Quick Update!

We are all moved in and things are moving right along. I have been busy doing all the after-move duties like changing/forwarding our address, getting new bank accounts (our current credit union does not exist in this area), getting new local phone numbers, calling & checking on things to make sure changes got made, making sure all is clear at our apartment, turning in apartment keys, getting caught up on emails, bills, etc.

I think you get the point! Moving is exhausting! It seems as if things on my to-do list never end. But we are enjoying our new place & still amazed how things have fallen into place. "I stand in awe of every mountain you move..."

Wednesday morning I went and signed my teaching contract so it is official - I am now an employee of Sinton ISD. New Teacher Orientation starts August 11th. I am so excited yet also so nervous.

Thanks for all the sweet comments & encouragement!

Leap of Faith...Moving Day!

So I have been MIA...here is why. Our house is currently BOXED up!

That's right...WE ARE MOVING!

I am almost in utter disbelief because I thought this day might never come. Not necessarily moving but the sign of light at the end of the tunnel. If you have read my blog for anything, you know that this year has been anything but easy and while it was not easy I can now look back and see God's amazing plan in all of it. I am now more than thankful for the valley we have walked this during our time in San Antonio. I am more humble than ever has well as in a place of totally joy and content. I would walk down that valley over and over now knowing what I know now. God's love is so incredibly amazing! His grace is nothing short of amazing! He knew exactly why he brought us to San Antonio and he knows exactly where he is taking us now. And we know have a much stronger trust than ever before. Beautiful things DO happen when we trust Him!

And today is MOVING day for us!

So where are we moving?

Well, we are moving to Allen's hometown, near Corpus Christi area. God has answered our prayers more than we could have ever dreamed. Throughout our time here, we have prayed God will show us where it is he wants us to be. What HIS plan for our lives is or would be? We were tired of living our plan that seemed to only fail us at the end of the day. So we just handed our future over to Him and doors started to open.

He not only blessed Allen with a great job back home working/farming with his dad, but he also blessed me with a JOB! Yes, and not just any job but a teaching job! Finally...after almost 3 years I will finally be a teacher - an elementary special education teacher at that. I am so excited and while I am so nervous I am praying he will equip me with the tools and skills needed. But that isn't all...AB will also be working with the same company he works for now but from HOME! This is huge from him! As well as will be great for us financially! He will be able to create the life he wants for our family in a small town while still be able to further his landscape architect career. The best part is his company came to us with the offer - God has worked out every detail for us, better than we could have ever imagined.

Oh how He loves us!

AB and I are totally stepping out on faith on this move! Probably for the first time ever, we are going and really aren't sure all it's all going to work out. But yet we have never been so at peace! We are excited about moving to a small town, living in a tight knit community, being close to family, and living a much simpler way of life. And we are pretty excited also just to take a leap of faith and see the rest of God's plan...because his plan is definitely better than any plan we could have come up!

Trusting in God's faithfulness day by day makes us confident in his great promises for the future!

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
Lamentations 3:22-24

Fun Girls

This past weekend, we had so much fun! My brother, sister-in-law, & my 2 nieces came to spend the night with us. They were headed to the beach (almost a 6 hour drive) & asked if they could spend Saturday night with us to cut the time in the car. We happily said yes!

They arrived Saturday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. My two nieces are just the cutest little girls ever! And they loved being and playing at Nonnie's. Mind you Nonnie's & Uncle Allen's house is NOT kid friendly. Ha! Saturday afternoon, the girls played in my sewing room. Lots of stuff to get into there! Aubrey even wanted me to teach her how to sew!! I was so excited! She did a great job pushing the foot pedal for me and feeding fabric through the machine. I think she definitely needs a sewing machine for Christmas. Shaylee loved playing in all my fabric. She thought Nonnie had yards & yards of blankets! Ha! It was too cute!


Saturday night, we headed to downtown to grab dinner. We decided to take them to the traditional San Antonio thing - the Riverwalk! We went to Casa Rio to eat & it was delicious. And crowded!! There was a waiting line for the hostess stand. But luckily we didn't have to wait more than 30 minutes for our table & we even got to eat outside. The girls enjoyed watching all the river boats go by & Aubrey really enjoyed people watching. Ha, she cracks me up!

