Monday, November 17, 2014

Times of Love, Change, and Joy

It has been a long time since I have written a blog post, so I am not exactly sure where to start. So much has happened in life. It has been a time of major transition and change, but I have seen the Lord working in so many ways, it really has been amazing.

Since my last update I moved to Houston, spent 12 weeks student teaching, planned a wedding, married the most amazing man, went to Jamaica, landed my dream job, moved to DFW, spent a summer enjoying married life, set up a classroom, and spent 13 weeks teaching some amazing 7 year olds. 

Whew! It has been a complete whirlwind. I sometimes take a step back and think, "Wow, how has all that happened to me?!" but it has, and I am so thankful for everything. 

Times have not all been easy, trust me. With Trey being in his first semester and I being in my very first year of teaching, there are some definite times of struggle. Our apartment is rarely completely clean, my meals aren't anything gourmet, and laundry gets done when I realize Trey is on his last pair of clean socks. But we are both heathy and madly in love, so I would say that is a win. 

Here are some FAQs for those of you we don't see everyday so you can keep up-to-date with our life. 

#1 How is Trey doing in school?

He is doing great in school. It is hard and there is a lot of studying to do, but he is so ambitious and motivated to do well, and I am really proud of him. He says it is much different than undergrad in that his classes are meaningful and all have a purpose for his career. He really enjoys what he is studying, which is very helpful since he studies for about 4 hours on a good day! I am just thankful it is him and not me. Ha! He is very excited for the upcoming break in about 3 weeks where he will get a month off and plans to sit on the couch and watch the Office and spend some time with friends. I think he deserves every second of that!

#2 How is your first year of teaching going so far?

I will try to keep this brief, although it is hard to sum up 13 weeks of teaching in a few sentences, but I will do my best. It has been the most challenging but rewarding experience of my life. I am so blessed to have landed a job in one of the best school districts in DFW, Coppell ISD. I teach 2nd grade, and although I have no other experience, I would say it is the best grade! They are still so sweet and caring about me, but have some independence, which I am so thankful for! 
I have 17 kids, which is a blessing in itself.  They are the most caring, and thoughtful group of kids ever. If I drop something on the ground, I have at least 12 of them running as fast as they can to come pick up whatever it was that a dropped. They truly are an amazing bunch. Some people warned me that it isn't the students that are hard, but the parents and so far, I have not found that to be true. The parents in my class are fantastic. I have so many that are willing to help me at a moments notice, and they shower me with presents for no reason at all. It is wonderful. My class has really made my first teaching experience a great one. 
There have definitely been some challenges though. Teaching in itself is just a hard job. There is so much pressure, and such high expectations. It is a very humbling job. Just when you think you have got it down, here comes another curve ball to throw you for a loop. I have learned a lot about not putting too much pressure on myself and just taking it one day at a time. It really has been a great learning experience for me. I am thankful for it. 

All in all, I love my job. I love my kids and their parents. I love my co-workers and administration. I am truly blessed. 

#3 How is the DFW area?

So far, we really like it up here. We live in Bedford, but neither of us claim that as our "home." Trey claims Fort Worth, since he spends most of his time there with school stuff. I claim Coppell, as that is where I spend most of my time. So we really know nothing about Bedford other than a few food places and the Walmart that eats up our grocery budget every couple of weeks. However for me, I love the DFW area other than the afternoon traffic that I fight daily, but I suppose that comes with any big town, so I will just have to get used to it.  Trey rides the train to school every day. It is way less expensive than driving, and he doesn't have to worry about traffic. Lucky him. We love our apartment, it is the perfect spot for us, and we have really turned it in to our first home. We like to call it our humble abode. Also, we are like 15 minutes from the airport, door to door, so if you ever need a place to stay or a ride, we would be happy to help!

#5 Where do you go to church now?

We have just placed membership at Riverside Church of Christ. It is in Coppell, where I teach, and we love it. There is a very new, young group of Newlyweds and we have loved getting to know all those people there so much. It has been so amazing to go off on our own and settle in a new city, and choose a church family together. God has truly blessed us with this amazing church, and we can't wait to see how we can in turn serve Him there. 

#4 How is married life?

The first year of marriage will be "hard work", they say. Add in a first year teacher and husband in PT school and "hard work" is the understatement of the century. There are many nights when we do not see each other and many nights that we are both home and sitting on the same couch, but me working frantically to know the difference between fables and folktales...I mean seriously, what is the difference?? (See I told you I am learning something everyday!) Trey will be on the other side of the couch learning what bone connects to what muscle which connects to a tendon and a ligament...blah blah blah. I try my best to listen and be understanding, but most of the time I think he is speaking a foreign language. We still laugh and have fun though, which is what we are best at. We are learning a lot about each other, and I hope we never stop. Being married to Trey has been one of my most joyful experiences ever. Coming home and telling him all my crazy stories, and him telling me about the gross stuff he saw in lab, those are my favorite times of the day. I can't imagine us not being together and going through life together. It really is the best. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Beginning's End: Part 2

So I know years one and two were really great, and I know you are all thinking, "Could it get any better??" Surprisingly, it did! My junior year and first half of my senior year were just as amazing! Take a look.

Trip to St. Louis with Trey's family in the Summer 2012
Spending my 20th birthday with best friends in San Antonio!

BEGINNING OF JUNIOR YEAR!



More Aggie football with my favorite!
State fair with Michael and Brittany Fall 2012
Haunted House fun to kick off Halloween!
Pumpkin Carving!
And of course what would Halloween be if we didn't have a great costume?!
**This is my personal favorite of ours so far!**
The Aggies joined the SEC and that meant traveling to away games!
Luckily we got to combine football and visiting family! Great fun in Mississippi!
Junior E-Walk!
Celebrating our 2 year anniversary!! (Time sure does fly!)
Christmas sweater fun!
Our last weeklong to Sunny Glen!

