7 years ago today...

I was sitting in the brides room throwing up, literally. I was so nervous that I asked my brother in law to run across the street to the store and bring me back a bottle of wine! I can just see Jake trying to sneak a bottle of Sutter Home into the Baptist Church. My nerves never calmed and I walked wide-eyed all the way down the aisle shivering in my shoes. I had no idea what I was doing.

I can't say I would have done things any different. Being married to Matt the past 7 years hasn't exactly been what I thought I was signing up for, but I would sign up again-no questions. It's so crazy to think that even at 27, I had no clue what I was in for. It's easy to get so caught up in what the world perceives marriage to be. I bought into the fairy tale of love and overlooked the work part. It has been an adventure to say the least. I love to think about when Matt and were dating and how care free our lives were. I could have never imagined our lives today back then. In honor of our anniversary, here are some old school pictures of the love birds.

This picture was taken the summer of 1997. Matt and I had only been dating for a few months and he took me to Astro World. I was still in school at SFA. I will never forget when we got back to my friend's house that night, Princess Dianna was all over the news. It was the same night she died.

This was taken at Matt's house in college. I had never had a pet before and the maintenance guy at our apartment complex sold Matt this puppy and he gave it to me. All I have to say is, bad idea. Tuff ended up at Matt's parent's house one weekend and I think his mom gave him away.

Here we are standing on the slab of our first house Matt built. This was taken the summer of 2002. We had only been married a few months.

This was taken at the apartment complex I was working at when we got married. It was a really nice luxury apartment complex with a heated pool and we took advantage of the perks on the weekends!This was at a friend's wedding in 2000. We went to 4 weddings that summer!

This was at one of Matt's family reunions at Caddo Lake. I remember this year very well because it was the first family reunion that Matt and I finally got to sleep in the same bed! When we were dating I always had to sleep with one of his great aunt's who had a gas issue.

This picture was taken on a cruise in 2003. Matt won it as an incentive trip at work one year. It was 4 days out of Galveston to Cancun.

This was taken at Matt's family's farm a few Christmases ago. Pre-child birth-I can tell my face is still skinny!!

YeHaw! Here we are at the rodeo a few years back. Also pre-baby-obviously.

What a fun trip down memory lane. I had so many pictures I wanted to post but I couldn't put them all on here.

I'm so thankful everyday for the man that I married. If I had to describe my husband to someone who didn't know him, this is what I would say:

I'm in awe everyday of his commitment to God and to love and serve me through Him. He is the hardest working man I know. I can trust him always. He says what he means and means what he says and if he says he's going to do something, he does. He is honest and always looks for the best in everyone. His integrity is obvious. He's someone you would want as your best friend. He loves to hunt but would give it up to spend a day with his daughter laying around the house. He's never a dull moment. His wit and charm would knock you dead. He's smarter than he would ever lead on. He's humble. He can tell someone they're wrong in a way that would make them want to come over for dinner afterward...seriously. He can fix anything from a car to a frown on your face. He's a student of life and never quits wanting to learn. He's my number one fan and holds the key to my heart.

Happy Anniversary babe.

Love,
Your Wife

MHR Friday-Valentines Edition

Today's post comes from an article Katy Lin posted on her blog. I read it and was convicted instantly! These 10 Secrets to a Successful Marriage are so right! I tried to pick just one to talk about, but I could not decide. I want to talk about how a few of them have affected my marriage.

5. Change your mind, Change your marriage
How couples think and what they believe about their spouse affects how they perceive the other. What they expect and how they treat their spouse matters greatly.

I can't tell you how much I've learned by this. Marriage is definitely a place where you can become selfish and self absorbed. It's easy to think about only what you want and your own feelings. It takes a mature couple to realize they aren't the only one in this. Simply changing your mind about how you feel makes a huge difference. Matt used to always tell me "don't be bothered by that" or "don't let that hurt your feelings". It would always be something trivial and I would get worked up about it and start an argument that left us both wounded. Learning to simply change my mind about the way I let things effect me and the way I felt about Matt in those times changes my marriage dramatically.