And oh how Miss Aubrey LOVES animals! She is a total animal lover! She held & played with Coco just about every chance she could. And Coco did not mind all the attention, kisses, and playtime. AB kept telling my brother that Aubrey needs her own little Pomeranian. Maybe one day soon she'll her own little lap-dog.

Can we say someone is sassy?!

Believe it or not, she is a lot like her Nonnie - when I was this age. I think it's adorable :)
And let's not forget sweet Shaylee! Oh she has such a sweet spirit! And she loves shoes, I mean really loves them! She loved playing in my closet trying on all my shoes. Ha, talk about melt my heart!

And being our model, showing off her new outfit Nonnie made her.

We had a great time with them here. I wish we didn't live so far apart. But I am looking forward to many more fun visits!

Show Us Your Life: Bible verses

This week at Show Us Your Life, it is all about your favorite Bible verses.

I think it is so awesome how a verse can mean one thing during a certain season of your life and another during a different season. I am so thankful for this last year because it has really taught me to study the word and I have a new found love for it, a love I never had before. So I am excited to share with you the verses the Lord has laid on my heart over this last year.

Here are a few of my "cling to" verses:

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:7-8

The verse above is such a gentle remainder for what happens when we trust in the Lord & have confidence in him. And makes me only want to strive to continue to bear fruit even when I feel I'm in a drought.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

"In due time..." is often my motto when I'm waiting upon the Lord. And this verse definitely been on that cling to when I feel like giving up.

And then there are SO many verses the book of Romans that I just love. At this point in my life, Romans is where I go to seek comfort, hope, and peace. I read these verses on a daily basis!

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:25

"...and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hopes does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:2-5

Do you have a favorite Bible verses? Link up over at Kelly's Korner!

Our Hill Country Day

This past Monday, AB had the day off so we decided to spend the day together doing something fun. We actually try to spend a day of just "us" doing something whenever we have a free weekend. And I really enjoy spending time with AB. He is a pretty cool person to just hang out with :)

That is one good thing I can say about San Antonio is it has allowed AB & I get closer than ever before. And we look forward to our little day trips & getaways.

Monday, he let me sleep in late. Then just before lunch we headed north. First, we stopped at Dick's to get me some new tennis shoes! I was pretty exciting considering I didn't know I would be getting new shoes (and I don't like to spend money on that kind of stuff) :) so what a fun way to start the day! The tennis shoes I had are a couple years old and recently started giving me blisters so AB decided it was time for some new ones! And he knows I wouldn't go on my own & get them - because let's face it - when money it tight, shopping is the last thing on my mind. My shoes are pink & black! & I love them!!

After Dick's, we went to downtown Boerne to have lunch. And OH MY was it delicious!! Boerne is such a cute little town and we ended up picking Boerne Grill for lunch. Ended up being a great choice considering we had never been there.

AB had a Hawaiian club sandwich that was so yummy!

I got a turkey melt that was so good. It had some of the best bacon on it - mmm!

I wish we could have spent more time in Boerne because all the little shops on Main Street looked so cute. And filled with antique shops! I am thinking I need to coordinate a girls trip there this fall. But since we our day was mostly about hiking Enchanted Rock, we had to keep moving north.

After lunch, we drove through the beautiful hill country to Fredericksburg. Oh how I love Fredericksburg! It is simply a piece of Texas that you just can't help but love.

Our first stop: Das Peach Haus
I was on the hunt for homemade peach ice cream but I also wanted some fresh, good ol' tasty, peaches! I got some harvester peaches (which are so juicy & sweet) and some peach honey, yum!

I mean you just can't go to Fredericksburg without getting peaches.

Next stop was finally Enchanted Rock. The whole thing reason we wanted to go to Fredericksburg for the day. Okay, I really would have loved to shopped till I dropped but let's be honest - AB is NOT a shopper & well that would require money & lots of it.

And that my friends above is one gigantic rock. Actually it is one huge gigantic piece or granite.

FINALLY made it up to the TOP! After I thought I might die from heat exhaustion & being just flat out of shape...wait, round is a shape! ;)

Enjoying a delicious peach on top of Enchanted Rock


The rock is some 1800 feet above elevation. It is a 425 feet trek up & roughly .6 miles. The wind was blowing like crazy!

On our way back down...