Trip to Brenham, Texas to visit the BlueBell Factory!
Spring break ski trip round 2 with some of our greatest college friends!
Being presented my AGGIE RING by the best big brother!
Ring dunk party!
Celebrating these graduates and newlyweds! So happy for them!

Happiest day of my life! Getting engaged to the man of my dreams!!
BEGINNING OF SENIOR YEAR!!




 Football season again!!

Road trip to Ole Miss and the famous Grove

Our Monster's Inc. costumes for our last college Halloween!
My best friends who I owe most of my college memories to! Without y'all I wouldn't be who I am today.


And just like that, my college days are over. There are so many emotions I am feeling, but most of all I feel joy to have had all these memories, make all these friends, learn so much about myself. After all that's what college is for, right?! 

All glory to God for every opportunity I have been blessed with. Cannot wait to see what journey He takes me on next. I am sure I won't be disappointed. 

The Beginning's End: Part 1

I know I haven't written in a very long time and so much has happened since my last post, wedding planning, school, and lots of fun memories with friends. However, since Brittany has been begging me to start up my blog again, I decided this is the perfect time for me to write.

The past three and a half years I have been a College Station resident. I have been attending Texas A&M University, and I can honestly say these have been the best 3 and 1/2 years of my life. However, just like every college student must do, it is my time to move on. Starting on Sunday, I will be moving home to continue my education as a student teacher at Pattison Elementary in 2nd grade. I could not be more excited for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for me during my time at home. Yes it will be a big adjustment being away from friends, Trey, AFC, and everything I have known during my time in college, but I am very excited for this new journey. 

Anyways, enough with that talk. For this post, I just wanted to reminisce on some of my favorite times in college. These are the first two years, enjoy!!


My dorm room! Had a lot of great memories in this room, although it was tiny and I was tired of dorm life, I really did love that place!


First day of college! Crazy how time flies!
First Aggie football game as a student! 
First Halloween, and the very first time I met Trey. 

Our first Valentine's Day! Feb. 2011
Spring break ski trip in 2011

Scott's ring day! I was am such a proud sister!

The class of 2014 during SHINE. I love our class SO much!
Being away from friends and this guy for the whole summer was hard,
but he made it up to me on my birthday,
 and we went to the Katy Perry concert! So much fun!

BEGINNING OF SOPHOMORE YEAR!

Reunited! Our first (of many) Aggie games together!

Weekend trip! 
Halloween Round 2: NERDS!

Our 1 year anniversary! 

Sadie Hawkins with some of our best friends!
Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime and traveling to Italy for 3 months on a study abroad trip!

Traveling every weekend all over Italy with this beautiful friend!
Rubbing those lucky lion's noses became one of my favorite memories in life!
Not missing out on any Aggie traditions: "Junior Pull Out Day!"
After my time studying abroad ended, my family came over for 3 more weeks.
We had a blast on our Mediterranean Cruise! It was the trip of a lifetime!


My first two years of college were some of the best! I am immensely blessed!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My Engagement!

So as many of you may know, last weekend was the best weekend of my entire life. I had a birthday and an engagement on the same day. It was an incredible time that I am sure to never forget! 

Here is the story for anyone who is interested. 

For the past few years I have wanted to go to Longview for the Hot Air Balloon festival that just happens to fall right around my birthday. For the past few years, it hasn't worked out for various reasons, so this year I was determined! We set it at the beginning of summer that we would go to Longview for my birthday weekend and do the Hot Air Balloon activities. As the plans progressed, we decided to invite my parents. My mom grew up in Longview and hasn't been back in a while. She quickly agreed to the idea. 

As the weeks went by, I was getting more excited for the weekend. I was just so thrilled that both of our families would be together for my birthday, but boy was I in for the surprise of my life! 

After waiting and waiting, the weekend finally came, and it started with a bang! Trey picked me up and said he had a birthday surprise! He started playing a CD and I quickly realized it was a recording of him playing guitar! He recorded himself playing the guitar and singing about 15 songs. It was the sweetest thing ever. 

When we made it to Longview, Trey's mom had prepared a fabulous meal filled with lots of laughter and chatting. My parents finally made it, and when we answered the door my brother, Scott, was there! SURPRISE #1! It was so exciting! 

Saturday morning, we had breakfast and then just relaxed! We took a tour of Longview, per my mom's request to all her favorite places. She had so much fun reminiscing and we loved seeing all where she grew up! We headed back to the house for snacks and chatting, then all started getting ready for dinner. 

We piled in the car and headed to get my birthday cake. Trey's mom ordered the cake from Kern's bakery, my mom's favorite bakery growing up where she always ordered her cakes and things from! When we got there my mom suggested for everyone to get out and take a picture by the sign, which I loved. We then all headed inside to pick up the cake, which I did think was a little odd that we needed 7 people to pick up a cake, but I didn't say anything. When we walked inside Trey's mom said we were picking up a cake and they brought it to the counter. They asked if I wanted to see it and I obliged. When I opened the cake box this is what I saw:


AHHHH!!! <--That's what was going through my head! SURPRISE #2!!  I went into total shock, and just stared at the cake for like 30 seconds! Finally my brain told my body to turn around and I saw this:


It was exactly how I always imagined. Happiest moment of my life! I can't remember exactly what he said, as I was in complete shock trying to focus on not freaking out, but I do know he asked me to marry him, and that's the most important thing, right?!? I said YES! and just like that I'm engaged!! 

Here are a few more pictures:






I was so thankful both of our families were able to witness this special moment. I am absolutely elated to finally be engaged to the man of my dreams and love of my life. Can you blame me??? He is such a sweetheart and totally spoiled me this weekend!