MIA in San Diego!

Hello dear friend! Yes, I'm still alive!!!!! But I have been incredibly busy lately.

Here's what has been going on. If any of you read Sister's blog, then you might know that my grandfather, Poppy, passed away on the 15th. To my sister and I, it was a bit unexpected, but he had battled Alzheimer's disease for 14 years. About 4 years go, our family struggled with the decision top put him in a nursing home, but we knew that Meme could no longer care for Poppy all by herself. It was at that time that he began to forget names, and faces. But through it all, Poppy knew Meme. Even on the day he died, he knew my Meme.

I would be lying to you if I told you that it wasn't difficult to say "goodbye" to him, because it was heart-wrenching, but I knew that he was dancing with his Maker. On the day I wept for my Poppy, he not only knew my Meme, but he knew every single one of us! And that, made me joyful!

That Saturday of his funeral, the 17th, my boss called and asked if I would be interested in coming out to California for some business. After talking it over with Brant, I told him I was on my way. So we drove home Sunday morning from Shreveport, and I hoped on a plane to San Diego. We were staying at the Four Seasons Aviara resort and it was absolutely beautiful. I was there for 10 days, and flew home this past Wednesday. Boy, am I glad to be home, but work is crazy!

Well, I hope to post some more pictures later, but for now, I leave you with this...the view from the back porch of the Four Seasons Aviara, with the beautiful blue ocean in the distance.

What a Weekend

Well, maybe I should say, "What a past 5 days!"

Well Wednesday, Brant came down with the Swine Flu - not fun! So he was out for the rest of the week. But on Thursday, I worked from home because I was going to take him to the dr. But, the dr's office was out of flu tests and won't prescribe you Tamiflu unless you have an underlying medical condition or are under the age of 2 - Brant is neither!
So this weekend, was spent

1) taking care of a sick hubs
2) trying to entertain a sick hubs who has been in the house for over 3 days straight, and who has crazy cabin fever... which includes:
3) going to Canton on Sunday with Jessica...in the pouring down rain
4) convincing the hubs to go to the dr today becasue he is still very sick!

But I have to say that the highlight of the weekend was playing this:


while watching a late-night showing of this:

Now, that is what I call quality time!

Packin' My Bags!

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye...

I'm leavin' on a jet plane.....

.... TO JERUSALEM!!!!!!!!!!

Ok - I'm not really going, but I desperately want to. You see, in our Stepping Up Bible Study, lesson 5 was about this incredible, indescribable city. After going through the lesson, and the history of the city, I'm ready to pack my bags! Wanna go with me? If you don't these are the words from Beth Moore, herself.

No other city is like Jerusalem. It beckons sojourners like no other land, and like no other place I've ever been, it lends a strange sense of "home" even to the visitor casting her first glance. Kay Arthur once told me that the more you go to Jerusalem, the more you want to go. I've found that to be true. I felt the spiritual draw the first time I ever went, but after the second time, I departed with a sense of urgency that I must go again and again.

What do you think it would be like to see this, the Garden Tomb...the place that many scholars believe Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimethea?


Would you sit and wait in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Would you read the Word on the Mount of Olives?

Would you walk down by the Via Delorosa, the path Jesus took to his crucifixion?

Would you look up in grandeur at the city wall?


Would you bring your cares before Him at the Wailing Wall?

I pray that one day, I will make a journey to this Holy City. I'm ready to pack my bags and go to the place where history truly began. Do you want to come with me?

Scrapbookin' Fool

Yes - that is exactly what I have been lately! Two weekends ago, I LITERALLY spend the ENTIRE weekend on my computer scrapping...I made pages and stuff, but I also made several blog headers for some customers. Here is some of my completed work.

This is for my cousin, Amy. She started a blog so that friends and family can see her PRECIOUS baby girl Izzy growing up!

The Medlocks were the winners of the Great Grabbie Giveaway.

This was a fun header to create. Henry's mom told me that he LOVES trains, so we made sure this header was a reflection of him!

I have also learned some really cool techniques lately and have LOVED getting to use them. In this page here, I was able to take a patterned paper and create the sticker alphabet you see for the title, "Kai". Obviously, Kai is our sweet, sweet cat. These pictures were taken last Sunday, which for those in Texas, know that it was a nasty rainy Sunday. As soon as we came home from church, Brant and I got in some comfy clothes and just laid around the house. Well Kai decided that she should just lay around too...ON Brant that is!

If you're a digital scrapper, what are some of your favorite techniques to use to add definition and depth to your elements?