6. The grass is greener where you water it
Successful couples have learned to resist the grass is greener myth – i.e. someone else will make me happy. They have learned to put their energy into making themselves and their marriage better.

Oh how I love this one! I learned the hard way what it meant to nurture your marriage. I think the easy way out of a marriage is divorce. The hard part is staying in there and making it. I think some couples believe that if they just had ______, their marriage would be so much better. Whether it be another person or a worldly possession, it's not the truth. Any thing that is hindering you to have a good marriage now, will carry on with you into your next relationship. In order to have a marriage like God intended for us to have, we have to continually nurture the relationship we have with our spouse. Feeding our lives with God's word and surrounding ourselves with godly examples of marriages changed our outlook on our own relationship.

8.Love is a verb, not just a feeling.
Everyday life wears away the "feel good side of marriage." Feelings, like happiness, will fluctuate. But, real love is based on a couple's vows of commitment: "For better or for worse" – when it feels good and when it doesn't.

This is one for Matt. I have to brag on him because this is something he tried to get me to understand for so long. I believe this world over uses the words "I love you". We've heard before the way people can water down this by saying they LOVE _____. (cheeseburgers, race cars, etc). Matt has always said that love has more to do with what you do than what you say. The feelings from the first date eventually go away. The butterflies fly away and the goo goo gaa gaa of love disappears. What remains is the true love that involves work and effort in the yucky times. Matt is excellent and showing me love everyday. He knows my love language and does his best to love in that way. He is usually first to apologize and the last to pick a fight. He sleeps with no covers most of the night, and never says a thing. He fixes breakfast for no special reason, cleans up without me asking, and always asks "what can I do for you today". I can't say enough about how Matt shows his love to me everyday.

This is one thing I need to be better at. I'm one of those who loves to do sweet things for my hubby when life is good, but when life gets bad, forget it! I need to try harder to change my mind and make the choice to show Matt love no matter the circumstance. That is a huge challenge for me, but this week- I'll take that challenge.

You can read the complete list here. Although I had heard many of these before, today they took on a new meaning to me.

These are the cutest shirts! I bought one for Sarabeth, me and Matt. You can get yours here!
You also get free shipping if you mention the Great Adventure Blog with your order. The girl who started the idea of MHR (not the blog) owns this tshirt company. She lives in Humble is an amazing girl with a great marriage story. You can check her story about why she started MHR here.

MHR Friday

Here are Katy Lin's prompts/themes for MHR Friday this week: I picked #1 and #2.

Prompt/Theme for Friday, February 6, 2009 We have a couple of different options for this week: 1. Tell us about some of the things that you and your husband do to just have fun together!

2. Tell the story of a memory about your husband that brings you a smile and a giggle every time you think about it!

3. Give us your best, most creative Valentine's Day gifts (and yes, this one is a shameless way to use your creativity to help me come up with a Valentine's Day gift, lol!) Challenges: ~ Set an appointment with your hubby to have a "goals and dreams" talk as described in the first article. ~ If you already know some of your husbands goals and dreams, be intentional about encouraging him and helping him to reach them.

So...this week was a tough week for us (more on that in another post). There was a lot of tension and silent moments. Last night we decided Matt would make dinner, actually I decided and he agreed. After dinner I offered to make homemade chocolate chip cookies, only because I wanted one! Matt said he wanted to try his hand at making cookies so we ended up making them together. It was so much fun! We don't get together in the kitchen much but this time was really fun and it kind of broke the tension in the air.

Some of the other things we do to have fun is lay around in the floor and listen to music. This started in college and still today we'll put on some music and lay around in the floor and sing along and reminisce.

Most of you that know my husband personally, know how funny he can be. I've posted about his silliness before. Feel free to revisit some of the things we still laugh about till our stomach hurts!

My challenge this week is to have a goals weekend with Matt. We already talked about it earlier this week. We are planning a weekend soon where we can get away and just refocus and set some goals for ourselves as a couple and individually.

I am really enjoying posting about Matt every Friday. It's become something I look forward to and it makes me really see how much he does for me. Even in the bad times, I can find something good about my man! You Rock Babe!

