Positive Thinking

I’ll be honest, positive thinking is not my forte. I don’t think I’m the most negative person around, I just feel like “I know better” and complain about all the things not going my way. Whoa…really?

This Christmas season was tough. I just felt sad, not wanting to celebrate and I kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t even care that it was the season to celebrate the birth of my Savior. I knew it was wrong to have this attitude, but I felt deeply pressed into it. I complained and raged about many trivial things. Yes, my grandfather passed away and I was so overcome by sadness that he wasn’t around, but I also let all the little things get to me. Work, travel, laundry, cooking, cleaning, caring for my husband, reading my bible, praying for our church and friends and family. It all felt like a gigantic weight.

I realize, now, that a little positive thinking can go a long way. We sang this song in church yesterday and it was the perfect beginning to this new year:

You are good You are good
When there’s nothing good in me
You are love You are love
On display for all to see
You are light You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope You are hope
You have covered all my sin

Oh I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are peace You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy You are joy
You’re the reason that I sing
You are life You are life
In You death has lost it’s sting

Oh I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here You are here
In Your presence I’m made whole
You are God You are God
Of all else I’m letting go

Just that first line “You are good, when there’s nothing good in me”. That gets me every time. It’s so true! I’m so thankful that He is always good. I can take refuge in that. I know that He is good, love, light, hope, peace, truth, joy, life, more than me and always here. I will never be enough on my own, but He will always supply all that I need. AMEN!

I recently read in Francis Chan’s book, Forgotten God, about not worrying about God’s will for my life as in, I wonder where I’ll be in a year or five years. But, focus on asking God, “What can I do today, right now?” This spoke to me so deeply. The new year came whether I was ready for it or not and I was extremely worried about what it would hold. This past week, I’ve been able to pray and ask God what I should be doing now to satisfy Him and build His kingdom. He is definitely speaking and I am so excited for 2012, I cannot even put it into words! So where does this positive thinking take me? I know He has great plans for me, for my husband, for our families and for our church. I don’t have to know exactly what is down the road, I just have to be willing and available to answer the call for what is now.

Oh, sweet Heavenly Father, thank You for Your unfailing love and Your willingness to put up with me and my negativity. You are faithful and enduring and I will strive to keep on keepin’ on.

An awful hole

“Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”

I grabbed that from Pioneer Woman’s entertainment blog this week. It’s from It’s A Wonderful Life when Clarence is explaining things to George Bailey. It’s never been one of my favorite movies, like it seems to be for every other person in the world, but it’s almost exactly what I told Tim just two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago we lost my Papaw. We had just had the funeral and then attended the church’s Thanksgiving meal the next night. On the way home I could not stop the tears (which wasn’t unusual per the previous days’ events). I told Tim that it hurts so much that he’s gone because he was so present in our lives. It’s like there’s a big hole everywhere now. Just the week before that when I was dreaming of getting to eat the usual Thanksgiving goodies a whole week early (I love the church’s annual meal!) I could imagine every single detail of what the event would look like. I would have told you exactly where the food table and dessert tables would be set up. I could tell you exactly who would be working in the kitchen. I could describe the kids running up and down the hall. And I would have seen Papaw and Meme and the rest of my family waiting for the meal to start. But we went and I walked in…and he wasn’t there. And it was weird.

The church’s meal was wonderful. Lot’s of great people and we had a wonderful time with family in town. Our actual Thanksgiving Day meal was also perfect and we loved having more family around. But, I just expect him to be sitting in his chair when I walk in my grandparent’s house. I expect to get a funny phone call every-now-and-then from my husband telling me Papaw came by the gin because he had nothing else to do and he had everybody laughing the whole time. I expect to hear him say “Merry Christmas” on Thanksgiving Day or our birthdays and “Happy New Year” on Christmas Day. (He always did that, no idea why, but it was so funny.) I expect to sit at the dinner table and hear “MemeTreesyMaryLyndsyLacyceCHRISTY!” because he always went through all the other girls name’s before getting to the right one.

And, I’m not writing this for some pity because I’m just so sad. I just really miss him. It doesn’t seem right, him not being here. I know we’ll find a new kind of right to keep going on, but, sometimes I just miss him so much it hurts. He wasn’t sick and bound to the house or his chair, unmoving and waiting for the day he could leave. He was present, smiling, laughing and made a difference in our lives. There’s not just an awful hole without him, there’s an awful hole everywhere I go. The house, the gin, the farms, the church. But, our hearts are full. Full of memories and funny Papaw phrases. Those make him last. Those make getting through this easier. Those make me laugh till I cry or cry till I laugh.

