Cling to what is Good...

A Sweet Shower

2011-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, we had a baby shower for sweet Lindy and Baby Emma! It was a beautiful and relaxing shower, and we spent most of our time outside, because the weather was perfect!

A precious lady from church hosted it at her house. Isn't this porch and yard beautiful?

And yes, that is a swinging bed!!!! How fun! Many of us enjoyed relaxing here during the shower!!

Cute girl and some of her gifts!

My Six Favorite Pictures Since January :)

2011-10-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

The night the Mavs won the championship!!! June 2011

We went on a beautiful trip to Colorado with some of our favorite couples in July! Me and Mason at Garden of the Gods...

My family went on the most relaxing, wonderful beach vacation. We were seriously so relaxed that I only took one picture all week. And then I played with the color on this photo and messed it up :)

The Orrdeal Family Reunion in Nashville in August...The kids right before a great southern dinner!

At the ribbon-cutting of the new Wellness Center at ACU...

Labor Day at the Lakehouse...I pretty much did nothing but sit right here...

January 2011

2011-02-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

January-not usually my favorite month, however this year, January was fantastic! We had a wonderful time at New Years, and then the three weekends that followed New Years weekend, were packed with fun.

WEEKEND ONE:

We started off the weekend by celebrating Madeline's birthday! I can't believe she is 18!

We celebrated her birthday by eating at Tilman's in Fort Worth! Oh.my.word. Seriously. Go eat there: eat an appetizer, eat beef, and order dessert. I seriously wish I had taken pictures of the table side smores that you cook yourself! The food is fabulous and the atmosphere is really neat.

The next day, Mason and I went to Northpark to buy our Christmas presents...We hadn't done any presents for each other this year, so we shopped a little. While we were there we ate at one of my favorite places to eat in Dallas..La Duni. I love any chance I get to eat there.

WEEKEND TWO

My dear friend Lauryn came to visit, and it was so refreshing to just have some time with girl friends! Celebrity Bakery, loads of shopping, and LOTS of talking! I loved it, and I was so glad JuliAnne met up with us for most of the day Saturday!

The only picture from the weekend, I love these two!

That weekend we also went bowling with our small group, and thankfully I didn't make a complete fool of myself. I actually bowled over 70. For me, that was a success.

WEEKEND THREE:

I can't get my camera cord to upload pictures right now, so I have no pics, but my brother Patrick and his girlfriend Elyse came to visit, and we had a wonderful time hanging out! Plus Elyse and I enjoyed pedicures and shopping at Lilly Pulitzer, where we both bought bright blue dresses with ginko leaves all over them...I think we are going to get along just great! :)

I'm thankful that this month has been so full of fun times with friends and family!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-15T12:24:00.001-08:00

This Christmas was one of the best! I had a wonderful time planning my class party, and it was a blast! We went to Disneyworld right before Christmas, which was fantastic!! I didn't take near as many pictures this time, but I have a few good ones.

First day we went to Hollywood Studios...The Osborne Family Lights were beautiful! This one is blurry, but cute...

Toy Story Mania is a blast!! I love the waiting area!

Other Hollywood studio favorites are the Beauty and the Beast musical and the Little Mermaid show!!! Ariel has always been my favorite!

Day 2 we went to the Magic Kingdom! The park was surprisingly slow that day and we were able to do everything we wanted with minimal waits. I didn't get any pictures until that night at Mickey's Magical Christmas party. It was so cute, and I loved the snowfall on Main Street!

Day 3 was Epcot. I love the World's Showcase area!

Day 4 was Animal Kingdom, and look who we ran into...

Day 5...back to Magic Kingdom for a little more fun before we left...I had to ride the tea cups because I didn't do them the last time we went!

I wish I had some group shots, but Mason's parents took lots of those so I didn't bother. Also, I want to write a separate post sometime about some of the amazing food we ate their!!

Disneyworld was a blast, and we had so much fun with Mason's family there! After all that family fun, it was so nice to go home and spend some time resting and relaxing with my family! We enjoyed lots of food, games, and movies!! I'm thankful that we had such a great holiday season with loved ones.

Fall Update!

2010-12-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

I feel like someone has pressed fast forward on my life, and I wish I could just pause for a little bit. This fall has been so wonderful, and I wish I could hold onto it a little longer...Here are some fall highlights...

School started back, and oh.my.word. I LOVE my class. They aren't perfect. They are a loud vivacious bunch with plenty of personality, but most days they mind very well! Honestly, they are just a really fun group of kids, and they always make my day. Really wish I could share pictures of my kids or post some of the stories they tell, but probably not appropriate.. Anyhoo...here is an iphone pic of part of my class. I need to take some more pictures of the classroom...

