Best of 2011!

WOW! Reagan and I cannot believe 2011 is coming to an end.  It has been a crazy fun year and we cannot wait to see what 2012 has in-store for us! Here are the top TEN things we want to remember from 2011:

1) We celebrated One Year of Marriage... A rough first year, but it was worth it all to be on the journey of getting closer with each other.

2) I graduated from TCU!! Go Frogs!! It was a crazy ride while there, but I am so glad that I graduated with a bachelors of child development... wouldn't have it any other way!

3) We moved from Mansfield to San Antonio.  This was bitter-sweet... We hated to be leaving all our sweet friends, but were very excited for the new chapter of our lives to begin in San Antonio.

4) Reagan started a new job as a oil and gas equipment salesman and has loved every minute of his job... he is amazing at it and it is great to see him smile!

5) I was given the opportunity to work with an incredible elementary school and work along side such a wonderful Godly lady.  I have met so many great people on this journey and I wouldn't change loving on the sweet kids in our class for a second!

6) We found a church that we are proud to call our church home.  Through Crossbridge, God is showing us what we need in a church right now and that is so comforting.  Excited to be joining and becoming members in 2012!

7) I started an amazing bible study on Wednesday nights with an incredible group of women.  I do not know what I would do without these ladies... we have laughed, cried and rejoiced with each other. Cannot wait to see what God has in-store for this group of ladies for 2012!

8) The large forest fire that occurred in San Antonio because of the drought (literally behind our townhouse in the field) caused us to evacuate for hours... so scary and made our townhouse smell like a burning fire pit for days!

9) All the dinners we have had with family and the events we have been able to be apart of has been incredible.  So glad we are back in San Antonio and able to make such wonderful memories with our families.

10) My dad fell from a 12ft ladder this Friday, December 30th while trying to trim a branch in my parent's backyard. He shattered the bones and joints in his right arm/wrist and had to have a 5 1/2 hour surgery today to put all the pieces back together.  This is not a happy memory but definitely how we ended this year.  We spent all today in the hospital (with our incredible closest friends and family) praying for him and the surgeons to have the wisdom they needed.  The doctors feel that the metal plates, screws and metal bars that were placed in his arm/wrist should help the healing process to begin.  I am just so blessed to have my dad here with us today, because I know the accident could have been so much worse.  2012 will bring physical therapy for him and wearing a cast for several months.  Tears come to my eyes knowing that God and my dad's guardian angels were watching over him when he fell and that I get to spend another year with my dad... praying for full recovery as we bring in the New Year.

This year has been great and we cannot wait to see what God has in-store for 2012.

We hope everyone has a blessed beginning to 2012!

"The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!  By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.  Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.  I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!'" -- Lamentations 3:22-24

Love Christmas Break

The perk to working in the education system is having a holiday break just like the kids.  It is so nice to have these weeks to just unwind and not have a strict schedule to live by!  It has been nice to not have to wake up to an alarm, sleep as late as I would like and just enjoy the time off... oh and study for my certification test... the time is coming... January 3rd is right around the corner-- please keep praying for me and this test and that I will pass on the first try!

So our Christmas break has been packed to the brim thus far.  We started off in Nebraska, where there was no snow yet again this year (I must be bad luck).  It was nice to spend time with Reagan's mom, step dad and little sisters... these two are the perfect age to Love Christmas... it was so great to see their child like excitement.  We flew back on Christmas day (which was definitely not my favorite thing)... it was a long day of flying and I was exhausted by the time we made it back to San Antonio.  Though, it was nice to hug my family and to see how excited they were to have us back.

Once we got back on Christmas day, my family had cooked a big dinner for us and Reagan's dad, step mom and brothers came too.  It was nice just to visit and relax after a long day of flying.  After dinner we opened presents -- man we were spoiled this year!  We all got some amazing and thoughtful gifts!

To end our Christmas celebrations, last night we had dinner at Reagan's Nana's house.  She is such a good cook and it is so great to see her face light up when she has us all over.  This year, she decided that she did not want to give us money, but to buy personal gifts for all of us.  It was so great to see the smile on her face when we opened our gifts because she really enjoyed shopping for us that much!!  I loved that she got me my personalized necklace that I created off Etsy... she did a wonderful job!

We are glad the celebrations of Christmas are over, and we are excited to see what the New Year will bring... I cannot believe 2012 is just around the corner... does not even seem possible.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time celebrating with friends and family... there is so much to be grateful for.

OH... and there are tons of pictures to come!!  I received a wonderful high tech camera from my hubby for Christmas so I am becoming the photog princess.. so I took pictures galore! Love it!

Before I forget (sorry for the long post) -- PLEASE PRAY for Reagan's aunt.  She is in ICU and has pneumonia, but they also think a bacteria has entered into her blood stream and is causing her to have very high fevers and she experienced a 20 minute seizure last night.  Please pray that the doctors will have wisdom to understand what is attacking her body, that her children and family will feel the Peace of the Lord at this scary time, and that God will provide a divine health miracle in her circumstance, and will bring her back to good health.   Thank you for the prayers in advance... they are much appreciated!

"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.  Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments he pronounced." -- 1 Chronicles 16:11-12

What a week.

Have you ever felt like you are being pulled in 15 million different directions?!  That is definitely how I have felt for the past couple of weeks... like I am being pulled way too thin and I am about to go crazy!! With school coming to a break for Christmas the kids get crazier by the minute and I am literally counting down to next Tuesday at 3 pm when the break officially begins.  Not only are the kids ready to be out but I think all the teachers are too... we are just tired! Along with crazy kids during the day, there have been so many holiday parties for school and with Reagan that we haven't had a free night in a while.  Do not get me wrong we have loved celebrating the holiday season with friends and family, but we also like our normal routine.. at least I do! ;) I love this time of year but I am ready for things to get back to normal and calm down just a little bit.

Though, through the craziness of this time of year, I am constantly stopping to remind myself that Jesus is the reason for this season.  Let me tell you-- there have been moments when I needed this reminder because I just couldn't shop anymore and just could not wrap another present.  So today, I am putting in the forefront of my mind that when the craziness gets to me just Remember all that Jesus has done for me and Celebrate in His love... because if I let the craziness take over this season I will really forget what this Season is SUPPOSED to be about... Our Wonderful Lord and Savior!

Praise the Lord tomorrow is Friday! I hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday!!

"Thank you Lord for reminding me daily that you are the reason for this season.  May my focus be fixed on YOU in the days to come."

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Here in San Antonio, it is beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas!  Last night, the celebrations began and we kicked off with my work Christmas party.  It was so nice to see all my school teacher friends outside of work and having a good time and not worrying about students!  It was also fun to meet the husbands of teachers I know!  Such a fun time with my school family last night!!

Today, we woke up to cold and rainy weather and it has been like that all day.  So after church today, Reagan and I came home and started decorating for Christmas.  We finished tonight and our house definitely has Christmas cheer.  Since it was so cold out today, we decorated with a fire going, coffee in hand and Christmas music playing.  I love Christmas, but Reagan is a fanatic about it.  So it is so fun to watch how excited he gets about decorating and how precise he is about our tree -- this is definitely a characteristic he gets from his mom because she LOVES Christmas too!

~Christmas Tree 2011~

Today was wonderful, and I am glad I got to spend it with my hubby.  So nice to have the house decorated for Christmas and the festivities beginning.

This is how we kept warm today while decorating for Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Enjoy this holiday season and remember what Christmas is all about!!

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:16-18