MHR Friday

The moment I knew I would marry the man I call my husband...

I have to say that I entered my marriage without a clue on how I got there. The beginning of my marriage was not the storybook romance most would think about. Matt and I dated for 5 years before we married. We argued a lot and broke up several times...probably an early sign we weren't ready! Matt was the guy every girl wanted. He was handsome, smart, athletic and came from an awesome family-something I always wanted. There wasn't a particular time where I just KNEW I was going to marry him, oh but I hoped and prayed that I would be the girl that would.

I remember one day (after we were married) sitting on the couch with Matt. It had been a really rough year for us and it was only the beginning. I was carrying a ton of guilt from my past and just didn't feel like I deserved such a great husband. I was sobbing and my heart was so torn up inside. Matt sat down next to me on the couch and held my hand. He asked me this "April, do you think there is anything that you could ever do to make God stop loving you?" Of course I knew the answer and said "No." Matt then added this "Then why in the world would you think there is anything that you could do to make me stop loving you either? God calls me to love you as He loves the church."

It was then I knew that I had married the man God had intended for me. Matt loves me in that way. He is always gentle with me, patient, understanding, and stands by me no matter what. Our marriage has seen the darkest of days, but we have pulled through like CHAMPS! I am grateful for Matt and the calling on his heart to love me like Christ.

The challenge for the week is this:

1. Be patient. As the Love Dare book puts it “Resolve to say nothing negative to your spouse.” Our words have the power to build up or tear down in an instant, and unfortunately the destructive possibility is much easier, and quicker than the re-constructive. Let’s be very careful with the things we say to our spouses this week (well, always, but we’ll really focus on it this week).

2. See the movie Fireproof! I have not seen it yet but Matt and I will be making a date night this week to see it, can't wait!

MHR Friday!

I decided to use Katy Lin's prompt for MHR Friday this week. Check out her website and be a part of sharing how your husband rocks!

Tell us about a time that your spouse went out of his way to serve you, and love you sacrificially.

Matt honestly goes out of his way to serve me all the time, it's just in his nature. He knows I am an "acts of service" person and he tries really hard to serve me in that way. I don't remember the occasion but one morning after Matt woke up and got ready for the day, he decided to quietly slip out and take Sarabeth with him, leaving me to sleep in and enjoy the morning in peace and quiet. I'm not sure if has any idea how much that meant to me. I am not a morning person and after I had Sarabeth I just knew I would never sleep in again. Other ways Matt serves me is by going out of his way to clean the house. I made a comment one time about how it would be so nice if the toys just picked them selves up! The next morning when I woke up, they did! Thank you hubby!

Katy Lin also issued a challenge for us wives and I have decided to take it on. Here it is:

"Your mission, if you choose to accept it, has two parts. First, look for ways that you can serve your husband. These can be big or small, sometimes the things that seem so insignificant to us can make a big difference in making our husbands feel loved and respected. And second, if your husband asks you to do something for him, even if it seems silly, or like he could easily do it for himself, do it cheerfully and without an attitude of annoyance."

OK ladies, let's try this one out. I promise, you have no idea how these things bless our husbands. God has so specifically wired our men to thrive on us being their cheerleaders in life. Go the extra mile this week and show your man how much you think he ROCKS!

MHR Friday

What better way to start the year than to brag a little on my hubby.

Today I asked Matt what he had planned for the day and he said "I'm just going to help you all day, whatever you need help with." Sweet! He cleaned the kitchen, and I mean he CLEANED it, I walked in and he was scrubbing the tops of the gas range. He had the whole thing apart cleaning every little piece. I can say I have NEVER done that! He has been really sweet the past few days, spending a lot of quality time with Sarabeth and me. We are trying to take advantage of the extra free time he has right now until he starts working again. Matt was let go from his job on Tuesday this week. We kind of knew before the holidays that there may be a small chance his company would be doing some downsizing before the first of the year, but we weren't sure that Matt would be part of that. It came as a surprise to me, but not to him. He sat me down at the kitchen table (the day after he found out) and I guessed what we were about to discuss. I took it well, as did he. We both feel like this is an opportunity for us to grow into our own business now. Matt has been preparing to start his own company for some time. He feels good about where God has him.

