Fernandos for the 30th

Claire took the dive into her 30's and celebrating on a weeknight only seemed appropriate!  Quite possibly the most adorable group of girls in Dallas...and would you believe that 3 girls in this picture are more than 8 months pregnant...you can't find them, can you?  And 8 of these 11 girls have babies...and they still manage to look this good.  These chicks make 30's and mom-hood look amazing :)

Big Boy

Ward Beasley turned 2 yesterday!  He might be the most precious child ever!  Heath and Scott hosted an ice cream party at the park and half of Dallas came to celebrate Ward....such a great day.  He got a ton of tonka trucks and golf toys, but was too tired to open gifts tonight.  He literally asked me to put him to bed as soon as we got home-he was worn out from feeling so special all day.  There is no better way to end your birthday than to cuddle up in your DUKE pajamas and snuggle in tight :)

Truck and legos from EE!  I know what my boy likes!

PS...this picture was taken at 10:30pm after 3 hours of attempting to fall asleep.  I think the 750 gummie bears and ice cream put him on a sugar high that he couldn't overcome! 

Small town Saturday Night

We went out "Texas Style" this weekend....a rodeo and a honky tonk...and I loved every minute of it.  We went to the Mesquite Rodeo and got our fill of horses, bulls, and cowboys.  The night ended after 4 hours of two-steppin at Cowboys Red River!  We twirled and got dipped until our heads were spinning! 

Meet Liz--my adorable Dallas gal!  Thank goodness she and I have the same taste..we could both dance for hours and be totally content.  She wants to visit NC, so I'll bring her home soon to meet my people :)

Burlington Girls

Helen came to visit Heath for the weekend!  Can't believe I haven't seen her since Heath's wedding.  I love watching Heath and Helen--such a sweet friendship!  It is always a good feeling to catch up with Burlington girls.  We are trying to guess if Heath is having a boy or a girl??  How adorable that she is due on Helen's birthday?!?!

Sangria

Swanky little spot on the corner of Cole Avenue and Knox...live music, patio seating, misting fans! I suggest the red sangria and croquettes...best if accompanied by excellent company!

Meet Tori and Holli...precious Dallas girls

Official

Two things are official...
1.  I absolutely love Dallas, Texas
2.  I am officially a "resident"

The Latest

Snapshot updates from Dallas...

Remember when I moved here and Heath was my only friend?  She went to NC for 3 weeks at the end of May.  I could not be more excited for her to come home tomorrow!  I have missed her SO MUCH and I really hope Ward still remembers "EE."

Sarah Mullins has taken on a new project at work, and is doing a trial in Senegal.  She took off for Africa last week, and is loving it so far.  We get to Skype sometimes, and I am so proud of her for the work she is doing and how she is loving on those people!

Emily Nance celebrated a birthday.  I hate to miss birthdays, yall know how I am.  This is my girl, and she deserves LOTS of celebration.  My favorite memory of Emily is when we traveled to Europe together one summer...I'm so lucky to call her a friend of mine!

A friend and colleague and neighbor of mine went home to be with Jesus.  Randy started his battle with cancer last August, and his battle ended this week.  My memories of him are fond.  His sweet wife and 7 month old baby girl will miss him, but I'm confident he left behind a story that his daughter will be proud to hear one day--she is going to be so proud of her Dad.

I adopted a little boy from Thailand named Ai this week!  I am so excited to be partnering with Compassion International and providing Ai with food, shelter, education, and knowledge about Jesus.  Now, I dream of the day when I get to visit Thailand and meet him one day. 

And lastly, I have two things to be looking forward to....Lindsey and Sarah have both planned trips to Texas!  I absolutely cannot wait to show my girls Dallas.  Counting down already...

