A New Addition!

Meet the newest addition to our family, Evans.

Evans is the child we now sponsor from Ghana through Compassion International. For $38 a month we are able to help provide Evans with educational opportunities, medical treatments, life skills training and development in a place where he gets to hear the Gospel and grow in his Christian faith.

I heard about Compassion International a couple years ago through reading other people’s blogs and mentioned it to Danny. Ever since then we have been saying that we are going to sponsor a child but just never sat down together to actually do it. Finally, a couple of months ago, we were on the way to a Young Life fundraising dinner and talking about what we donate to Young Life each month. One of Danny’s best friends is the Young Life leader in an area close to where we live. Ministering to high school kids is his passion and he is so great at it! I love that we support him and what that ministry does but I felt like we needed to be doing more than just helping out a local ministry because we had a connection to it through a friend. I immediately thought back to Compassion International and told Danny we needed to get on the ball and sponsor a child this year. We even decided that this year for Christmas we were not going to get each other gifts because sponsoring the child would be our gift (I did cheat and get Danny a couple of small things though, shhh).

We decided to sponsor a child from Ghana since Danny may have to travel there for work in the future and we thought it would be neat to have some common ground with our sponsored child. A couple of weeks ago we got our Compassion packet in the mail with our first picture of Evans and some information about how and where to send the letters. We plan to frame his little picture and display it proudly in our house and we can’t wait to write him his first letter so he can get to know us!

I am so happy that we finally decided to do this. We have been blessed with so much and it was really time for us to sit down and figure out how to start giving back. This is just a small step but hopefully it leads us and Evans to bigger and better things!

Let's Talk Nail Polish

So here is a random fact about me: 98% of the time my finger and toe nails are painted. Actually, they are not just painted, but painted in a color that is coordinated to either the month or season of the year.

I know it is strange to coordinate my nails to the month or season of the year instead of my outfits but it actually works for me because I guess I subconsciously end up picking outfits that look good with my nail color so I also end up wearing seasonal colored clothes.

This all started around my junior year of college when I decided my nails and hands just looked better when I had some color on them. I would probably paint my nails twice a week in college because I hated for them to be chipped and I had tons of time on my hands. I even got my roomie Tori into my obsession and we spent many nights watching our favorite TV shows while polishing our nails.

I guess at some point over the past 6 years I got into the habit of seasonal color coordination.

Here is what my year in nail polish normally looks like:

January – Gray (I can’t remember what color I normally wear in Jan. but for 2011 I have decided it will be gray since that is kind of what it looks like outside during the month)

February – Pale pink in honor of Valentine’s Day

March & April – Spring has normally sprung in Texas so I wear a brighter shade of pink

May – It’s the last month before the summer months start so I step it up a notch with hot pink

June & July – Summer is here in full force so out with the pinks and in with the Corals but for 4^th of July I get patriotic and go back to a bright red for a few days

August – A pinkish berry color. Not too bright since it is almost the end of summer but not too dark because it is not fall yet.

September, October and November – These months signify fall to me and fall means Aggie football. So, in honor of my beloved Aggies I normally wear some shade of maroon during these months.

December – Red for Christmas, duh

This year I have decided to get all new nail polish’s because I am so over all the ones I currently own. Plus, nail polish is only like $7 a bottle so it is cheap monthly treat for me, yay!

My new color for December is OPI An Affair in Red Square.

So far I am loving this color! It is a rich shade of red with a little bit of shimmer. Perfect for the holidays!

Another Gameday

A few weekends ago Danny and I headed to College Station for another football game. His aunt and uncle are season ticket holders and go to every home game and they were able to get us tickets in the seats right next to them.

Ollie wanted to go with us and jumped in the car!

We got to CS at 9 pm Friday night and headed to one of my fave restaurants, La Bodega. Sadly, it was not as good as either of us remembered. Maybe they were just having an off night.

After dinner we headed to the hotel to get a good nights rest for the next days festivities.

