waco to have lunch on Saturday with the Cunninghams (anyone remember Dr. Cunningham - Chaplain our freshman year? Carrie and I went on a missions trip to the Ukraine with them our sophomore year and they are now our official Waco grandparents). I was also scheming about a way to surprise my sister while we were in Waco. She had no idea that I was coming to Texas.

Well, on Friday morning, my mom called to inform me that Lesley was coming to Austin that afternoon for a fashion event. After some covert calls to her roomie, I figured out where she was eating lunch and casually dropped by her booth to say hello. I don't know if I've ever pulled off such a successful surprise! She was shocked! It was hilarious.

Les and Courtney ended up sticking around for the remainder of the afternoon to hang out with us. We did a little shopping, and then ended up at my favorite Austin restaurant, the Hula Hut. It was a gorgeous evening, the food was great, and we got to eat while watching the Baylor guys dominate St. Mary's! What more could you wish for?

Saturday morning we drove up good old I-35 to Waco to spend some time with the Cunninghams. Les met us at their house where we ate lunch and watched the Lady Bears beat Tennessee. It was such a fun afternoon. An unexpected bonus came when Dr. Packard (Physics professor at Baylor) dropped by for a visit. Carrie and I couldn't believe how much he looks the same as he did ten years ago when we were in his class. So cute!

Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Packard, Mrs. Cunningham

Before leaving Waco, we made a couple of absolutely necessary and pretty nostalgic pit-stops: Common Grounds (of course), the BU bookstore (which is now humongous) and Spice. Oh, Spice, how I will always love you!

Back in Austin we got to spend a few hours with Kristin (Gill) Storer (Carrie's Tri-Delt big), and although I had the best of intentions, I completely forgot to take a picture with her. Carrie and I also got the most amazing two-hour long pedicures... which relaxed us just in time for our nerves to go haywire throughout the Baylor game later that day. Although our guys didn't make it to the Final Four (and I was soooo hoping they would so I could watch them play here in Indy), they still had a great season. So proud of the Lady Bears, who are heading to San Antonio for the Final Four this weekend. Sic 'em, girls!

What a very special weekend with a precious friend. My visit was over way too soon! Times like these make me so thankful for the blessed hope of heaven, when one day we will be able to spend eternity with those we love.

Happily, it seems as if I've brought the 75-degree Austin weather home with me. I wore flip-flops and a short sleeve shirt when I walked the dogs today! Don't know about you, but after this winter, I don't know that I've ever been more excited for springtime.

SIC 'EM!

For the first time in SIXTY years, Baylor men's bball is heading to the Elite Eight! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they've EVER made it to the Final Four.

After last night's 72-49 win, they're now just one game away from a chance to win the national championship. They play Duke (three-time champions) in Houston on Sunday afternoon.

And if they win... they're heading to Indianapolis! Our house is completely available to anyone who needs a place to stay.

Sic 'em Bears!

growing girl

Here are a few random pics of our little sweetie during the last two months. She's growing up so fast!

Annabelle has snuggled into Stryder since day one - she absolutely adores him!

Totally konked out!

My mom sent Annabelle this toy purse for Valentines Day and she LOVES it!

She's wearing the purse on her arm as she looks up at me! Ha! All girl.

Stretching on Stryder. He could care less.

liney cake

A couple of weeks ago, I got to make my very first kiddo birthday cake! Some good friends in our small group threw their newly two-year-old son a Madagascar-themed bash, and they asked if I could help with the cake.

Thank goodness my sister Lesley was in town visiting! She graciously pitched in on the project. And she was awesome! She's a fashion merchandising major hoping to do visual merchandising, so she's got a fantastic eye and sense for what looks right where. We had a blast sketching the cake out together (Ace of Cakes style) and then watching as our ideas came to life. It was seriously so much fun!

One of the hardest parts was getting the characters, especially the Lion (aka "Liney" to the birthday boy), to look just right. But in the end, I think they turned out ok. Les did the penguins and I just love those little guys.