The most exciting thing about this whole situation is the way Matt reacted to the news, and the way we handled it as a couple. We have been in this situation before, however our marriage was in disarray. I remember how awful we both felt and how desperate we became, and we both continued to fall apart along with our relationship.

This time, we just relaxed knowing full well God had us safely in his hands. Life is so much different when you have a real relationship with the one that created you. We've worked as a team over the past few days, just brainstorming about how to adjust our lifestyle and what our next steps are. Matt is so reassuring to me. He knows my natural need to feel safe and secure and he stops at nothing to assure me, we will be fine.

Thank you Matt for working so hard at any task you have in front of you, whether it be a 12 hour day at work, a 5 minute talk to ease my mind, or a prayer to calm my spirit and protect our family. You are everything and more to me. You more than Rock!

MHR Friday

There is really no particular reason why I'm posting today for MHR. Matt does so many things for me and is an amazing husband everyday. Sometimes I am always waiting for him to do something "big" that just knocks my socks off when it's really the little things that make him ROCK. For instance, I had steroid injections in my neck and back yesterday. Not a fun experience, even with the anesthesia. Matt was so sweet when he called on his way home and asked if he could pick up dinner. I had already made plans for us to eat left overs but I stopped and thought about how he was thinking ahead, knowing what I had been through that day already.

I pray that I will continue to notice the little things that Matt does for me and our family. He truly loves us in ways that we don't even see. I love you babe. Happy MHR day!

My Husband Rocks-Early Edition

I know I completely jumped over Thanksgiving pictures and MHR from last week but I have to brag on my man. If you know Matt then you know he has a big heart. He is always willing to help, the problem is, he rarely has the time. When I say he is a busy man, that's a total understatement! The last few months have been painfully hard trying to schedule some time with him when he's not working on something. So, when he did all of this on Sunday for ME, whoa! I was completely surprised and impressed to say the least!! Here's a taste of what my cool husband did this weekend:

First on the list, new cabinets for my office/craft room. I have been complaining about how crowded everything is in our home and that we need more space so....Matt to the rescue! He surprised me on Friday night with these cabinets (trash from his job site) and he even hung them and added the trim. They compliment my free desk perfectly!

Next on the agenda, a bracket for my window mistreatment (more on that in a later blog)
Not only did he make me a bracket, he actually hung my curtain with a pleat! What a pro!

Daddy's Little Helper

If all this wasn't enough, he built me a mantle. We don't have a fireplace this year and I was distraught on where to hang our stockings. When I approached Matt with my problem he quickly came to the rescue without saying a word. Then on Sunday afternoon, Viola! I won't post pictures, because it's not painted yet but it is fabulous! He also made Sarabeth a shelf for her room that is in line waiting to be painted.

I was overwhelmed with the effort Matt put into speaking my love language this weekend. He really went above and beyond. I'm so happy to be married to a man that knows how to love me and wants to show me in ways that I can understand it. Thank you Matt for all you do for our family, but mostly thank you for loving me the way God intended. You are my rock.

MHR Friday

Wow, the week has flown by! I have been thinking a lot this week about how much Matt does for our family. I don't always put myself in his shoes and try to imagine what it's like to carry the burden of providing for my family. Matt graciously gives his all to work and then comes home and gives 100% to us. He can't wait to get home and play in the floor with Sarabeth. The other night he said after playing with her for over an hour "man I really needed that!" Family time with her is like breathing, he has to have it to live. I love that about him.

This week in my MOMS group at church, we were talking about creating a home environment that our husbands desire to come home to. It's not about the decorating and furniture placement but more about creating a soft place to fall. Matt works so hard and then comes home and I bombard him with the craziness that happened with us that day. He always listens, although I think sometimes he would rather just come home to silence. Matt rarely complains about how our household is run, chaotic or not. I love that he is a man easy to please and easy to love.