"Because I want you to want Me."

I sat down tonight with every intention of telling you about my emotional breakdown today...I so lovingly call it "Breakdown #1". But every time my hands go to the keys, the words to the song "My Beloved" come to the front of my mind.

"You're my beloved, you're my bride,
To sing over you is my delight,
Come away with me, my love."

Its as if the Lord, himself, is singing to me tonight; telling me to just come away with Him - so sit, and to cry, and to just be.

Tonight, the tears roll down my face and I just need to be with my Father. I need him to hold me, to carry me, to breathe joy into my soul. You see, tonight I just long to be mother, but I feel so defeated.

I have never truly understood the feeling of defeat until recently. I have never understood how you could try, and try, and try your very hardest to do something, but never succeed. When Brant and I first decided to try and have a baby, I was so excited. In my perfect little world, my dearest friends would be planning my baby shower right now, and I would be painting a nursery. I would be going shopping on the weekends with my sister for the perfect "coming home" outfit while Brant was at home trying to put the crib together. You see, there is nothing that I have ever wanted more than to a mom; to rock my little baby to sleep, to feel their skin against mine, to comfort them when the cry.

For the first time tonight, I just let myself cry and lay it all at His feet. For the first time tonight, I have literally asked the Lord out loud why the one thing that I want so badly is the one thing that is so hard to get. And He answered me: "Because I want you to want ME."

Last night, I started a Bible Study with some of the other ladies in my Sunday School Class: Stepping Up - a study of the Pslams of Ascent by Beth Moore. Its a study about going up - about rising up for something greater - about taking a pilgrimage to the next level even when we are weary. And this my friends, is the exact place where I am at.

Tonight, I am weary and defeated. But my Jesus just wants me to love Him and to lay EVERYTHING before His feet. So that is what I will do! Tonight, I will go sit with Him and be with Him and allow Him to breathe joy into my soul because I am a daughter of the King and HE has the PERFECT plan for me. For I know, that one day, maybe soon, maybe not, I will be mother.

Great Walgreens Special

Just thought I would share this great Walgreens special that is going on until Saturday, September 19th!!

Great Grabbie Giveaway!

To celebrate some GREAT new design options at Great Grabbie Designs, I'm having a giveaway!!!! The winner will receive a Deluxe Custom Design, complete with sidebar headings, personal signature, and coordinating background from this WONDERFUL new kit Flora by Designs by Krista.


To enter, go to Great Grabbie Designs and leave a comment with your name and blog address. I will draw from all entries on Saturday, September 12th.

Chick Fil A

Just wanted to make sure that EVERYONE knew that today, if you wear any sport team shirt to a Chick Fil A, you get a free chicken sandwich!!!

Blog FRIENDS!

Sister and I had a very interesting phone conversation this morning when I was on my way to work. And I am so excited to announce...

SHE FINALLY GETS IT!!!!!!!!!

Get's what, you ask????

BLOG FRIENDS!!!!!!!!

She was telling me this morning about how when I started blogging and making blog friends, she just didn't get it. How can you actually feel a connection and develop a friendship with someone you have never met???

For example - my dear FRIEND Tricia! Tricia and I have never met (although we really have no excuse as to why not considering we live IN THE SAME TOWN!), but nonetheless, have never met. Yet, we both went to DBU, both LOVE scrapbooking, are both newlyweds, and both devote ourselves to our nieces and nephews. Heck - she and her hubs looked at buying a house NEXT DOOR to me and we never even knew it!!!! Seriously - we were meant to be the best of friends!

So Sister told me this morning that she finally gets it. She now has her own "REAL, NEVER MET YOU BUT WE WERE SO MEANT TO BE FRIENDS IN REAL LIFE" BLOG FRIENDS! So now that Sister finally gets it, do you get it? If so, who are your best blogging friends??????

19 and Counting

Have you seen this today???? Congratulations Duggars!

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I Love My I

I have one of these...

...and I LOVE it!!!!!

I am one of those lucky people that drives 40 miles to and from work everyday because I work in downtown Dallas, on the 48th floor of a high-rise! Yes, I'm a devoted employee! But sometimes traffic kills me! Luckily, I have 3 or 4 different routes I can take to get home everyday, but days like yesterday are horrible - there was a wreck on EVERY DIFFERENT WAY HOME!!!!!!!!!