Unfortunately, I have ZERO pictures of Les and I with our masterpiece. I am kicking myself that we didn't take one together! Oh well. We've definitely got some memories!

Along with polishing up on our decorating skills, Les and I fit some shopping, manicures, dirt-cake-eating (our FAVE) and lots of doggie time into her visit! We did so much, yet not a picture to show for it. I have got to get better about remembering to use my camera!

Side note: I have a new favorite cake recipe that I used for this cake. Kelly made it for us during our recent girls weekend and it was so yummy. Try it - you'll love it!

matt kutilek

For any of my Wichita readers, specifically anyone who went to Trinity, I wanted to post an update on Matt Kutilek.

Last September, he was deployed as a Company Commander with the Marines to Afghanistan.

On March 4, he was leading his men around a corner during a firefight when he was shot in the leg by the enemy. The injury broke his tibia, severed an artery and caused extensive muscular and vascular damage. He lost a great amount of blood, but due to God's grace and the heroic efforts of his fellow Marines, his life was spared. He was medevaced to a field hospital for surgery, and went on to two more surgeries in Afghanistan, where he received nine units of blood and eight units of plasma. On March 12, he was flown to the United States and is now in a hospital in Maryland.

His caring bridge site states that Matt is very upset to be leaving his Marines behind.

He and his family are requesting prayer for the following:

- For Matt's wife, Andrea, is pregnant with their third daughter and due in May. They have two young daughters.

- For his foot to be spared.

- For our military that is involved in combat in Afghanistan, specifically for the 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines and for their new company Commander who will replace Matt.

- Safe trips for our friends and family traveling to visit him.

- Wisdom for the doctors and nurses who are treating him.

An update that was posted on his site afternoon says that he had a fairly extensive surgery this morning. Although he has only one artery remaining in his leg, his arterial system is already working to form new collateral. The doctors are very hopeful that his foot will be spared! Praise the Lord!

girl time

Last week, I was privileged to spend a couple of days visiting my friend, Ashley, and her two sweet girls. We met at Focus and now live just a couple of hours from each other. She's pregnant with her third (a boy this time!) so I wanted to be able to spend some time with her before he arrives.

E is typically very smiley, we just didn't catch one in this picture.

I told Brian when I got home that it is always so beneficial for me to spend time with Ashley. She is one of those people who knows exactly why she does everything she does. Ask her why she has chosen a particular type of pacifier over another, and she'll tell you. Ask her why she reads one Bible translation over that one with her kids, and she'll tell you. She thinks through everything. And that sharpens me. After talking with her, I'm always motivated to be a lot more intentional, to have a reason why I do the things that I do (1 Peter 3:15).

Anyway, I've heard so much about her girls but had never been able to meet them in person yet. Ash and her husband have done an AMAZING job with them. They are huge advocates of Baby Wise and Growing Kids God's Way, and after spending some time with the girls, I can understand why. Her oldest is not even four but is the epitome of polite - everything was "Yes, Mrs. Smiff!" "Thank you, Mrs. Smiff!" And literally every time Ashley asked her to do something, even if she didn't want to do it, I heard "Yes, Mommy."

Wow.

Maybe Brian and I should start going through these studies now, before the kiddos start coming, to make sure the lessons stick. :)

We made sugar cookies one afternoon - E had never made them before, so it was a lot of fun. Especially since we got to decorate them in all girl colors!

What a blessing this sweet family is to me! Thanks for a great time, girls!

girls weekend 2010

Last weekend I got to attend my annual girls weekend with some dear friends from college. We realized that this was the SEVENTH time we have met since graduating. How is that possible?!?!?

When I got to the airport, I had to wait for a couple of hours for Meredith and Em Tall to arrive so we could carpool to Kelly's. While sitting in the baggage claim, I was thrilled to bump into my roommate for three years at Baylor, Tracey (Jones) Shepperd! She was returning from Disneyworld with her husband and their three sons. I had never met her boys before (her oldest just turned five), so it was a special blessing to be able to visit with her sweet family for a while.

I love seeing old friends in unexpected places.