MHR Friday

He's so special he gets two MHR entries this week! Matt is such a wonderful husband and also my best friend. Here lately he has been getting home from work so late and it has started to irratate me some. By Wednesday of this week I was so done with it all that we had a little disagreement on the phone that ended abruptly when I hung up on him. Not the wisest thing to do, especailly to him because he HATES that more than anything! So I just knew when he got home, it was on. About 9:00 pm I get a text from him asking me what kind of treat he could get for me at the store b/c I deserved one. ??? What, are you kidding me? That's exactly what I texted back to him. He said he wanted to bring me home something special because he loved me. Ok, guilt trip please! I said I didn't want anything so he said ok, surprise it is! A few minutes later he walked through the door with a box of Blue Bell Ice Cream Sandwiches....one of my favorite treats. What a man! Nothing else was ever said and I was thankful. I do still owe him an apology. Honey, I feel so bad for hanging up on you. Please forgive me? You Rock!

My Husband Rocks-Friday...on Sunday

Ok, I'm super guilty for not keeping up with my MHR posts. I was so reminded by my sweet hubby tonight that I must have forgotten that he Rocks. I didn't forget, I just haven't made the time to sit down and talk about it. SO, I'm making the time now-guilt or no guilt.

My back has been hurting for a while now and I have been seeing a chiropractor and a Physical Therapist for the past few months. So far, no improvement. So I talked to Matt about getting a new bed and he suggested just swamping out the one we have with the one we have in storage. It is a smaller bed but I LOVE it and hopefully it would help my back. It's been a few weeks since we decided we would do this so today was the day. After a few hours of relaxing, we (and when I say we, I mean Matt...) went upstairs to disassemble our bed. I didn't realize it took power tools to do this. After it was taken apart, we had to wrap it tightly with several layers of furniture wrap...a 2 person job for sure. Meanwhile Sarabeth is climbing up and down the stairs unsupervised.

Once we have it all wrapped Matt lugs it all downstairs while I kind of try to hold up an end of whatever it is he is moving and then drop it because my back is killing me. Once it's all loaded onto his truck we take off to the storage unit. Matt got there first and discovered that some ants had built a mansion in our storage room and he was moving boxes out and trying not to get stung. He unloaded the beds while Sarabeth watched Nemo in the van (very handy DVD player in our borrowed van) and I watched him. Then he had to take the new mattresses out of the bags they were in and put the ones from the house in there and then load the new ones onto the truck. Meanwhile, we are both about to be carried away by mosquitoes. We get everything loaded and head to the house. We are in 2 cars and I notice that Matt has a headlight out so I called him and he stops at the auto parts store to fix it on the way home. It's already past dark by this time, but Matt wants things done on his time. Once he makes it home, he unloaded the bed and hauled it upstairs then he cleans it with pledge before putting it all together.

It took us almost the whole afternoon. All so I can have a comfortable bed. He loved the bed we had but is willing to sacrifice sleeping in a full size bed just to see if it helps. The things this man does for me and his family. My Husband Rocks! I love you Matt, sweet dreams!

My Husband Rocks Friday

This week has been another whirlwind of a week, crazy! I think I only made dinner one night this week. Last night was overcooked meatloaf and my sweet husband thought it was the best meal ever. Matt eats whatever I make and never complains. And that's why MY HUSBAND ROCKS!! I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. The problem is I never really know if my cooking is good or bad. However, I'm thankful he eats whatever is put in front of him.

Matt has missed our little miss so much this week. With late nights and early mornings, he leaves before she gets up and she's fast asleep when he gets home. I called to see if we could come visit him at work today but he's swamped again but is coming home on time (or maybe even early) so he can hang out with us. Matt, you ROCK!

Want to talk about how your husband rocks? Click here and join us!

My Husband Rocks Friday

I totally forgot about this last week so I need to make up for it. This week was my rockin' husband's birthday! It was laid back and we spent the evening on the sofa watching the Olympics after Sarabeth went to bed. I posted a puny birthday message for him on our blog and he returned with the sweetest comment. He's always making things about me. And for this reason...MY HUSBAND ROCKS!

