for women only

Women of all kinds, married, dating, engaged, or just wanting to be a good wife to your husband someday, please please please read this book!

I am always looking for a new good book to ready, but i more enjoy fiction rather than "self help" kind of books. I was walking through Barnes and Noble one day just getting ideas of different books to look for at the library. I picked up this book to scan the pages and I instantly wanted/needed to know more.

I am continually learning how to be a good wife, how my husband thinks, and how I can better serve him. This book is written by a christian woman, Shaunti Feldhahn, who did random surveys of men (christian church goers, married, single, etc) and wrote this eye opening book for us women. It's a quick/easy read but it is extremely helpful in the life of a woman who is still trying to figure out the opposite sex.

I told Landon that I was going to try to read this book once a month. He asked me if he was "that" bad. Let me clear up that this book is not at all about bashing men! It is a book of explaining God's creation, how he created them, and how we can better understand them. Reading it once a month will continually remind me of things I may forget or get frustrated about.

I'm excited to continue learning to understand my husband. It's an exciting adventure:)

Guys, there is a book for you too, For Men Only! :)

Easter weekend

I saw a friends facebook status post that said this:

Sometimes I find the Easter story too familar to understand it at the appropriate depth

I can't help but feel the same way. I've heard the Easter story for as long as I can remember. It's such an awesome story of grace, redemption, and love, but I don't think I fully understand what that really means. I'm so thankful that I have grown up in a Christian home and have experienced the love of Christ from an early age, but sometimes I feel that it's the new Christians that truly understand and appreciate the Easter story and what all it means.

This Easter weekend, I have tried to really focus on what this weekend is all about. I saw another friend's facebook status yesterday with the chorus of a song that I hadn't heard in a while. After I listened to it, I decided it is one of my new favorite songs. It tells the story of Christ's love for us, what he did on the cross, and how he made a way for us to be in a complete loving relationship with him. It's such an awesome song, and it tells the depth of what this weekend is about.

this is a shout out blog

so i have these friends...great friends actually who this post is dedicated to. in the post, i'm going to make an ACROSTIC of their name and something interesting/unique about them/my relationship/memories with them. ok lets get started.

C:is for cookies. even though i don't like chocolate, Karen make the BEST chocolate chip cookies!!! oh my gosh their delicious!! i can usually eat 1 without having too much chocolate, and sometimes, she even saves a little dough without as many chocolate chips just for me!

L: is for Listing, listing items on ebay, that is. that is what karen does, and she is really good at it, and she lists every week with her little tape measure and glasses...she looks so cute!

A: is for Awkward. This family is VERY open, and when i say VERY open, i mean VERY open. I'll just leave it at this: hey remember last week in the kitchen? haha

R:is for Rewind. Oh the joys of recording, like tonight when we should have rewound it to watch Kate dance again just so we could laugh again! If we rewind, it's usually just have another good laugh...which we do often.

K: is for KATIE. OMG I LOVE HANGING OUT WITH KATIE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

S: is for SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH. because that is probably the most used word on monday nights at their house watching either The Bachelor or now Dancing With The Stars.

HOP YOU LIKE IT:) LOVE YA'LL!!!!!!!!!

2 bed 2 bath

mine and landon's lease on our apartment is up at the end of May. we have been debating for a while on what we wanted to do, but knew that we did NOT want to stay here. we looked at a few houses online, but finally decided that it would be smarter to just get another apartment, a little nicer than the one we are in, and save for a house hopefully next year.

last week, we went to look at a couple apartments at Paces Crossing. we knew we wanted something a little bigger than what we have no. i feel like we just have a lot of clutter laying around our apartment now because we have no where to put it. we looked at a 1 bed 1 bath with a den area (which could be converted into another bedroom or office) that we really liked. the kitchen was bigger, the bathroom was bigger, the living/dining room was bigger. we then ventured over to the 2 bed 2 bath apartment. at first i was thinking to myself "do we really need a 2 bed 2 bath for just 2 of us who sleep in the same bedroom? would it be worth it to pay a little more money?" landon and i went home and talked about the 2 choices and we have decided that we will probably go with the 2 bed 2 bath for the following reasons:

1. it's bigger, all over!

2. THE MASTER BEDROOM HAS A WALKIN CLOSET!!!!!!!

3. the extra room has a big closet in it for storage

4. we can put a futon/bed/couch and desk in the extra room so that if my family ever came to visit, they wouldn't have to get a hotel, and they could just stay with us. that would cut a big expense.

5. i didn't realize until we started talking about the 2 bed 2 bath how much i would like my own bathroom!!!

