Castlegate Fishing Tournament

Did I ever mention how much we love our neighborhood?!

I think I have quite a few times since moving back to Texas.

It's not just our little house that we love, but we love the neighbors and the community of people we have been blessed with. 

Since moving here, Nick has gotten involved with our neighborhood's HOA with menial tasks.

He's become our HOA's official flag guy (putting the neighborhood's flags up and down when they go half mast).

When he found out about the neighborhood's annual fishing tournament, he jumped at the opportunity to volunteer for it.

Apparently, the HOA was having issues trying to find volunteers to coordinate it.

Nick's an avid fisherman, and it was right up his alley to volunteer his time to make our neighborhood's fishing tournament a memorable one. 

Every Marine that Nick has ever worked under has always given me "rave reviews" on Nick's ability to coordinate and plan events.

I've been told more than one time how reliable he is, and how his quality of work really shines in everything he does.

It's never been any surprise to me, since I'm married to the guy, and I see on a daily basis the amount of effort he puts into things.

The amount of time he put into our little neighborhood's fishing tournament was insurmountable.

He put as much effort and heart into making sure it was an awesome event as he did getting a platoon of Marines ready for a deployment. 

When he took on the responsibility of being in charge of the neighborhood's fishing tournament, he was determined to make it memorable and the best one yet.

He went right to work with the budget he was given.

He coordinated the prizes, catering, and judging.

He stayed up late making plans and spent lots of his own time driving around town buying the prizes.

 The thing that I admire most about my husband, and the quality about him that attracted me to him the most was his work ethic.

He puts 200% into everything he has ever done.

This is the reason for his success in the Marine Corps.

No matter how big or small (a fishing tournament or a combat deployment), he goes into with with everything he's got. 

He does it with minimal complaining (he's human after all...he complains a little bit...lol), and a LOT of heart.

So many people came up to him today at the fishing tournament to tell him how much better it was than the year before, and how much they appreciated it.

He even had several people give him their contact information, and offered to help out next year. 

It was an absolute blast and a success.

Everyone had a great time, and there were over 100 fish caught!

We are so excited for NEXT YEAR'S fishing tournament!

We were worried about how hot it was going to be.

Afterall, it is Texas, and we have had some scorchers lately.

But the skies were overcast with a cool breeze all morning, so it was a perfect day for fishing!

The rain held off!!

And a photo totally unrelated to fishing...

This is a photo Nick snapped of us praying before dinner. 

Mattis' "praying face" is awesome!

Thanks for an awesome event Nick!

Everyone is really looking forward to it next year!!