After a hard day's hike, we headed back to Fredericksburg to reward ourselves. I wanted homemade peach ice cream!! We found a little roadside peach stand that had "ice cream" on a sign. AB pulled in there & I got 2 scoops of some of the most delicious peach ice cream I've ever tasted.

It actually tasted just like a peach cobbler - only cold. Which felt good because we were so hot from our hike. The little old lady at the stand got it right out of a tub in a deep freezer. Oh how I wish I had some of that ice cream right now...

On to our last & final stop: Wild Seed Farms

It is a really neat place with all kind of seeds, plants & trees. They also have peach ice cream! We just took a walk around on the trails and looked at all the different kind of plants. Seeing what we might like to put in our yard - one day. We were pretty hot & tired so decided it was time to head back home. We took a different route home and just took in all of the hill country. Once we got home, we got cleaned up and went on a date. To eat Italian...my favorite!

AB during lunch :) I love him! Thanks for such a fun day!

It was such a perfect day! I am so thankful for a husband who loves to spend with me. We had a wonderful day together and I can't wait to do it again soon.

Chicken Salad

Earlier in the week (last week) I baked a whole cut-up chicken for dinner and we had lots of left-overs. Left-overs are great but can get boring after a few days!

I'm not typically a chicken salad kind of girl (okay I do love HEB's chicken salad but it is a bit pricey) but the other day I had decided I would try making my own with the left-over baked chicken. Well, it turned out better than I expected! Actually I really liked it & was rather proud of myself. Ha! So I'd thought I'd share my own made up recipe with you - which really is I am sure like most traditional chicken salad recipes but since I don't have any other recipes here how I made MY chicken salad.

Nancy's Chicken Salad

2 whole baked chicken breast, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1-2 ribs of celery, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard or whole grain mustard (I used whole grain b/c it is what I had)
A few shakes of dried dill or fresh dill
Mayonnaise to your liking (I used about 3/4 cup)
Black pepper

Mix all ingredients together & serve!


Very simple & delicious!

I did not salt mine because I had already seasoned the chicken when I baked it. But I did top mine with "Dinkle" our favorite seasoning that our sweet friends give us from their BBQ restaurant. I ate mine with Ritz crackers & a few celery sticks. AB ate 2 sandwiches & we still had some left-over. It was a nice, refreshing summer lunch.

You can always buy already cooked chicken or if you would like to bake your own, here is how I baked my chicken:

Wash all the pieces, pat dry. Lay pieces in a deep casserole dish and season with Nature's Seasonings. (it is a yellow & blue bottle & can be find in the spice aisle) Add roughly chopped celery and onions. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 until chicken is done (about 45 minutes depending on how many pieces you have).

Happy 6th Birthday!

I can not believe my niece Madyson is SIX years old today! She is going up way too fast!

I still remember the very day she was born. Madyson is my sister's little girl and she was the one that started it all...started Nonnie, that is.

My very first time holding her...she was so tiny!

Birthday #1

Birthday #2

Birthday #3

...and I can't seem to find birthday #4 on my hard drive, bummer!

But here is our sweet Madyson today!

She is quite the DiVa!!!

Nonnie and Alley wants to wish Madyson a very
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We love you so very much!!!

Day Trip

I hope everyone had a happy & safe 4th of July!

Picture taken while in the Ozark National Forest

We sure did. AB & I spent the day together and had a wonderful time. For dinner, we went to Longhorn (where they have some of the most delicious burgers in town) for a good ol' classic American hamburger. I somewhat cheated and got a turkey burger since I am really trying to watch what I eat. Then we headed over to La Cantera where we watched the free Fiesta Texas fireworks show. And oh my! We were not the only people in town who had this idea. Cars were bumper to bumper, mall parking lot full, & trucks lined the median. God was in our favor, watching out for us & we got an awesome spot just 15 minutes before show time. I don't think we could have picked a more perfect spot to watch the fireworks. And the weather was also perfect. Not to mention I could smell all the mesquite tress & other hill country smells - it was a perfect hill country 4th of July!

And today AB has off so we are taking a day trip to Fredericksburg to hike Enchanted Rock. I am so excited! I will be sure to take lots of photos and do lots of shopping while there. Fredericksburg is an old German town filled with lots of great food & shops. One of my favorite lil' Texas hot-spots!