This year, Kelly Evans hosted all by herself in her beautiful home in Houston. Usually two or more girls take on the job - it's quite a feat to accomplish it by oneself! She thought through every single detail. She chose the theme "I've Never" for the weekend, so our days together were filled with activities that most of us have never done.

Side note: if you are confused by all the cupcake paraphernalia floating around these pictures, it's because we call ourselves "The Cupcakes." This began many years ago when we had a camping/girl scouts kind of theme for one of our weekends - we started joking around that we should be called Troop Cupcake. And the name stuck. We like to think that we have contributed to the current cupcake craze, trend-setters that we are, since we chose the name long before cupcakes were so wildly popular!

Thursday night: Eating breakfast for dinner. We each got to create our own unique pancake flavor as we arrived to Kelly's house. What a fun way to kick the good times off! One of the highlights of every weekend is always the opening of our welcome bags together. Since the theme is kept top secret, we are always very excited to open our bags and read through our itineraries so we can finally figure out what the weekend holds!

Friday morning: Touring the Blue Bell ice cream factory. The tour of this Brenham, TX-based creamery culminated with us getting to choose any ice cream flavor that we wanted to sample. I picked Candy Jar, which is caramel ice cream with peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, peanut brittle, chunks of caramel and chocolate crisp pieces. YUM!

Friday afternoon: Self-defense lesson. Did you know that a sharpie, not mace or a taser, is the best way to take down a predator? This is just one of the many valuable tips we took away from this session. Bad guys, beware. There are now twelve more ladies in the world who are armed to attack against evil.

Friday night we went to dinner at a local wine bar with delicious food and a chic atmosphere. Nothing beats a night out with the girls!

Saturday morning: Crocheting lesson. Although I recently learned to crochet, it was good for me to get a quick refresher course from our resident expert, Meredith. We started on some cute pink and brown hats, which we plan to wear if we ever go skiing for Girls Weekend!

Saturday afternoon: Wine making and bottling. This activity was something that none of us had ever done before, and it turned out to be so much fun! There is a local shop that allows you to mix your own wine, and then bottle it, cork it and label it. We opted to choose some pre-mixed wine (since after mixing, wine takes at least 8 weeks to age properly), but we still got to sterilize and fill the bottles, cork and seal them, and then sticker each one with special labels designed with love by me. :)

Saturday night was our Awards Dinner, to which we all wore a bridesmaid dress for the second time. (Very few people have ever worn a bridesmaid dress twice, right?) Kelly's gracious aunt let us take over her house for the evening.

Before the weekend began, each of us had voted on a superlative that best represented each girl. After dinner, each girl received a delicious cupcake award for her distinctive attribute as chosen by the group. We even got to give acceptance speeches!

The awards table.

Kelly made these cupcake prizes - aren't they amazing? If you can believe it, they tasted even better than they look!

If anyone is curious, yours truly was honored to receive the "Kindest Cupcake" award, with honorable mentions for Best Smile, Most Creative, Most Beautiful and Best Behind. Ha!

After dinner, we gathered for our traditional sashes and patches picture (we add new patches for each activity that we complete).

Every time we're together, it's over way too soon! Already looking forward to next year - Alabama, here we come!

the toys are back in town

I thought my Baylor friends might be interested to see the winning act from Sing this year.... Kappa Omega Tau with The Toys Are Back In Town! It's awesome.

(I couldn't seem to find Tri Delt's - I think it's something like Under the Sea... if you happen to find it, will you pass it on to me?)

purchasing pepsi

For the first time since February 09, I picked up a 2-liter of Diet Pepsi and a bag of Baked Lays at the store last week. And I was pretty happy to do it, for more than one reason! First, Baked Lays are my favorite chips. And Pepsi is my second favorite soft drink. But more importantly, my purchases signify the end of a year-long boycott that actually worked!

PepsiCo has officially withdrawn its major financial contributions to some activist groups that Brian and I don't want to support. For anyone else who's been giving up your favorite foods along with us, your sacrifices sent a message, loud and clear!