As for last week, well it was a little crazy around here and tensions ran kinda high so I guess in all the silent treatments of the week I left out my Friday post. However, Matt and I always work things out and don't stay mad very long. In all my mess ups and fight pickin' he loves me anyway. And for this reason...MY HUSBAND ROCKS!

Want to talk about how your husband rocks? Click here and join us!

My Husband Rocks Friday

I really have to brag on Matt this week. By the way, this idea came from here...it's not original but I wish I would have thought of it!

My hubby has really worked his tail off this week. Just recently Matt has become more involved in our finances. Not that he didn't care before but now we are on the same page and both aware of our money...or lack thereof. We have become more accountable to each other on what we are spending and sticking to our budget like never before. We've both known that my car has been our biggest headache. The payments were eating our lunch, for real. It was leased (very bad idea for a real estate agent) and I rolled over some not so pretty negative equity from my Lexus (also not a good idea even if you aren't a real estate agent). We knew it was inevitable that we were going to have to let the Honda go, but not without putting up some dough. We put it up for sale a few months ago not having a clue what we would do if someone bought it. We would be without wheels and we knew we couldn't get what we owed on it by a long shot. This was a matter for God to handle. I know my husband has been on his knees praying about this situation for the last few months. I, on the other hand, have been gritching about how I'm not going to have a car anymore and we are going to be so broke and now I'm not going to be able to work because I won't have a car...blah blah blah, wah wah. So, Matt has taken on some side jobs that have kept him working until 11pm some nights and he gets right back up the next day and is out the door at 6 am to do it all over again. I haven't seen him all week and I know he is exhausted. Well, today we said goodbye to my Honda. I'm not sure how it all worked out but I'm sure my husband and my heavenly father had something everything to do with it. Not only did we get what we were asking but we also have a borrowed car for the next few months(thank you Aunt Phyllis) while we work to get a vehicle. I really never have appreciated my husbands desire to take care of his family. He does it without complaining and without expectations.
Thank you Matt for loving us the way you do.
You Rock!

LOVE,

your girls

Husbands Say the Darndest Things Part 2 and 3

I think I may have to start tagging some of my posts since Matt keeps coming up with the funniest things. Yesterday we were at the drive thru and Dairy Queen. I made a comment to Matt how DQ now takes a debit card and they "used to not" take them. Apparently that struck Matt as funny. He then repeated what I said "used to not" what is that? "used to not???" What is that, like a retired astronaut?

Ok, so maybe you had to be there but we both died laughing at ourselves.

The other day we were driving down the road and some guy kept getting over in front of us then switching back into his own lane. He did it 3 times and I started getting frustrated and said "Geez, get over, don't get over, just make up your mind" Matt heard this "Dover, Donkey Dover, just make up your mind." He looked at me with this weird look, "honey, what's a donkey dover?" Oh the amusement that goes on in our family!

Husbands Say the Darndest Things

So on Saturday I drug Matt to the first of 3 child birth classes we will attempt to attend before baby Landes gets here. It was kind of weird to be in a room with 11 other couples talking about female anatomy and strange things your body does when you are pregnant. Kind of like 6th grade sex ed but for adults. Matt did well, of course he laughed a lot and fell asleep during the "relaxation" exercise...the exercise was for me :) Toward the end of class the instruction asked us to walk through about 5 contractions and for each one our "coach" was to help us through with a different tactic. The first one was to talk to your spouse. "Tell her how well she is doing, how beautiful she looks....blah blah blah". So, in the darkness of the room with the elevator music playing in the background, in the midst of my "contraction", my sweet husband leans over and says "Honey you are doing a great job and you look great doing it. I'm headed down to the cafeteria, do you want anything?" We both busted out laughing, disturbing the rest of the group who were actually taking it serious. Our instructor walked over and said, "and if you can laugh through your labor, you've got it made!" I can only hope!

Happy Birthday Matt!