I won’t forget the morning Tim woke me up at 6 a.m. with the awful news. But that will fade over time. I won’t forget the funeral. It seriously was the best one I’ve been to, such a celebration! But, it’s the happy memories with him that will last the longest and stay the clearest in my mind. Uncle Clay told of the few times he ever saw his dad cry: the day his dad died, the day his brother died, the day his son died, the day his grandson, Herbert Benjamin, was born…sadness and happiness, but he left one out. He cried when he saw me in my wedding dress. I will never, ever forget that.

I read something today by Beth Moore: “Every time you stand at a casket and mourn the death of a friend or loved one, know in your heart that Christ hates death, too…” It was not part of the original plan but the plan is still that we’ll all be together. There is hope in the resurrection of Christ that we will rise and be saved from a second death. He now has a perfect body. I’m sure Papaw doesn’t look like the Papaw I knew and loved, but I’ll know him when I see him again.

My Summer Vacation

In honor of school starting (and since I didn’t blog practically all summer…oops) I decided to write my summer vacation essay.

Ahem…

This summer has flown by. And, I don’t mean flown by as in all the other blog posts I’ve started with that statement. I mean, I can still hear the whooshing sound in my ears. It was that fast. Here are some things I did NOT accomplish…

• Clean up back yard, get ready to replant flower beds in fall
• Repaint baseboards (they are disgusting)
• Repaint master bath (also disgusting)
• Fix bathroom caulking
• Repaint master bedroom (noticing a pattern here)
• Clean out massive shoe hoarding space
• Print some photos and frame them (I did buy frames, they just still have the freaky stock photos in them – hi random people I don’t know!)

Amazingly enough, I’m not freaking out over this list that did not get checked off. We started this summer telling each other that we know it’ll go by fast and ginning season is quickly approaching, so we’d better enjoy it and work our tails off. Well, we did enjoy it but from a nice, relaxing space on the couch. I’m ok with that. It’s just been too darn hot to do much but we did have some trips and adventures.

In June, we traveled all over like ancient nomads to Abilene and Tyler, TX and then Norman and Yukon, OK. We were able to go to my cousin, Melissa’s wedding in Abilene. They were actually married last year before he was deployed in the army and so this was the family’s chance to be together and celebrate!

Melly and Me

Papaw and Tim

We got to hang with our awesome friends, Ryan, Traci, Addi and Kam in Tyler. We had a blast! Those girls keep me on my toes and it was so good to catch up with great friends.

Me and Traci

Dixon crew

Us and Ryan at Lake Palestine

We had a blast making pretzels, swimming, seeing Traci’s great place of work (Brown’s Landing) eating amazing food, seeing old friends, and staying up late laughing. Does my heart good.

Next, we headed to Norman to stay with my aunt and uncle and see their new house. It’s a little ways out of town so it’s got beautiful land and trees (not so used to those!). I love their new place and they seem super happy there. We ate a ton of homemade ice cream and got to see Leah’s apartment. Can’t believe both my little cousins are attending OU…so weird!

Casa de Pace

We made this big loop up to Oklahoma mostly to be there for our niece’s appointment to activate her cochlear implant. We had been praying hard for her since she had the surgery for the implant. We never doubted for a second that it would work, we just didn’t know how easy the transition would be. But, for all those concerned, she was a total champ! Her whole family got together to cheer her on. I think the audiologist said it was a record 22 (ish) people there for her. We completely filled up the little room, all waiting silently to see how she would react and trying to quietly wipe away tears. It was truly amazing to watch her sweet face light up when she knew she was hearing something new and exciting. Not to mention when she heard her mommy and daddy’s voices!

She knows how to find the cameras

Her lunch break

Team Tessa

Pretty girl - back at home

Sheesh, that was just ONE trip! In July we went to Ruidoso, NM, because Tim had a conference there. It was just a few nights but it rained while we were there and it was peaceful and relaxing. We ate our favorite pizza from Cafe Rio and shopped too much. We stayed at a lodge that had a golf course and a 3 mile walking trail around it. I went for a walk the last morning we were there and it was awesome! I love being in the mountains.