Sadie loves to watch football with Mason, which is good since I never do...

I can't even pretend to care about the NFL but I do love to watch baseball!! We were so excited to get to go to one of the Rangers playoff games against the Yankees. Mason got to go to one of the world series games. lucky!

I turned 25 in October, and while I got many lovely gifts from Mason and the family, but this gift, given to me by a little boy in my class took the cake...

Madeline, Jayne and I got to meet Ina Garten when she came to Northpark. She is our favorite!!! We got copies of her new cookbook which is WONDERFUL! Madeline, Meredith and I have already cooked several recipes out of her newest book. We now have all of her cookbooks and used several of her recipes for Thanksgiving.

And yes, sometimes we wear chef coats when we cook together...

Maybe I will actually get our real camera out during the holiday season, so I can get some non iphone photos up here! Until then, I hope all of you are having a blessed holiday season!

Europe Trip!

2010-07-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few highlights of our trip!

Paris

The Louvre

Bike riding around the Louvre! One of my favorite parts of the whole trip!

River boat down the Seine River, this gave us gorgeous views of the city and the Eiffel Tower!

Versailles

Cute picture of the Orr siblings, minus Bryce at the Arc.

Switzerland

Gorgeous Alps!

The Alpine Slide!! Not the safest contraption, but really fun!

Proof that Jayne and I also did the Alpine Slide!

Florence

Lunch in Tuscany.

London

Big Ben

Westminster Abby

Taken from the London Tower...

The Last Few Days...

2010-06-30T10:10:00.001-07:00

The last few days we've been here....

and here...

and here,

And too many other places to name! I don't have any of our pictures uploaded to my computer yet, but these are better photographs anyhow! While all the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame are high points, of course, my top favorite places are Musee D'orsay (because of the Monets and Renoirs) and Saint-Chappelle! But my favorite part was the night time bike tour from the "Fat Tire Bike Tour" Company- I think it's a must-do! We even got to ride our bikes all through the outside portsions of the Louvre! Amazing!!!

How lucky are we?

2010-06-22T20:43:00.001-07:00

This lovely couple is living with us this summer, and it has been WONDERFUL! It's like college all over again! I didn't think I'd ever have a female roomate again, but I am so glad that I get to! Jesse and Jenny, thanks for making our summer a little more fun!

Isn't this picture beautiful?

Charlie's Cone

2010-06-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

We noticed a deep cut on Charlie's leg on Tuesday night. It was weird because it was not bleeding, anyhow, we took him to the vet. He needed stitches on his leg, so now he has to wear the cone for two weeks! Poor thing...

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Someone had a birthday yesterday! I cannot express how incredibly thankful I am that this person was born!

⁷ "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

⁸ 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

Happy Birthday, Mason! I love you!

Panda-monium Pink

2010-06-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this color because it makes your skin look tan.

I've gotten so paranoid about sun lately, that I wear SPF 35 on my face everyday, and use SPF 50 for swimming. No more laying out just to get sun. This might be my palest summer ever...So, I really love that this color makes my hands and feet look a little bit more tan...Give it a try!

Great things...

2010-06-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

1. SUMMER!

2. My family came in town for the weekend and we had a wonderful time hanging out!

3. We enjoyed a fun Memorial Day at the Huston's lake house! I love catching up with JuliAnne!

4. I found out Melanie will be coming home for a little bit in August, and I can't wait to see her!

5. Okay, I am really on a Barefoot Contessa kick right now, but I made these Cheddar scones of her's the other night! I changed a couple things: I used milk instead of cream and I used a few tablespoons of fresh rosemary instead of the cup of fresh dill. I'm sure any herb would be great! Oh, and I put in a tsp. of garlic salt! Oh my they were great!! Here's the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cheddar-dill-scones-recipe/index.html

6. The crossword puzzle application on the ipad! New addiction!

7. This verse is a "great thing" because it has been on my mind so much lately, and I love it!

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 4:4-7

I hope all of you are having a great day!

When life gives you lemons...

2010-05-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE lemons! When spring and summer come around, I really really love using lemons in my cooking, because it tastes so fresh! Here are a few favorite lemon recipes:

Lemon Parmesan Dressing

1/2 c. olive oil
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. of lemon zest
1 tsp. sugar

Whisk it all together!! This is one of my favorite salad dressings ever, and it is so easy! It's wonderful over arugula or romaine lettuce.

