Be Kind, & Be Courageous

Have y'all seen to new Cinderella yet?

If you haven't, that's probably why you don't get the title to this blog post.

Dannika and I watched it a few months ago on a "mommy and me" date, and she got to watch it a second time on a field trip with her Kindergarten class.

It became an instant hit with her, and when I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted, she wanted a Cinderella themed party. 

Since Dannika has a late summer birthday, we do her birthday party in early June right after school lets out.

This way, we can invite all her classmates, and it's early enough into the summer break so that her invitation doesn't get "lost" by July.

I rented a kid's party space at a local gym here (Aerofit), since her party was literally two days after an elective procedure I had done (more on that later).

I had this absolutely adorable pumpkin carriage cake made by a bakery in Navasota called "Cake My Day".

They nailed it, and they even delivered it straight to my house!

This banner was made by ME with the help of a DIY banner kit I bought from Target!

This was also made by me too!

The banner is actually chalkboard material, and also purchased from Target.

This one was purchased from The Crafty Godmother off Etsy.

 The birthday girl!

Outfit from Birthdays and Bows off Etsy.

Hair bow from Kikibows off Etsy.

I really wish I would have taken more photos of details (like her personalized water bottles), but I was feeling a little out of it, and didn't get as many photos as I would have normally taken.

I didn't even bring my nice DSLR!

These are all trusty iPhone6 photos, baby!

The look on her face is PRICELESS!

Dancing to Frozen of course on the XBox Kinects.

And as party favors for everyone...

I got these adorable custom sugar cookies made by Yummy, Delicious Cookies.

I also had pumpkin carriage cookies, but forgot to get a photo of them!

 She had such an absolute blast!

Thank you to everyone who came and made my Princess feel so special!

After the First Salute

One of the greatest things that came out of our time in New England was our AMAZING neighbors.

When they found out we were coming up, they insisted (practically begged) us to stay at their house instead of a hotel.

They didn't have to ask us twice.

Not gonna lie, it was a little weird staying across the street from our old house.

But they were such fabulous hosts, and really made our stay there so amazing.

They threw a BBQ for us on Saturday, and invited some of our old neighbors.

Emilee and her mom also came out, so that was really special too.

So thanks to our amazing former neighbors, Dan & Linda for making our time back in New England so enjoyable (even with the frigid cold temperatures...lol...but for real...it was like in the 50's at some points).

Here's a recap of our trip after 2ndLt Johnson's "first salute"!

Our first night in New England!

Wine, swordfish kabobs (made by Chef Dan), s'mores, and hanging out with these fabulous ladies of "Lanes End".

One of our favorite places to go on Sundays after church was this teeny tiny diner in Natick called "Casey's". 

It's an old railcar turned diner, and it's been around since the late 1800's.

Best New England style dogs around, and my personal fave...tuna fish sandwich with pickles, tomatoes, and mustard.

Posing in front of the newly renovated ping pong table courtesy of Nick and Dan! lol.

On Sunday, we were invited to go to Cape Cod (or "the Cape" as locals call it) to our old neighbor, Bonnie's new beach house that she bought! 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day!

This is the view from her house below...

Another gorgeous view...

AND, I'm representin' the Aggies with my "GIG 'EM" thumb all the way up in New England!

Nick and I swore we would not leave New England without eating a "lobstah roll" and some "chowdah".

If you've ever been up that way, you HAVE to have "lobstah" and "chowdah"!

I haven't had clam chowder or lobster since leaving there...

New England made me a bit of a lobster and chowder snob.

 Dippin' my toes in the Atlantic.

Picking seashells for Dannika...

Me and my handsome guy!

Linda (who we were staying with), Bonnie (owner of the beach house), and me!

I know I complained so much about New England when we lived up there.

The winters were so brutal, and it was tough for this Texas girl to adjust.

I am so thankful for such awesome friends and neighbors that kept me sane!

I swore I'd never go back when we left, but I can't say that anymore. 

I know that as long as the wonderful people we met still live there, there will be plenty more trips up north to see them (as long as it's not in the winter! haha!)

Boston & First Salute

Nick and I took a trip to Boston this past weekend (alone sans children!!!) to attend a friend's commissioning ceremony.

This is us looking happy on a plane to be 5 whole days with no kids!!

Emilee is a young lady that Nick and I met through the NROTC program in Boston when Nick was the AMOI there.

If y'all keep up with my family, you'll remember that last summer, she stayed with me while Nick was at OCS before she went to OCS herself.

She's become like a "little sister" to me (although Nick feels like she is like a daughter...lol...uhh...yeah...we're too young, Nick!).

WELLL....

This weekend, she graduated from MIT (hello, smarty pants), and she became a 2ndLt in the U.S. freaking Marine Corps!!!!!

She asked Nick to be her first salute, so we flew up there to partake in her momentous occasion.

From L to R: Emilee's grandfather (a retired Vietnam vet who swore her in), Emilee, Capt Desmond (her OSO), Emilee, SSgt Lewis (her OSA), and Nick (her first salute).

Her commissioning was held on campus at MIT where she graduated.

Really cool campus, and that cool structure in the back is pretty awesome too, right?!

Lookin' sharp!

I am so freaking proud of her, and so honored to be her friend!

The first salute...

Exchange of the silver dollar...

As tradition goes, the Officer gives a silver dollar to the enlisted person they receive their first salute from.

Congrats 2ndLt Johnson!

They Say "7" Is Lucky

Lucky number 7.

7 years of marriage on the very last day of May.
"They save the best for last...."

 

3 States.

5 different addresses.

2 special duty assignments.

2 combat deployments.

2 kids.

1 year long separation.

1 EAS out of the Corps.

1 cross country move.