We also got to see our friends, Brent & Tamara become parents to sweet Sawyer and were his first babysitters (score!). It’s been fun hanging out with them and getting to know Sawyer. And, we are the new directors for a newly married couples class at our church, Victory Life. We have a great teacher and have made a lot of good friends already through this. We’re so excited to be leading this group through a unique stage in life. We feel like the old married couple of the group – 4 years is way beyond most of the others! We are still learning a lot ourselves and we pray daily to be able to be real with these other couples. The study we’re doing now is called “Staying In Love” by Andy Stanley. I highly recommend everyone look into this course. (Plus, it’s only 4 weeks long!)

And one more little thing – my hubby’s 30th birthday! I had been so excited to celebrate his birthday this year. 30 is a milestone for sure and I’m just so stinkin’ proud to be his wife. I decided a few months before that the thing he would love the most is to have his family around for it. So, I planned a little surprise party. His parents and two of his brother’s and their family were able to come and we had a great time! He didn’t suspect a thing!

Love this pic - Harley and Dad chatting before the party

Chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries - Tim's fave

(most of) the brothers

Tessa being the cute entertainment

Kids are happy now that they have cake!

That, in a nutshell, was the great Bynum summer of 2011. We loved every second. Now, I’m ready for -40 degree weather and hats and scarves and boots….

Book Review: Twelve Extraordinary Women

Twelve Extraordinary Women, by John MacArthur

I bought this book to use as a study. I usually need a lot of structure and am working on just reading my Bible. This book is probably a quick read to most people, but I decided to break it down and just go section (or short chapter) by section. I’m really glad I did, I had me really digging into the Bible and re-reading stories I thought I “knew”.

Bear in mind, this is the author’s opinion in many ways, but I do think he used truth from the Bible to form his opinions and I found myself agreeing with almost everything. He chose 12 women from the Bible and told their stories. There are others I wish he had written about, but the ones he chose were all great. The women he chose and their central characteristics are:

• Eve – perseverance in faith and expectation
• Sarah – steadfast hope
• Rahab – remarkable conversion
• Ruth – devotion, love, trust and humility
• Hannah – dedication of motherhood
• Mary, mother of Christ – humble submission
• Anna – faithful witness
• The Samaritan woman – eager response to the Gospel message
• Martha – devoted servant
• Mary, of Bethany – worship above all else
• Mary Magdalene – great love and devotion
• Lydia – a heart willing to receive the Good News

The author did a great job of citing these women’s flaws as well as their “redeeming qualities”. He made a point to state that they were not perfect, but God’s perfect plan was able to manifest through them. Each one of them also had the central theme of faith in the promised Messiah or faith in the King that has come. This theme was so important in connecting the people of God of the Old Testament and the witnesses and converts of the New Testament.

He also acknowledged that sometimes, in our feminist world, we forget that the Bible is really good about promoting women as equal as men. None of these women were extraordinary because of who they married or what family they came from. They had their own unique qualities about their person, as well as exemplified women’s virtues to accomplish things in a way no man could. I appreciated that because sometimes the world tries to label Christianity as too traditional, as if that’s a negative thing! They view the Bible as something that puts women in the background. In reality, women were created as a helper, or equal, and there are roles that only we can fill. These women played the main character in their stories and I’m thankful for these reminders. It just goes to show, no matter who you are, or your background, God can use you!

One of my favorite little things from this book: The first chapter was about Eve and it was one of the longest ones, rightfully so. It begins with creation and follows Even through the exile from the Garden. The very last thing he talks about is that even through Adam and Eve’s original sin, they were given a promise. The promise actually came through the curse of the serpent, “I will put enmity…between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen 3:15) The mere mention of her Seed means she would have children, but not just any children. Her line would produce the Messiah. The thing that stood out to me was he also mentions that heaven will be filled with Adam and Eve’s offspring – ALL of us! It gave me chills to think of being in Heaven one day, praising our Savior in the flesh while being in the midst of all the ancestors of faith. The last line says “After all, heaven will be filled with her redeemed offspring, and they will be eternally occupied with a celebration of the work of her Seed.” Extraordinary!

May Birthdays

We had Lyndsy and my mom’s birthday celebrations a few weekends ago. Lyndsy turned 16 on May 31 and my mom turned…um, had her anniversary of her 40th on May 26! They celebrate together lots of years and this sweet 16 was extra special. Lyndsy had 3 other aunts, her other grandmother and another cousin in attendance for the milestone. We had a blast hanging out with these ladies and would love to do it all over again.

