Thankful!!!

I'm not really sure how to begin this blog because my thoughts are kind of a mess. So this should make for some interesting reading for all of you. :)

It seems like every time I think I am okay with the whole "not being pregnant" thing, something slaps me in the face. For instance, I came home the other night to Morgan telling me that two of our friends are now pregnant. One of them wasn't trying (I don't think.) Earlier that day at work, we found out that one of our OB doctors (she used to be my OB) is pregnant with her third. So in one day I found out that THREE people I know are pregnant. Really? God, seriously. I understand that you might be "testing me" or trying to pull me back closer to You or maybe it's just not our "timing" yet. After all, God DOES know what He's doing!! But how much can one girl handle in a day? Apparently a lot, because amazingly I didn't break down into tears when Morgan told me about two of our friends being pregnant. There are mornings (mainly those mornings when my alarm goes off at 0445) that I am thankful to only have to be responsible for ME! Because sometimes just ME seems more than I can handle because I am NOT a morning person. Although I know it will be different when I have my own precious little sweet pea to take care of. I'm sure I will be desperately yearning to crawl back into bed, but I know a little person relies on me and that means more than anything.

Today I accidentally stumbled upon my friend's sister in law's blog page. Made me a little sad. Why? Because she's pregnant. I read all of her blog and I don't even know her. It was basically about her pregnancy because she started her blog when she found out she was pregnant. Although I am really happy for her, my heart was sad because I would give anything to be blogging about my own experience with my belly growing. I know some day that day will come and it will be the perfect timing!! Not "Laura's" timing, but God's timing.

I found a song on her page that I liked so I had added it to my blog page. As I was scrolling down my page, literally watching my life past before my eyes, I was seeing all of the pictures and posts I have posted a little over a year now. WOW! I started that scroll feeling a little sad, but ended with a thought of "I am so thankful for my life!" I have so many friends and family that love me and I love them. I have a roof over my head, a car that gets me from point A to point B and I never have to worry about it, I have the most supportive husband a girl could ask for, wonderful parents, amazing in laws that keep me laughing, friends to turn to when I feel sad or need to share something funny, a wonderful job, and the list could go on and on and on!!

Deep down I wonder if I am ready to have a baby RIGHT NOW! Why? This is how I know. As desperately as I want a child in my life, I have been dreaming (weekly, almost daily) of our trip to Mexico that never happened due to drug wars and swine flu. We were going to stay at the Excellence Riviera Cancun. It's rated the #1 resort in its area. It's BEAUTIFUL!! Has amazing reviews. I find myself almost every other day stumbling upon the website http://www.tripadvisor.com/ to check out the latest pictures people have posted of the resort. My friend from work, Michelle, is actually there RIGHT NOW as I type away...dreaming of this resort. Earlier this year Michelle was talking about how she was getting married in Mexico. Something was telling me, "DON'T ASK HER! DON'T ASK HER! DON'T ASK HER!" But I did..."Michelle, which resort are you getting married at?" Her response, "Excellence Riviera Cancun." My heart sank because that's where Morgan & I were supposed to go!!! Now she's there RIGHT NOW! Probably sitting on the beach soaking in the rays with a drink in her hand. :) Sounds so nice!! Truly, I am VERY happy for her! She's there for TWO weeks...LUCKY GIRL!! Every time I hear the song, "I've got my toes in the water, a$$ in the sand, not a worry in the world a cold beer (margarita for Laura) in my hand, life is good today...life is good today." I cant' help but imagine Morgan and myself there!!! If we are not pregnant by our 2nd year anniversary, this is where we will be to celebrate! I'm soooo excited!!! A HUGE part of me wants to take one more vacation like this before we have our own little ones. Because once they are here, it most likely won't happen for a MIGHTY long time!!!!!! But if next month I took 10 pregnancy tests (because I know myself, I would not trust the first handful) that all say pregnant...I would be equally (let's be honest, MORE) excited!! We will see...

Hope you are all enjoying this rainy Monday! I made my dad's famous chocolate chip cookies and consumed a little more cookie dough at one time then one human being should!!! :)

State Fair of Texas

A little side note, I did not take these pics. For some reason, this girl that LOVES taking pictures, did not take her camera!!! Gurrrrr...