So when I got home last night, I found this FREE app - InRIX Traffic.
I tried it out this morning and LOVE IT!!!! When you go to the app, it will pinpoint your current location, then tell you how the traffic is moving on the roads around you, and list any accidents. If you click to see the accident information, then it will tell you exactly what the problem is, how long the backup is, the approximate time to get through the backup, and the approximate speed traffic is traveling in the area!

Thank InRIX, you have now made my travels much more stress-free. And IPhone, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

What a Wonderful Weekend

Brant and I had a fabulous weekend at The Cliffs on Possum Kingdom lake this past weekend. Mom and Dad have a time share at the condos since they are landowners out there, and this was their week. So Brant and I drove up for a weekend of some much needed R&R!

Saturday, we just slept late and went to play in the water. After out lake outing, Brant and dad went to the driving range, so mom and I did some scrapping. Here are some of the pages I finished.

After dinner that night, we drove around looking at all the dear. We actually saw a herd of four buck - it was awesome. The literally just stand at the side of the road and let you take pictures of them. We only had mom and dad's camera, so I'm waiting for them to email me the pictures.

Sunday, Brant and dad played a round of golf, then back to the lake. Brant and I hated to leave, but it was back to work this morning.

So, much thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come play. We had a blast!

Friday Blog Hop - Favorite Vacation

Kelly's blog hop this week is all about your favorite vacation! My is definitely Cancun, Mexico. Now granted, I haven't been a lot of other place, but I still LOVE it! Here are a few pictures from our anniversary trip last year.

Life in the Fast Lane

Well things the Williams' list have certainly been crazy lately. So, since I haven't posted an update in forever, I thought I would go ahead and post since I'm at home for more than a few hours right now!

First of all, the weekend of July 17-19, I went with mom and sister, and about 15 other ladies, to a scrapbook retreat in Lindale, Tx. It was fabulous. Granted, I tend to lean more toward digital scrapping these days, but this was the perfect opportunity to work on my wedding/honeymoon album that is paper. Just for fun, here are a few of the layouts I created while I was there. If you want to see the small detail of each page, click on it to enlarge.





















After I got back from the retreat, life quickly got over into the fast lane. Work is wonderful, but busy! When I left my office yesterday, I had successfully worked over 76 hours in a week! Praise Jesus I decided NOT to go to law school. I would HATE to see my hours if I was an attorney! Right now, so many friends are calling me a workaholic, but I promise I am not.
Yes, things will eventually calm down, but news flash - I WORK AT A LAW FIRM! WE GO TO TRIAL!!!! AND TRIAL LIFE IS CRAZY!!! AND BY THE WAY, I LOVE MY JOB!!!

But last night, I did enjoy a great movie while I snuggled up to the hubs on the couch! We watch Defiance, with Daniel Craig. It was a great movie. Yes, it had some language, but the story is incredible. It all takes place in the 1940's during the holocaust. It is an extremely powerful story about a group of brothers who start a community of Jews living in a forest to escape Nazi capture. If you have not seen this movie, I strongly urge you to.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend, and has a fabulous upcoming week. !!

Wedding

Kelly's Korner weekly blog hop is all about wedding today.

I have to tell you that I LOVED my wedding, and wouldn't have changed a thing. For me, it was my day from a fairytale and I day I will certainly remember all the days of my life.

We had a Friday night wedding that started at 7:30. My colors were black and light pink, with a splash of silver. We had our wedding and reception at First Baptist Church in Irving.

My flower girl was Kate, who was only 3 at the time. She's is getting to be so big now, but I will never forget how perfect she was on this day.

My bouquet was gorgeous, a mixture of ivory roses and small white flower, accented with rhinestones for some sparkle!

I LOVE this picture of Brant!

The rest are just a few of my favorites!

My bridesmaid dresses were simple, black cocktail dresses with small pink ribbons tied around the waist. They carried small bouquets of pink roses.

I didn't have a ton of decorations. Instead, our attendants stood in the choir loft. On each side of the stage, I positioned a column of pink roses and a column of candles.

After my dad gave me away, he sang "When You Say You Love Me" by Josh Groban...it was absolutely gorgeous.

As we list our unity candle, our dear friends Sarah Allen and Jared Billups sang an amazing duet arrangment of "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman.

One of the most humerous moments of our wedding was lighting the unity candle. When we went to light, my husbands dear groomsmen had put the tip of a firecracker on the wick of the candle. Well it took a minute to light, which freaked me out, but I was much more freaked out when sparks started flying - LITERALLY!

"We're MARRIED!!!!!!!!"

Our rings, a symobl of eternal and never-ending love.