I remember pretty much everything from the 24 hour period of when Lyndsy was born. I wasn’t at the hospital, they were scheduled to be there around 5 am, I think. My great-grandmother (Mamaw) passed away the very night before so we were scheduled to keep Ben, the big brother, and try to get him back to sleep when his parents went off to Lubbock. I had just finished 5th grade and really wanted to help but went back to sleep pretty quick. We were all sad about Mamaw passing away but so happy to meet Lyndsy, too! I will never forget seeing her for the first time and thinking “She looks just like Mamaw! WEIRD!” She had the same little smile, to me. I think it was later in the summer when my grandparent’s had a garage sale and it was super hot outside. I got to sit inside rocking the new little Lyndsy to sleep. I totally loved it! Now…she’s 16 and driving this :

2011 Camaro

Yep, I feel old! And a little weepy…sheesh! I seriously can’t believe she’s 16. And, Ben is about to turn 18 and starting TTU in the fall. Stay little, Layce, please…

Birthday girls!

Too cute. During the Happy Birthday song, they kept pointing to each other during “Happy Birthday to YOU” Silliness, love it!

Surprise!

Sweet 16!

And, I have a great video of Lyndsy finding her big surprise, but can’t, for the life of me, get the video to upload right-side up…so, if you can help with that, I (and my grandmother!) would really appreciate it.

Graduation

My cousin, Ben, graduated from Levelland High School last night. We are so proud of him! He is an amazing saxophone player and has been accepted into the Texas Tech University School of Music. He’s really into jazz and we’re pretty sure he’ll be playing with Michael Buble one day! (Backstage access, please? SWEET!) ((Also, sorry for the fuzzy pics))

Ben and Uncle Clay

Ben & his parents

Grandparents

Congrats Graduate!

Ben has another grandmother, 3 aunts and another cousin visiting. We’re having so much fun with all the family. Tonight we are celebrating Lyndsy’s 16th and my mom’s birthday! More yummy food….which reminds me, I have to make a sopapilla cheesecake!

Congratulations Benjamin! Can’t wait to hear you rock it at TTU!

Reconnecting in Ruidoso

Last fall, our life group leaders, George & Cathy, told us that for several years now, they have taken at least one night, sometimes a weekend, and just get away from it all. They have two college-age children and so for a night or two every year, they would leave them with family/friends, step away from the cell phones and computers, dis the laundry and dishes for another day and focus on each other. Tim and I were really encouraged by this idea. The point is to remind each other “this is why I love you” and to asses the previous year and set goals for the coming year. Awesome!

So, we decided to take a weekend and get away to Ruidoso last month. I cannot describe how wonderful and uplifting this little retreat was. We know that this could be a relatively calm time in our lives, no kids, I work at home, etc…and we need to cherish it now so that we can still cherish is later. So, we headed to the White Mountain Cabins in the Upper Canyon of Ruidoso, NM. This cabin is just for couples, teeny, tiny and perfect! This was one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed and it was basically just one room, no doors except for a tiny, ummm, water closet. HA! Look that one up!

We knew we had three nights and two full days and decided not to plan a dang thing. This would normally be excruciating for me, the planner extraordinaire, but something about the whole meaning of this trip and God’s peace just helped me relax and not care about plans for once. We spent  a lot of time eating good food (Log Cabin twice? Thank you very much!) and more time just talking, praying and enjoying each other. Talking might sound horrible to many guys out there, but really, speaking to your wife about what you think of your relationship and your future is sexy! Trust me…

We devoted time to our past, mistakes and even some shameful things that we knew we needed to confide in each other and to our Almighty God. I’ve had trouble in the past feeling “really” forgiven. Like, really really? It’s gone…really? But actually putting mistakes into words through a journal or through telling your spouse and then praying about it out loud is powerful! We were able to move past these things and focus on what’s next. Which, by the way, we kind of have no idea what’s next! But we talked about many possibilities with our church, our family and our jobs. We ended up making a goals list. Some of them are things we could change right now such as a dedicated time for quiet time with the Lord. Other things were things that we know we want to do but aren’t sure yet how to accomplish it. Such as, praying about where to serve in our church and finding that place as soon as possible.