1 half cross country move.

Then there's all those summers at OCS for Nick as a Sgt Instructor...

Then that one summer he decided to be an actual candidate....

Does that all even fit into 7 years?

 I feel like I've been married a LIFETIME already, and from what most military couples tell me, I'm not the only one.

With as much "life" that the military forces us to cram into such a short time,  7 years easily feels like 20 some days. 

Some days, 7 years feels like only 2....(like seriously..."where has the time gone?" type of days).

But one thing is for certain...

There isn't another man I'd rather do this life with.

Some people say that the 7th year of marriage is the toughest.

They call it the "7 year itch". 

But I'm convinced that our "7 year itch" happened during year 6.

Six was a rough year.

I transitioned out of the Corps, kinda lost my identity for a while, was forced to move to New England where I was absolutely unhappy and depressed...

Our marriage suffered....

I suffered.

But I can confidently say that year 7 has been "our year"!

+Nick was baptized!!

+We FINALLY got to leave the frozen tundra I call New England.

+We moved back to Texas, and even better, we moved BACK to my home town!

+We bought a cute house in Castlegate.

+We were blessed with some of the best neighbors we could have prayed for.

+We go on date nights every month.

+We make it a point to tell each other every once in a while how much we appreciate each other. 

It's like year 6 was God's way of giving us a year to improve ourselves and our marriage.

All the heartache, headaches, and low points were all worth it when I look at our marriage today. 

I'm confident that we will probably hit more bumps along this journey of marriage, but I am also more confident than ever that we have the tools to overcome it.  

We have Christ centered home, and we make sure we invest in our marriage first before our children.

Healthy marriage = better productive parenting. 

Happy Anniversary to my love!

Here's the year 8!

And for our anniversary this year, Nick got us a room at a bed and breakfast at our local winery (and also home to my FAVORITE pinot grigio).

He even found overnight sitters for our kids (that I trust with my own life).
We are absolutely so blessed to have such amazing, loving, caring, and selfless neighbors.
They've become one of our BEST friends, and they're the main reason I never want to move out of my house....
Thank you Greg and Kayla for opening your home to our children!

Kayla's gonna be such an amazing mom...
My kids have such high expectations from me after spending time with her!

Look how happy he was!!!!

Y'all are a GODSEND!
BEST NEIGHBOR/FRIEND/BABYSITTER AWARD!

 Our room was absolutely quaint and adorable.
We came into a bottle of chilled champagne and port wine chocolates waiting for us!

Cheers!

My handsome date.

ALL that delicious wine...
We did a cellar tour and wine tasting.
I got to taste their pinot grigio (my fave), white zinfandel, merlot, and a port wine straight out of the barrel.
I'm not a "wine connoisseur" by any means, but I do love merlot and pinot grigio.
I drink enough of it to know what I like and don't like, and I can confidently say that they both taste much smoother out of the barrel! 

We had dinner at the Vintage restaurant at the winery.
We've been here before and love their food.
I chose to have their special that day which was a pan seared red snapper on top of a bed of fennel, spinach, fingerling potatoes, and a peach pureé.
It was perfection...

The next morning we were treated to a European style breakfast and of course MIMOSAS!!!
Gorgeous chandelier that was imported from Belgium in the background!

After breakfast, Nick and I took a walk around the nature trail.

Part of the vineyards.
Absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks to my hubby for such a perfect 7 year anniversary!
Oh...and thanks for that iWatch that should be on my porch in a week!!!

woo hoo!

Gig 'em

On Saturday, Nick planned a weekend getaway for him and me at our local winery's bed and breakfast.

It was our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday!

He even found overnight sitters for our kids (thanks Greg and Kayla!)....our absolutely, insanely awesome, and wonderful neighbors.

(anniversary blog is coming tomorrow)

But before our romantic anniversary getaway, our family got an awesome private tour of the new Kyle Field!

In case y'all don't know, Kyle Field is where our beloved Fightin' Texas Aggies play football!

Thanks to an awesome friend of mine (well actually his mom) that I went to high school with, we got a really cool tour of some of the areas most people haven't even seen yet.

It's crazy because we were never friends in high school, but became Facebook acquaintances years later just because that's what you do on Facebook...you friend everyone you ever passed by the hallway in school.

Nick actually became acquaintances with him once we moved back because of his Chevelle, and they've exchanged texts and talked a few times.

He even let Nick borrow an awesome hunting rifle in the fall to go hunting.

So when he invited us on a private tour of Kyle Field with his wife and daughter led by his mom, we couldn't say no!

The campus is so peaceful when the students are all gone...

Dannika in front of Kyle Field with her "Gig 'em" thumbs.

Still under construction!

Completion date is the day before their first home game!!!!!!!

Cuttin' it close, Ags!

 Kyle Field's largest game attendance was 110,631 people when Texas A&M played Ole Miss in 2014. This is the largest football game attendance in the state of Texas and SEC history.

This is part of the new Letterman's lounge where all the former athletes at A&M get to hang out during the games.

Entrance where the footplayers come onto the field on game days!

We were giving Mattis a taste of what his future would be........

#letthebrainwashingbegin

I think it'd be a dream come true if he even sat on the bench for the Aggies. 

Our family and the Jonathan's beautiful family who arranged for us to come!

His wife is prego with their second baby!

Johnny Manziel's Heisman was not on display this past weekend, but John David Crow's was!

Afterwards, we all went out to Mad Taco to have lunch.

I had their amazing beet margarita last time we went, so this time, I tried their strawberry basil margarita....(both AMAZING!)

Thank you so much to Jonathan and his sweet mama for letting us see Kyle Field!

Thanks for aiding in our "Aggie brainwashing" of our children!

Gig 'em!