Odd...indeed, odd

Do yall know my little sister?  Oh man, you should.  I mean, this girl is quite the character, and I mean that in every way possible.  She is 25, I am 29.  She has light hair, I have dark hair.  She got the long legs in the family.  She's got more spunk than everyone in North America combined.  She floats between styles like it's her job--she can be a surfer chick one day and a southern belle the next.  She's not afraid of much.  She takes risks and is always up for trying something new.  She has a need for speed.  She is really good at doing impressions of people, but her best act is by far Kip from Napolean Dynamite.  She'll dish it, and most of the time she can take it, but sometimes she'll flip that script on you and let that temper flare.  When she is sad, she resorts back to being a 3 year old baby girl...when she is angry, she's tougher than a prison inmate on death row.  She marches to the beat of her own drum.  Sometimes, it's not even a drum, it's like a whole other instrument that no one has ever heard of.  She can do a stupid human trick with her stomach and make just the middle of it pop out.  Her and I both have a lazy eye on command.  She cut her own hair when she was little. She was a "boy" for a year or two.  She finally has learned to love her smile.  She is really athletic and she loves that I'm not.  She looks great in stilleto heels and Air Jordan high top basketball shoes.  If she were able to remember algebra like she can remember lyrics to a song, she'd be a genius.  She has unreal stories to tell--some are about her mistakes and others are about her successes.  She is a great artist.  She loves her Boxer.  She is a free-spirit.  She sometimes doesn't have food or shelter, but always has her nails done and the newest iPhone.  She loves her long hair.  She has broken some hearts and had her heart broken.  She doesn't like to admit she is wrong.  She earned a scholarship.  Some of my best friends are her best friends too.  She has lots of nicknames.  One time, she and I had a laughing attack during a wedding and absolutely could NOT pull it together.  She can gain and lose weight really fast.  She has been in an accident in a car, on a moped, and on a skateboard.  Her coping mechanism is to flee.  When something goes wrong, her knee jerk reaction is always to call Dad.  She has a good memory, but remembers very random and useless things.  She has a weakness for Oreos.  She likes to hunt.  She is whitty.  She has burned some bridges.  She has traveled cross country.  She demands Mom when she is sick.  She wears cheap make up.  She speaks before she thinks.  She has regrets. She loves. She is who she is.  She is mine. 

Little Triangle

There is an art to moving away and staying connected.  I don't have the recipe, but I'm slowly learning about the little things that keep me connected to the people that I love that just so happen to live a plane flight away now. 

My mom and I have a little daily challenge that we do.  We don't necessarily talk about it everyday, but every morning when I wake up, I know that she and I are on the same page and I LOVE IT!  I love knowing that she is in NC doing the same things that I'm doing here in TX..it keeps us connected!

If you read my blog from June when I gave my "30 day update," you saw the book called "Dear Jesus" that I have been loving!  In true best friend spirit, these two immediately jumped into this book with me, and I love the connection that it has given me.  When I wake up, I know that these two girls (that I absolutely adore) are reading the same amazing truths that I'm reading.  Just like mom, we don't always talk about it, but knowing that we're in the same word makes me smile...really big!  From Dallas to Asheville to Charleston, there is a little triangle...I feel it!

Sarah in Charleston

Lauren in Asheville

Beth Moore in Austin

Megan Barker always talked about Beth Moore and how wonderful she is.  I remember Megan telling me about all that she has learned from Beth's studies over the years.  This weekend, Beth spoke in Austin, TX...Katie invited me to go, so we took off for a little roadtrip! 

Yes, it was fun to be in Austin.  Yes, it was a treat for Katie to have a night away from "being a mom." Yes, it was awesome to have a girls weekend.  But I don't think either of us were ready for what God had in store for us!  I wish I had adequate words to put on paper about all that God did in that arena this weekend, but my attemps would fail.  Incredible, that is all I can say.

I am still so excited and baffled to have Katie here in Dallas with me.  It is amazing to reconnect with her from our college days, and to spend treasured weekends like this with her is just beyond a treat!  And, of course, the best part about picking her up and dropping her off is that I get to see Hudson's cute little face...oh my gosh, that child is precious! 

Austin

We were on-the-go for 6 days straight!  After a few highlights in Dallas and Fort Worth, we took a roadtrip to Austin to make our "week-of-fun" complete. 

The UT stadium is bigger than we thought. 
Sixth Street is busier than we imagined.
Finding a hotel was easier than we expected.
And the city itself was more fun that we could have dreamed of!!

The energy that runs through Austin is amazing...it helps that it is a college town and that it has a waterfront...win, win.

Lunch on Lake Austin:  Abel's on the Water

 

Pay for a hotel room, get matching robes

Annnnnd, Ali's favorite part of the trip, a stop at In-and-Out Burger



Fort Worth

We would agree that Fort Worth won our hearts!  Anyone that visits me in Dallas will get a little excursion to Fort Worth, I promise. 

Think of cowboy boots, cowboy hats, riding horseback, two stepping, and everything Texas, and THAT IS FORT WORTH!  We did everything there was to do in F.W.-from the zoo to the stockyards to the honkey tonk. 

Let Freedom Ring

Emily and Ali's Day 2 Agenda:
Wake up
Dress alike
July 4th Parade
Pool
Eat Tex Mex to celebrate America's birthday

Welcome to Texas, here's some Tex Mex!

There are few feelings in the world that are better than having a friend come visit!  I drove to the Dallas Airport with butterflies in my stomach to pick up sweet little Ali...geared up for a wonderful week together! 

This girl could eat Mexican food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so we drove straight from Terminal C to the nearest Tex Mex spot!  No better way to kick off our first week in Dallas together than toasting with a margarita at Mi Cocina.  Here's to a great week in Texas, and a "thank you" from me to Ali for making the trip out here.