Howdy Folks!!! Today Morgan and I went to the State Fair of Texas. Morgan gets us free tickets and parking pass through his work so we always go. We get to park right up front and bam, we're in the state fair. :) It's so nice to go for free and save so much money!!! We got there around 1030. It was PERFECT!! Hardly a crowd. I could hold my arms out and spin down the walk way and not hit a single soul. (No, I did not do that. Just saying...)That's how much walking room we had. Not how it was when we were leaving, but we were there for 5 hours so it was getting crowded when we left. The weather was so nice. We could not have requested a more perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky and it was cool outside earlier in the day. One of my favorite days...where I was in a short sleeve t-shirt and 100% comfortable and Morgan was in a light jacket and 100% comfortable. My "menu" list before we went was FRIED BUTTER, CORN DOG, AND FUNNEL CAKE. Corn Dog and Funnel Cakes are a MUST for me. But then when we got there I realized that I am not actually a big fan of corn dogs. So why do I eat them EVERY YEAR?!? I guess because it's the "thing to do" at the state fair. So I skipped that this year. We headed straight for the fried butter. There wasn't hardly a line. When we were leaving, there were two looooooong crazy lines!! Phew! Glad we missed those. Anyway, Morgan wouldn't walk up to the counter with me because there was a television station filming. He said he didn't want to be on TV. I didn't really care. I just wanted to try some fried butter. It was sooooooooooo good!!! Can't even explain it. I had imagined in my head a piece of a stick of butter dipped in grease. But it wasn't like that at all. It was doughy (if that's even a word) and the butter was melted and hot and just dripped down your chin. It was as you would say, "finger lickin' good!!" As far as the funnel cake goes, I didn't get one this year. Not sure what was wrong with me because I ALWAYS get one. Wherever I go, if there is a funnel cake on the menu you better bet I am ordering one. But I didn't. I opted for COTTON CANDY!!!! Love Cotton Candy!!!

My other favorite thing and a "must do" at the state fair is to walk through the two car buildings. I love looking at all the cars. Sitting in all the cars I have admired from afar but was never able to see the insides. That all changes at the state fair. I sat in all the cars that I love. The cars I will never be able to afford. Sometimes realizing after sitting in them that I would never be happy with those cars anyway. Also at the state fair a "must do" for us is to go visit our friends at the "dip & soup" stand. Not really a professional name, but I don't know the real name. No, they aren't really our "friends" but we always buy from them. He told us today they also go to Canton. They have the BEST dips. They have pretzels out and everyone walks around with pretzels in their hands, dipping them in all the different dips. Sounds gross I'm sure, but it's actually very "sanitary." Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it!! I'm the biggest germ freak there is. The dips are easy to make. They give you the main "fixins" and then you just add sour cream and mayonnaise. They are always a hit at the parties I take them to.

It was also really neat to see the UT & OU 18 wheeler trucks all painted according to the university parked right next to the Cotton Bowl. Did you notice which team I mentioned first? Yes, I am a big UT fan. I've gone to a game down in Austin and it was a blast. Anyway, everyone was walking around with their UT & OU shirts on. Made me wish I wore mine. Then over by the stadium there was a greyhound bus with UT players loading up and leaving. We were all standing there watching and as they drove off everyone was holding up their UT fingers. It was neat to see the support. With all of that said, we are SO THANKFUL we will not be there tomorrow. We (more like "I" b/c Morgan is working) will be watching the game from the comfort of our home. It's the BEST game of the year...as far as college football goes. On the way home we saw tons of cars south bound on 75 with their OU flags hanging on the windows. Boo! HaHa!

My MOST FAVORITE THING to visit at the state fair is.................






I think I will always be a 10 year old at heart. I love, love, love the rides!! I can't get enough. I'm about to sound like my grandparents when I say, "I remember back in the day when these rides only cost 4-6 tickets." Now they cost TEN!!! Yikes!! That means each ride is 5 bucks, but so worth it...well, most of them. There is one ride that I could ride 50 times in a row if I was rich. It's called the XTREME. I ride it EVERY YEAR!! I rode it twice this year. This year I made Morgan ride it with me because we rode it pretty early in the day so not many people were there yet and I was going to be the only one riding it. The best way to explain it is, while it spends round and round, it swings you really high in the air at the same time. The last ride I rode...without Morgan...I absolutely HATED!! I was praying the entire time, no joke, that God would let me live to see another day. I was on the end and I kept feeling that while it was flipping me way high in the air and turning me upside down, that I was about to fly out the side. I was griping those handle bars so tight that when I got off I could hardly move my fingers. I don't think I have prayed that hard in a LONG time. I don't ever get scared on rides but something about that one freaked me out a little bit...more like a lot!

They also had a really cool train exhibit. They had a new Amtrak train and a few older trains (1910's & 30's) that you could walk through. It was really neat to see how they have advanced over the years. It was cool to see how the sleeping arrangements used to be back in the day. These trains are so MASSIVE in person! They almost don't look real. I guess b/c I am used to seeing toy trains and not the real deal. After walking through this exhibit, Morgan is now inspired for us to go on a train ride some where. He said, "Canada." No clue why he chose Canada. I said, "New York City," because in NY you don't need a car.