Many of these goals were a starting point and really helped rev us up to do this year right. I’m so thankful for the man God has blessed me with. He knows exactly how and when to make me laugh, when to be serious for me and when to tell me to get over it and move on. So, I want to encourage you! Take a night, even if you just go to a hotel in town, and put everything aside to focus totally on your sweetie. You’ll be absolutely amazed at what can happen. Maybe you need some quiet space to hash something important out. Maybe you just need to remember you not only love your spouse, but you actually like your spouse. Do this for each other. I hope God blesses you greatly for it.

Love this man!

Book Review: Get Out of That Pit

(Disclaimer: This is actually a review of the journal based on the book Get Out of That Pit…went the cheap way!)

I started this book back in February, so I’ve been done for a while but have been waiting for a few good minutes to tell you all about it! Ladies, if you haven’t done a Beth Moore Bible study before, I sincerely recommend that you do! I knew she had some great things to say but kept thinking “oh, that’s for moms, or grandma’s or you know, anyone but me“. HA! Last fall the ladies Bible study at our church did a study called “Loving Well” by Beth. It was fantastic! Well, long story short I had been wrestling with the fact that I wasn’t learning God’s Word very much other than Sunday mornings…no quiet time and God was really calling to me, “Come back!” It’s been way too long. Tim and I have been focusing on strengthening our individual relationship with the Living God as well as our marriage (more on that in another post). I need a lot of structure and sometimes lot’s of help getting started. I did some research on the internet and thought “Well, I’ll do this one…” No real big commitment, huh? Like the disclaimer says I went the cheap route and only bought the journal. Little did I know, it would hold EXACTLY the words that my heart would need to hear…

First off, Beth Moore is a wonderful teacher. She knows how to talk to a woman without being saccharine sweet. The way she words things just made me say “WOW!” But, also, of course her words are helpful – they are TRUTH filled! This book/journal is filled with Biblical truths about what a pit can be for each different person, how we easily fall into it, how living in it feels, and, most gloriously, how to grasp onto Jesus, our Savior, and RISE out of that pit! Before beginning this, I could definitely equate my spiritual life to that of living in a pit. I definitely knew that’s how it felt but didn’t realize all the things that led up to that or how God had been working so hard to prepare me to be removed from the pit. It was eye opening. One quick example of my own personal pit: I had definitely replaced Jesus as my first love and had been suffering the consequences and shame for a while. Once I traced it back as far as I possibly could, admitted my specific sins that led me down that road and believed that the Almighty God truly does forgive me, it was like taking a breath of fresh air. Things have changed so much since that, I don’t have time to write it all down, but I hope to tell you more through more posts about my life out of the pit now.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not a “get fixed quick” type of book. I truly believe that through the “happenstance” of finding this book at B&N it was just exactly what God wanted me to read. He knows how my mind works, how I need the structure of a journal like this, how I need to be pried out of my comfort zone. The journal itself worked really well for me how it is laid out. There is a short devotional type point, a question relating to what it teaches, a question for relating it to your life specifically and then a section for prayer journaling. And of course, scripture to back it all up! I thoroughly enjoyed getting back into His Word and began to notice so many fascinating things through this study. I also am not great at journaling, but this encouraged me to do more of it and made it really easy.

If you’re struggling with anything, doubt, shame, depression, loneliness, or you just feel stuck in one place, you should give this book and journal a try. I believe Beth has been blessed with a talent for explaining things succinctly and in a new way. A way that will get your attention and make you see the Truth. Jesus wants us to live a life of freedom!

San Antonio

We had the opportunity to go to San Antonio during Spring Break last month (umm, someone slow down time, please!). We had a blast! The weather was perfect, got to hang out with some family, made new friends, stayed at an amazing resort and ate awesome Mexican food! I’m bad at this posting thing, so I’ll tell this one through pictures as well…

Layce and Lyndsy in front of the resort

We stayed at the Westin La Cantera Resort on the North Side of San Antonio, just off of I-10. We were actually far away from everything San Antonio-feeling but it was set up high on a hill with lots of land surrounding it. Great views everywhere and a great little nature trail that we took one morning.

View of San Antonio from La Cantera

The Resort had several pools, sports areas and lots of kid’s activities. We were with my aunt, uncle and three cousins. So, good excuse to hang out and participate in kid’s stuff! Ice cream before dinner and s’mores before bedtime? Yes, please!