6. more room to decorate:)

i'm sure there are plenty of more pros to getting the 2 bed 2 bath, and i'll find that out later:)

i'm excited about getting a new place! it's so odd that we have almost been here a year, which means we have almost been married a year! we have been talking about what we want to do for our anniversary. anybody have any ideas for a fun/inexpensive getaway for 2?? we would rather drive somewhere to save some money. let me know if you have a suggestion!!

the only bad thing about moving is packing...........YUCK!

sports and family

saturday recap: i can't really sleep in anymore so i woke up fairly early for it being a saturday. we layed around all morning and then ordered TASTY CREAM for lunch! if you don't know what tasty cream is, you are missing out! it's friona's hometown burger joint and it is SO good! i haven't had it since last summer! i ordered a pizza pocket (weird, i know since it's a 'burger joint') but the pizza pockets are fried (which is ridiculously unhealthy especially when i dip it in ranch). i figured i hadn't had it in almost a year so it was a-ok!! anna, maddie, and i then ventured out for a day of tanning, tennis, and running. it was a pretty productive and fun day to hang out with 2 of my sisters! amy, staci, cash, and boston came over later. there is nothing like hearing your sweet nephews say "HIIIIIII BBBBBBBBBB!!!!" when they first see you! melts my heart:)

yesterday was a good day!! other than the fact that my phone didn't change times like it's supposed to so it made me late to church...only ten minutes though. i was glad i took my shower the night before! after church, amy, aj, cash, and boston all came over for amy and seth's birthday lunch which actually isn't until tomorrow. my mom felt bad that she didn't have a cake for staci on her birthday (december 31) and me (february 22) so the cake said, "Happy Birthday Amy & Seth & Staci & Brenda" we joked that we should have just put everyone's name on it to get it all out of the way for the year, but i don't think cash and boston would really understand if we told them "today is your birthday but you don't get a cake or a birthday party because we had it back in March". ha

the rest of the day was pretty lazy! we watched basketball games pretty much all day. some took naps, some read books. i just started "same kind of different as me". it's pretty good so far! anna had the brilliant idea that sometime that evening she wanted to go play basketball. so after hours of snacking and dinner (because that's what we do on sundays...snack all day long!) we all headed up to the gym. yes, everyone, well except seth. he had a friend come over to spend the night. my mom, dad, amy, staci, anna, maddie, and me. we played 3 on 3, and it was a lot of fun! my parents are actually a LOT better than what i thought!

Overall, it was GREAT day of quality family time and a great way to start spring break!!


oh yeah, my husband is camping right now and saturday night he slept in a cave in mexico. if you think about it, say a prayer that he doesn't get captured...haha

i'm a worm

a book worm, that is! anybody need a couple book suggestions? ok i'm going to give some to you anyways. The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers is SO good. ok, i've only read the first out of 3 books but i'm on the waiting list at the library for the 2nd and i can't wait! second, The Atonement Child, also by Francine Rivers. i understand i'm a little behind with those books since they have been out a while, but they are phenomenal! and last, today i just finished The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. it might just be my favorite nicholas sparks books! it just a really sweet story with such a positive message. and my favorite, no premarital sex like there is in all his other books. overall, it's just a great book and i would have cried in it if i wasn't subbing in an elementary classroom while i was reading it. i can't wait to see the movie, i just hope they don't change it too much from the book.

ok that's all for now.

OOOOOOKLAHOMA!

last wednesday i made a trip to oklahoma city to watch my sister Staci play basketball, hang out with my family, and hang out with friends. Landon was gone to Alabama and Atlanta on his own little exciting trip (that included the Passion CD release party) and won't be home until tomorrow, so i stayed the whole weekend in oklahoma.

my sister played on thursday morning, so i drove up wednesday, had dinner with a friend, and then met up with my mom and little brother, Seth, at our hotel. we went to staci's game thursday morning. they ended up losing in a really close game so my mom and brother went on home. i had plenty of time to hang out in the city, run errands, and see friends. i stayed with Stephanie and we had a lot of fun watching movies, shopping, and hanging out. I also go to see my sweet sweet friend, Kaylee. I haven't seen her since August so it was so good to catch up with her. she has such a sweet and refreshing spirit, as well as being hilarious, so it was a much needed hang out/catch up time! Her friendship blesses me:)

Stephanie and I saw 2 movies that we hadn't seen before. we rented The Time Traveler's Wife on friday night. i'm not really sure what i was expecting, and when it came out in the theaters, i didn't care to see it. but i ended up REALLY liking it and will probably buy it (when it goes on sale). we also went and saw Dear John. I had read the book about 4 years ago so i remembered the basics of the story but forgot the ending. i had heard from a lot of people who read the book that they didn't like the movie, but since i didn't really remember the book, i LOVED it!! it was soo good! I can't wait for Nicholas Spark's next movie to come out, "The Last Song", and i just started that book yesterday.

Also this weekend, i went to the church i went to while i was living in Oklahoma, Lifechurch.tv. it is such a wonderful church that has a heart for reaching out to others. Craig Groeschel (the pastor) has his own unique way of bring The Word in such a powerful and down to the point way.

i'm so ready for landon to be home, but so excited for him that he has gotten to do all the things that he has while he has been gone. i've missed him a lot!!!

I'm not sure when i will update again. it could be a little while. landon gets home tomorrow and then we both leave on friday again for a week. he is going camping at Big Bend with some friends for spring break, and i'm going to friona to hang out with my family. so i probably won't be on my computer a lot.