We celebrated Matt's 32nd birthday on Monday night. Since we had just returned from a 10 day vacation, it was very low-key. I went by Rao's Bakery and picked up his favorite -German Chocolate Cake and of course a little something for me! We only got one slice each, if you've ever eaten at Rao's you know why! Then we went to BW3's with The Gallands, The Davis', and The Villareals. Matt had a great time! *Notice the candles on the cake are 26. Matt forgets his age and is adamant that he is 26 every year....whatever you think honey :) I love you!

Hill Country Luxury

It's a Landes tradition that each year for our anniversary, we take turns planning a fun getaway. This year was my turn, which I love because I am THE PLANNER. Matt wanted to go shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos so I made reservations at this really cool river house in New Braunfels over a month ago. It is owned by a friend of a friend so I got it for free, I thought. About a week before I got a call that the "friend" would need me to send her a check for $200 for a cleaning fee and a utility charge?? I was a little put out, of course because our budget did not call for a $200 lodging fee. Matt and I talked and HE decided we should just forget about the cabin and "wing it" for the weekend. We could find a hotel when we got there. He really didn't want me to get stressed out about planning something. I'm in a season of my life where I am really trying to let go of some control and trust my husband with things so I agreed (against my will). You know how this story ends, right? About 10pm on Friday night, we roll into San Marcos and stop at the first hotel, Best Western. Matt runs in and comes directly out with a smirk on his face. "Babe", he said. Then he proceeded to tell me that the clerk told him there wasn't a vacant hotel room within an hour of San Marcos. Possibly because it's 1. Spring Break 2. St. Patty's day 3. Huge Softball Tournament and 4. The Barbers Convention! I was tired, hungry, pregnant and emotional, but I held my tongue. The clerk also told him we might try Lockhart, about 20 minutes away, they usually have opening at the Lockhart Inn. I was overly joyed....yeah right! Matt was so upset, beating himself up for suggesting we "wing it". I knew not to say anything to make it worse, so I continued to bite my tongue. We drove up to the hotel-or motel- and Matt got the key. Room 114, at least it was on the bottom floor. Matt was so excited because we got 2 free breakfast coupons to Jaliscos Taqueria next door!We walked in and it was the cutest little room I had ever seen! Huge bed, nice furnishings, clean, and so quaint. I loved it so much, we stayed 2 nights! We ended up having the best time and the most comfortable sleep I've had in weeks! Matt got all the glory, even though it was my year to plan, however I got the patient and understanding wife award for the weekend. I did it! I never knew trusting my husband would be so easy, and fulfilling. Happy Anniversary at the Lockhart Inn!

A Man of Many Hats

In honor of St. Valentine's Day and my loving husband.... hope he doesn't kill me later :)

My husband Matt truely is a man after God's own heart. I can't say enough about how he loves me. One day he aksed me if I thought there was anything I could do to make God not love me and of course I answered no, he said "Then there is nothing you can do to make me not love you. God commanded me to love you as he loves his church." I never knew how true this was.

Our marriage has been anything but easy. Any man in his right mind would have doomed us failed for sure. Matt stood strong and never left my side, he never stopped praying and he never stopped being obedient to God and His plan for our marriage. Through all of this Matt, managed to excel at work, become more in love with Jesus, and remain his goofy, fun, self that I have grown to love.

Legend has it that St. Valentine performed secret marriages for soldiers during the days of Emporer Claudius II of Rome. The Emporer felt that single men made better soldiers than those with families. I have to disagree. Matt is the greatest soldier for the Lord I've ever known. You go St. Valentine!

I love you

Seasons of Laughter

Ok, so for our first blog I figured I would post some humor. You may not get it if you don't know us well, and even if you do, you may still think we are strange.

One night after Matt and I were first married, still living out of boxes from a recent move, Matt asked "Honey, where are the cups?" I answered, "Some are in the kitchen." "Summer in the kitchen??", he replied. We both sort of giggled at the statement. I have always had the tendency to talk fast and Matt has a habit of making sure I realize it! This time, I thought I'd play along. "Yes honey, Summer in the kitchen, and you Autumn get up and get one, and Winter in there, Spring me something to drink too!"

Guess you had to be there, but from then on, the seasons took on a whole new meaning!