I also like taking this exact same dressing recipe and adding fresh basil to it. Then, pour it over pasta, and it's great hot or cold!

One of our other favorite dinners is Barefoot Contessa's chicken piccata, from this book.

I love this cookbook, and I would highly recommend any of her books! But, you can find the chicken piccata recipe here.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-piccata-recipe/index.html

The other day, my sweet friend Lindy made Barefoot Contessa's lemon curd tart and it was AMAZING! You can find that recipe here.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-curd-tart-recipe/index.html

Of course, my favorite thing to do with lemons is to make...

LEMONADE!

The Last Few Months...

2010-05-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would post a few favorite pictures from the past several months!

July

Went to see Beyonce concert with Benay!

Went to Disneyworld with Mason- about to go to dinner at the Contemporary.

Met lots of characters...

Loved Animal Kingdom- the Everest ride was my favorite!

August

I have no pictures of August, but I started taking grad school classes here...

September

Hired to teach third graders here...LOVE IT!

October

Went to the U2 concert!

Went to see John Legend for my birthday present from Mason!!

Sadly, I have no pictures of ACU homecoming, which was great as always!!

November

Nearly had a breakdown in November from first year teaching-grad school combo! Had a great Thanksgiving in Abilene with my parents!

December

Enjoyed seeing ICE at the Gaylord

Celebrated our one year anniversary! Also, experienced the passing of Mason's precious grandfather. Writing about his impact on us is a post of it's own!

January

Well, we didn't actually get our new dog, Sadie, until February, but it snowed in January! It was such a cold winter!

February

Went to the NBA All-Stars game!

Loved going to Abilene for Sing Song!

Sadly, I haven't taken any pictures past Sing Song, except for pictures of my kids at school. Unfortunately, I can't post any of those! Anyhow, it's been a wonderful year! It hasn't always been easy, but we've had some wonderful times. We are so blessed with great friends, family and memories!

Trying Trying Trying

2010-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

I want to be a person who blogs, I really do. I am going to give it my best shot! I'm also going to try to find my missing camera cord so that I can upload some more pictures to share! For now, I will leave you with this update:

U- UPBEAT: Feeling great about marriage, church, and friends!
P- PROFESSION: I teach third graders!
D- DOGS: We now have two! Charlie, and our new girl, Sadie!
A- ALLY & MELANIE: Two of my greatest friends moved to Japan, miss them!
T- TOWN: Moving from Abilene has been a tough adjustment at times, but I'm loving it more!
E- EDUCATION: working on my master's at Dallas Baptist.
S- SNOW: We loved our recent snow day, and so did our puppies!

Here I go...

2009-04-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been a whirl-wind! Subbing, trips, friends in town, birthdays, church, etc... There have been good days and bad days, but thankfully the good days far out-number the bad ones!

Here's the deal: I love to cook! I am very inspired by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and Ellie Krieger. Most of time time, I enjoy creating my own recipes. Especially because I'm usually just cooking for Mason and I. I love piecing things together to create something great! So, without further ado, here is the first recipe I would like to share. It is a delicious, fresh, pretty healthy, and filling salad! I love the way the sweet flavors in the corn and peppers go with the edamame and the dressing!

Edamame Salad

- 8 oz. shelled edamame (usually come in 16 oz frozen bags, so I use half a bag)
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 16 oz can of yellow corn, drained
- 2 stalks of green onion finely chopped

Dressing

- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. of salt

1) Allow the edamame to thaw out a bit, and pat it dry if it is wet or icy.

2) Chop red bell pepper and green onion

3) Mix all vegetables together.

4) In a separate bowl whisk together the oil and vinegar. Then, whisk in remaining ingredients.

5) Pour dressing on the vegetables and then let it sit in the fridge in an airtight container! (You do not have to use all of the dressing if it looks like more than you like.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's very easy, and it is delicious!!! It is especially good if it is refrigerated overnight. It will last for several days in the fridge. It is also simple to double!

This recipe is fun to adapt to your taste. You may like your dressing to have more or less vinegar or sugar depending on if you like it acidic or sweet. That's the fun thing about cooking...you can make it however you like!

something to blog about...

2009-01-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start a blog, because I did something worth blogging about: My sweet friend and former college roomate, Benay went with me to see CELINE. It was the best concert I will ever see in my life. I have never seen anyone perform as spectacularly as Celine. She doesn't miss a beat, and she is super entertaining. Not to mention, she is beautiful! It was phenomenal, and it was great to enjoy it with my precious friend, Benay!