The next morning we headed out to the tailgate at 9:30. We had a full day of hanging out with friends, going to the game (which the Aggies won, yay!), eating dinner with Danny's aunt and uncle, and watching the end of the Ranger game.


It was another fun and relaxing weekend in College Station. Sadly, we probably won't be heading back there until next football season. On the bright side, that gives me plenty of time to plan my next game day dress!


We got home Sunday afternoon and headed to have lunch with Danny's fam to celebrate his mom's bday. Then we picked up the boys from his parents house and took them home to get ready for Halloween!
The dogs did such a great job helping pass out candy to trick or treaters!

Pumpkin Carving

This weekend we had the fourth annual pumpkin carving party.

On the menu was frito pie, mummy dogs, gooey pumpkin cake and red velvet eye balls. We also had beer and spiked apple cider and then made some delicious pumpkin seeds!


After we munched on the food we headed to the back porch to get the carving started.

The dogs/superheros ready to get started

Action shot
My pumpkin
Chrissie's
Anthony's
Danny's
Jon's
Matt and Jill's
Todd and Erin's
Jimmy and Laura's
Shellie's
Group pumpkin shot

My little super hero

A Tailgate and a Dress

This weekend we loaded up and headed to College Station with the Stanleys. It was my first trip back to CS this year and I was so excited! I decided since it was a new year I had to have a new dress.

Here is the dress Danny's mom made me for football season last year.


This year, I decided to go for it and make my own. I am definitely not a pro and there are few things I will tweak for the next time, but my dress didn't fall apart so I considered it a success!


With my wardrobe taken care of it was time to party! The weather was perfect, the food was yummy and there were tons of fun friends to hang out with all day.


I even got to see my bestie, Ash, for two weekends in a row! Such a treat!!!


The Aggies lost, as usual, but we played flip cup and shot gunned beers to drown our sorrows away.
Can't wait to head back in two weeks for the Tech game!

Pillow Project

Recently I have been on the hunt for some fall colored pillows to warm up the living room color scheme for the fall and winter seasons.

I searched high and low and just could not find what I was looking for in my budget. It is hard to bring myself to spend $20 plus dollars on a pillow no matter how cute it is!

So, I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to make my own. The problem here is that home decorating fabric can be really expensive too, $12-$30 a yard. I was back at square one, not wanting to spend a fortune just to have new pillows. Then, one day, I was on my weekly visit to Hobby Lobby and I hit the jackpot! Coordinating fabrics in the color scheme I had been looking for on super clearance for $7 a yard!!!

2 yards and $14 dollars later I was on the way to making four new pillow covers!


I saw these pillows from Pottery Barn that used a flap and buttons instead of a zipper and I thought that would be the easiest option for my novice sewing skills.

My little helper

It ended up being a super easy project and I was able to make all 4 pillow covers in under an hour.
When I showed them to Danny he said they looked professional and I kind of had to agree. Definitely my best project to date!


Here are the finished products in their new home on the sofa.



3 weeks later I am happy to report that the pillows have not fallen apart and actually still look really great!

I think I have purchased my last pillow. From now own it is homemade pillow covers for me!

A Farewell to Fun Bobby

Friday night we headed out to Bar Belmont to say goodbye to one of our best friends, Jen.

Jen is the bravest person I know. She is moving to London for two years sometime this week! She has been talking about moving overseas practically since I met her over 3 years ago so this is really a dream come true for her. As happy and excited as I am for her, my heart hurts to have to say goodbye.

Of course we are already planning our trip to the UK to see her next year and she is supposed to come back home for Christmas, but things just won't be the same without our Fun Bobby.

For our last night out all together we headed to the Belmont where we took in the gorgeous view of the Dallas skyline. The weather was perfect, the drinks were to die for and the company was even better.
Jen, you will be missed more than you know. No one will ever be able to replace you. I cannot wait to hear about all your adventures in London. I am sure they will be hilarious to say the least.

We love you!