Counting Down!

6 Days 'til San Francisco!
Check out my favorite video of David Gray on youtube, "Sail Away." How cool is a music artist that sings along with their own song instead of lip-syncing?!? :)



Love to love him.

Weekend Celebrations

We had an exhausting, but wonderful weekend!!!

Saturday night, our friends Stephen and Tiffany got married. All I can say is "It's about TIME!" :) They have been dating for a loooong time, and we were all so happy to see them finally tie the knot. They had a beautiful ceremony and the reception was a blast.
Here are a few pictures.

My man and I. We don't get dressed up very often, so I like to take lots of pictures! :)

Matt was cutting a rug with the groomsmen. So funny!

Two-stepping together... I'm a terrible dancer, but I try!

Then Sunday, my daddy turned the big 5-0!!! Mom decided a few months ago that she wanted to do it up big. After much planning, we decided to make it a family ordeal and have it be a surprise party. While the boys played golf, Mom and I ran around town getting a cake, balloons and tons of 50th decorations! The family all arrived right on time and when my dad got home, he was SO surprised! We had a great time and my dad got some great presents! :) I have a wonderful family and it's always nice to spend some quality time together.

Lighting the candles! Love you Dad!My dad and his brother and sisters...
All the cousins... Minus Sarah and Emilee.

Congratulations, Stephen and Tiff. Happy Birthday, Daddy! We missed you, Uncle Boo Boo.

I <3 San Fran

So...

About two weeks ago, I noticed that my favorite music artist in the world, David Gray, just released a new cd. I know, I know, if he's my favorite artist, why didn't I know?? Well, truth be told, I just haven't been keeping up with him lately! Terrible!

Anyway, I went to download his CD on iTunes (loooove it by the way), and decided I was going to browse around on his website. Low and behold, when I got to his website, his tour dates were posted, complete with like 12 U.S. city stops! If you don't know much about David Gray, I'll tell you... He's a British singer, who made his first (absolutely incredible) CD in his apartment. So, needless to say, even though he appears to be a very big deal in his native country, he does not make his way to the United States very often. In fact, since I've been a fan of his, he hasn't been to the U.S. even once! So, in the midst of my excitement, it took me about 2.6 seconds to realize (damn!) that he's not coming to Texas. Aren't we like one of the biggest states in America??? Sheesh.

Matt just happened to be sitting next to me and undoubtedly noticed the excitement/disappointment in my face and voice. I'm frantically thinking of ways that we can afford to make a trip to New York, Boston, or hell, even Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

I (kind of) dropped it for the night, but it was all I could think of for the next couple of days... Until finally, I had to talk to Matt about it. So, I approached him and before I could get the first couple of words out, he interrupted me... He had been trying to surprise me with a trip, but knew that I would never wait to be surprised. Oops! :) So, we decided that it would be our Christmas presents from each other.

After checking our schedules with the dates of the tour, we settled on..... drumroll.... SAN FRANCISCO!! I have never been to California before so I am super excited. I get to visit a new place with my perfect man to see my favorite musician! YESSSSS!!!

So, with the help of Matt's parents, we were able to book our trip last week! We have our flights, our tickets to the concert, and we are raring and ready to go! I hope November 6 comes quickly!

Burning Bridges

I have to admit-- I am a bridge-burner from way back.

I like to think that I have only truly burnt bridges that needed burning, but if I'm honest with you and with myself, that is probably not necessarily the case. In my case, I think it goes hand-in hand with my struggle to forgive others. Ugh.

I am fairly tolerant of people... It takes a lot for me to get to the breaking point. However, once I "break," I am over it and over the person that got me to that point. Done and done. I'm not proud of it, but it is what it is.

I began thinking about how bad it is to write people off... How, if I am truly attempting to be Christ-like in my forgiveness, giving up on people and relationships is quite the opposite. So, I have decided that I will work on this... For no one but myself.

What brought this to light: I have inadvertently been involved in some drama lately that made me realize how little you really know people and how during pain and anger, their true colors begin to shine through. It's sad and enlightening all at once. So in attempt to hurt and vent about one of my family members, the persons responsible for the drama have in turn, alienated themselves from my entire family. As with most families, we are a united front and if you mess with one, you mess with all. So, because of petty and immature pointing of fingers, relationships were forever changed. If these people ever try to make their way back into our lives, they have quite a few barriers to break through.

My question is this... Why burn bridges that you may need to cross back over in the future? It's a little something to think about.