So, that was our experience at the Sate Fair. It was such a perfect day and while I was standing there in line waiting for my favorite ride, I couldn't help but give thanks to God for such a beautiful day and for us being able to be there and pretend we are kids again!!! If only for a moment in time. :)

WAIT!!!! I almost forgot to show y'all my little souvenir...

Can you see it? It's a little leather bracelet with our names on it. Childish? Absolutely! But a girl at work got one with her and her husband's name on it and I thought it was so cute. So while we were there, I was secretly keeping my eyes open for the man that was doing this. Lucky me, unlucky Morgan, I found him! haha! Morgan didn't seem to amused that I wanted one of these bracelets, but I bought it anyway. Since he was kind of being a little stinker about me buying it, I told him that I was going to get LLLC initialized on it to represent "Laura, Layla, Lillie, and Charlie." Charlie is our horse. :) But I didn't. I got "Laura & Morgan." And yes, I am going to wear this bracelet!!!

Just Call Me...

Martha! Martha Stewart that is!! HaHa! Totally Kidding. But really, here lately I have become borderline obsessed with decorating. We have lived in this house for over a year and just recently I decided to do a little decorating. I mean, don't get me wrong, I have decorations going on in this house, but some things were incomplete. The summer of '08 I decided that it would be a good idea to only decorate 4/5 shelves of our amazing entertainment center that my brother in law made us. I've talked about it in another blog, but Matt built this beautiful entertainment center around a "not so pretty" fireplace. I just can't even explain what a difference it made in this house. Anyway, so I have only decorated 4/5 shelves. Not sure why, possibly because I could never reach the top shelf and I hoped it was too high up there for people's eyes to travel that far up. :) One day I had enough! I was off to Hobby Lobby. This is when a mild addiction to Hobby Lobby began. It's ridiculous. This is my new favorite store!! It has replaced Target. I love how practically everything in the store is always 50% off...or do they mark it up so they can say they are offering a 50% discount? Who knows! Either way, I am addicted. Then a few weeks later, that would be yesterday, I decided that the top shelf above our kitchen cabinets was screaming at me to decorate it. Or maybe I just needed a good excuse to go to Hobby Lobby? So off I went, spent way too much money, and this was one of those days I was thankful that I paid the bills and balanced the check book and not Morgan. I don't like the "grown up" look when it comes to decorating. As I was decorating last night I was wondering if I will ever out grow the stage I am in and have always been in. The stage of "nick knack" decor. Probably not. I love it too much!!! So here are some pics. Trust me, the decor is much more stunning in person...hehe!

This is my kitchen decor, obviously. Wonder what gave it away, could it be the dishes? Anyway, what a difference it has made to our kitchen!!! We added a beautiful "Love" picture to the right that you can't see. It's above the doorway to the living room. We also added three other picture/decor things to the left wall above the stove and refrigerator. I feel like I have a brand new kitchen.

Here's our entertainment center with the top shelf FINALLY decorated. I've had all the other shelves decorated, just not the top shelf and what a difference it made. I was trying to find the signs of "Faith, Hope, Love" that matched but I couldn't. I usually just found two and not three. So I decided to mix it up and do all different style signs and I loved it even more. The cross on the right has "Faith, Hope, & Love" on it so it was perfect. I was so happy to find it because it matched my theme. :)

Another picture just in case one wasn't enough for ya. HAHA!! Sorry, I am feeling a little sarcastic tonight.

I decided to make this a "Random" Blog. Why not? It's my blog. :) This is one of our pics on our entertainment center. It's a pic of a pic, hence the quality. I love these girls!! That was the BEST day of my life so far.

Here's a picture of the boys! They are so handsome. What a beautiful day that was!! Not a cloud in the sky.

My parents came up here to see us and pick up Lillie...thank goodness. We love that little puppy dog so much but my goodness, she has been barking at EVERYTHING lately!! She goes to doggy day care at my in laws when Morgan and I both work and GiGi (my "niece" dog) is living there now for a while. Wondering if she's picking this up for GiGi. Although, I really don't hear GiGi bark that much either. Anyway, it's annoying. So when my dad said that he wanted to get Lillie we didn't decline his offer. So when they got here, Lillie instantly found her place on Grandad's lap...aka...her favorite place to be with her favorite person on earth!! She had to sit on his lap to make sure he didn't go anywhere without her knowing.

Alright, that's all I have for tonight! If you are still reading this blog post, I am amazed! Thank You!!

Balloons for Chase

This past Saturday was the Balloon Release for Chase. They asked as many of us that could to release balloons in Chase's honor. His sisters, Kendyll, Carlie, and Abby Kate are making a keep sake book to remember Chase. So we are all sending our pictures of our balloon releases. Due to my working schedule, I was unable to get my balloons for this past Saturday. So I decided that I would do it today. Since it's supposed to rain later today, I decided to do this by myself since Morgan gets off work later. I chose six balloons for Chase and his family. One to represent each of them. Before I released Chase's balloons, I said a prayer for Chase and his family that they may all feel the love of God and continue to be surrounded by support as they start the healing process. It was a little windy today and I started wondering why I had decided to release them today, but then I decided the wind would carry them faster to Chase. :) So here are my pictures, please continue to keep this family in your prayers.