They had an animal show one morning where we were able to pet a baby wallaby (try saying that without an Australian accent…go ahead…try), a sloth (!!) a blue-tongued skink and a tarantula (no thanks). It was crazy seeing all these animal up close. I stayed far away from the spider and if you pet the skink, you had to use hand sanitizer afterward…umm, there’s something wrong about that.

Baby Wallaby!

Blue Toungued Skink

Sloth (looks like a Wookie)

The Hotel is right by Fiesta Texas and they have Looney-Tunes characters join you for breakfast in the morning. It was really cute and they interacted with everyone (adults included, a bit awkward…but still funny!)

 

Bugs with Layce and Levi

Bugs and Ben!

We visited the Riverwalk and ate at Casa Rio.

 

Casa Rio and the river dyed green for St. Patty’s

Tim had never been to the Alamo so we visited there of course!

 

Tim at the Alamo

We also went to Fiesta Texas and window shopped at some crazy-expensive stores at the Shops at La Cantera. We finished the last night at Mi Tierra. Sort of a tourist trap, because it is near the river walk in an area called The Market. Surrounded by “trinket stores” and there is seriously probably 100′s of people at any given time. We got there at a good time so only had to wait an hour. I had chicken enchiladas with mole…oh. my. word. SO GOOD! I recommend eating here at least once, the decor alone is worth it. Plus they have a great bakery (panaderia) for some good dessert or breakfast the next morning.

 

Millions of pinata decorations!

We had a great time and can’t wait to go again!

Traveling

We’ve had the opportunity to travel quite a bit this spring and we’ve really enjoyed it! Tim’s job sent him to Corpus Christi at the end of February so we flew there for a few nights. This was my first time to ever fly on an airplane. Yep, first time ever! I was really nervous, I did not like the idea of, you know, being thousands of miles above the earth because if something went wrong, where do you go?! DOWN. Everyone told me, it’s safer than driving and blah, blah…I just had to say, Ok God, I know you got this. Taking off made my stomach flip and I didn’t really want to look outside at first. But, then I took a peak and it was so cool! I really like looking at the land in West Texas from that vantage point. You can see all the different farms and it just reminds me about all the awesome stuff that our community is built upon. I mean, my whole family is in the cotton business somehow so it’s pretty neat to see it from up so high!

It’s silly how much I worried about weird things like the plane splitting in half like on Lost but I didn’t think about how germy the plane would be. YUCK. It’s still not my first choice for travel but it did get us there pretty quickly! The landing was not fun, I never got over that. Each time I thought “This is not natural, you’re going way too fast!” I’m a backseat driver, so why not be a back seat flyer? All in all, we had a great time and I’m glad Tim was there to hold my hand for my first flight.

Corpus was beautiful! It was cooler than we thought it’d be. The temps were 70ish but the breeze off the gulf really cooled it down and I needed my jacket all the time. We met some nice people also from Lubbock for Tim’s conference and the hotel was pretty nice. I really enjoyed just sitting and staring at the gulf. We just don’t see water like that in West Texas! The sun kept going in and out of clouds and the water would sparkle. I was overwhelmed thinking about the God that made all of this…all this water…stay in one place and look like this and hold so much life…also made me and cares about me deeper than the deepest ocean. I loved having my quiet time out at the bay and was able to marvel at His creation in a different way.

 

View from our hotel room

Bayfront

Timmy on the T-head

We were able to walk out on one of the T-heads for dinner both nights. It was fantastic! First night we went to Landry’s. Yummy sea-food and wine with friends we made on the plane. The next night we went to Harrison’s Landing. Just a very small shack almost that sits on the marina. Live music, great coconut shrimp and a fantastic sunset! We watched people who owned boats come in and out of the marina and it was so fascinating! I know nothing about boats, but it seems so relaxing to just take your boat out and chill. We saw a couple taking friends out after the sun went down with a huge picnic basket. Looked like a great time!

View from Harrison's Landing

Harrison's Landing

(BTW: all photos were taken on my iPhone 4…pretty good!)

We also went to Kansas the very next weekend. We were pretty exhausted after that trip but we were able to gain three new tax clients while we there! We are very blessed this year.

Now, I’m running around trying to start packing, shopping a little, and trying to decide if I have enough floss to last me for the week because we leave for San Antonio in the morning! I can’t wait! Another work trip, but Tim only has meetings in the morning and the afternoons are free! My aunt, uncle and their three kids are also going and I’m looking forward to spending time with them. We haven’t ever traveled with this side of the family so it’ll be really fun!