These are the cards for Chase to read when the balloons reach him. One of my oldest friends, Holli, who also knows Chelsea asked me to send a note and balloon to Chase with ours. It's amazing how many lives this sweet little boy has touched!! My friend Brittani, who is also longing for her own little miracle from above, decided that when she released her balloons, that Chase would be the perfect angel to deliver a message to our Heavenly Father. That whenever He is ready, we are ready for our own blessing from above.

Since I was doing this by myself, I decided to take pictures of the balloons with the cards attached before I headed outside.

I hope Chase loves his personalized Cards. :)

Balloons for Chase.

Here come your balloons Chase!! :)

Chase, you will be missed here on earth more than you will ever know! But we know you are up in Heaven with our Heavenly Father smiling down and watching over your parents and three sisters who love you dearly.

Chelsea & Mark,

There are not enough words to express the sorrow I feel in my heart for your family. I know because of God and your faith in God, your family has shown amazing strength and are encouragements to everyone who has been touched by this tragic situation. I pray that as your family starts the healing process, you will continue to feel the love and support from not only God, but all those that love you down here on earth. One day I know your family will be reunited with Chase and what an amazing day that will be!!! My favorite Bible verse is, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 I hope, pray, and have faith that God will take this tragic situation and turn it around for the good. Something tells me in my heart, that Chelsea and Mark, the two of you some day will be able to help others who have experienced the loss of an infant. Chelsea, you were always an amazing friend and a wonderful support to me. I know some day, God will use you to be a blessing to others during their times of needs. Until then, may God wrap you and your family in his loving arms. Love to your family!! You will forever be in my prayers.

Recipe for a Happy Marriage

Back before Morgan and I got married, we were blessed to have several wedding showers. I have grown up in a church since I was 5 years old so these lovely ladies know me well. The ladies throwing the shower decided to send out two recipe cards with the shower invites. Isn't that just a fantastic idea? I thought so. There were a lot of ladies there and I got a lot of great recipes that the ladies put in a Recipe Book for me. So today I sent my mom an email telling her that I want her Taco Soup recipe. I know it's really easy. Basically you are just throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pot, but I still need to know what ingredients to throw in. She tells me to look in my Recipe Book that the ladies from church put together for me because she's pretty sure she put the recipe in there. So I open my Recipe Book. The first recipe I see is the BEST recipe!!! Do you want to know what it is? Of course you do!!! :) Here is the first recipe I saw...

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE

2 heaping portions of love
2 large portions each of kindness and understanding

Stir In: Generous amounts of consideration and thoughtfulness over the years.

Baste Often With: Tenderness and affection to make the mixture sweet.

Should mixture start to boil and angry bubbles appear, turn off heat at once; add more love and understanding and continue cooking.

Ice with happiness. Makes enough to last a lifetime.


Isn't this the best recipe you've ever seen? I love it. I received it from my friend, Holli's, mother. Some day when I get motivated enough, I want to type it out, frame it, and hang it in our kitchen. Hmmm, mom, if you would love to type this up for me, I would greatly appreciate it since I don't have a printer. *wink* *wink*

Hope you're having a blessed, rainy Sunday everyone!!!

Chase

I know some of y'all have read the story of sweet Chase on Cassie's blog. I encourage you to now go back to Cassie's blog and read her latest post about their balloon release. I didn't expect to cry, but as soon as I saw Chelsea, I busted out into tears. What a beautiful start to this day to release balloons for Chase. Followed by rain, kind of appropriate if you ask me. This is an amazing family! Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

God Is Good!!!

A friend I grew up with going to church was pregnant with her baby boy. Her name is Chelsea and the baby's name is Chase. It is a heart breaking story. She lost him last Sunday at 34 weeks and delivered him this past Wednesday. Her and her husband already have three beautiful girls and were really excited for this sweet baby boy. It is a devastating loss. Fortunately, they have an amazing relationship with our Heavenly Father. The amazing strength they have shown is beyond words. They are the best examples of how to deal with a tragic loss and still proclaim that God is Good. God is Good, but sometimes during these losses people tend to forget that. Since some of you that read my blog know Chelsea but might not know this story, please go to Cassie's blog. On the right side of my page is a link to Cassie's blog. Cassie is Chelsea's sister...Chelsea is the oldest of 4 sisters. Cassie has blogged over the past week about this situation. I want to share it with everyone because hopefully some day it will help you. It has already helped me. They also need continue prayers while they start the healing process. Even though you might not know them personally, please pray for this sweet, sweet family.