Good Things in 2010

I started to do this last year and didn't get past January, so let's see if I can do it this year...
I encourage you all to think about something positive from every day. Even if it ends up being a bad day and write it down. At the beginning of each month, share your positive "good things" with everyone else. :)


January

1- Quiet night to ourselves. Great way to ring in the new year.
2- Blessed to have a great job, even if I do work Saturday mornings.
3- AWESOME day with my favorite ladies.
4- Quality time with the sister and Kandice.
5- Day off spent catching up on Bible studies.
6- Worked with awesome people.
7- Decided to apply at several preschools and see where God leads me.
8- Thank you for the gorgeous cold weather today. I love it.
9- Got to catch up with a high school/elementary school friend during her engagements.
10- Another fun couple Colton got to photograph.
11- Thank you for another Monday.
12- Day full of interviews (3). How lucky am I that I have a job and have so many interviews? Thank you, God, for allowing me such a great opportunity.
13- God has really been speaking to me today.
14- Had a wonderful day off getting ready for the cruise.
15- Worked hard one last day before vacation.
16- Made it to Galveston without a problem.
17- Had an awesome time with my family before leaving on the ship.
18- A great first day full of fun, food, and amazing new friends.
19- Beautiful day at the beach. God is AWESOME!

20- Swam with amazing stingrays. What beautiful creatures.
21- Witnessed more of the beauty God created for us in Jamaica.
22- Had a wonderful time taking pictures with all my new friends on the ship.
23- Won $80. :)
24- Left the ship with nearly 30 new friends.
25- Blessed to have the day off to recuperate from our trip.
26- AWESOME news from the doctor. Thank you Lord for healing my kidney.
27- Wonderful first day back at work.
28- Worked tonight, which means extra money in our pocket.
29- Got a new job, which means we are able to get a house.
30- Bought amazing new furniture for our future house.
31- Amazing service at church. Saw many people proclaim their love for Christ in baptism.



A post about Lyly is coming soon, I promise...

Let's play a game of catch-up.

HUGE THANKS TO MANDY for helping me make my blog prettier! (I made my own header, believe me she does a much better job at headers than me, so please don't be deceived. Her work is awesome.) I gave her personal blog a shout out last entry, so here's to her blogs blog. ;)

We last left off in October... Wow. Things have changed!

Thanksgiving and Christmas were awesome, spent with family and friends. We had our beautiful Christmas tree again and this year, Chuck posed perfectly in front for me. Becca and Zack spent Christmas with us at our apartment. I finally had the opportunity to meet my beautiful new cousin Chavon (who married my cousin Casey a week after Colton and I) who announced to us that she was pregnant. :) Hailey got a new boyfriend, that we all love so much and have had the most amazing time with. Here are just a few images from those...

Then, I graduated!! Actually, I graduated first, then Christmas, but oh well.

Colton's new website finally opened and business has been booming. We are so blessed with the most amazing brides, couples, families, and everyone who has contributed their wisdom and knowledge. It helps to know amazing photographers who have always been there, and meet new ones along the way. Everyone in the business has been so encouraging and helpful.

Finally, the event that Colton and I have been talking about, wishing for, and saving for 11 months finally came. Our cruise. It was FANTASTIC! Words cannot describe how amazing it was. I will let pictures do most of the talking (then caption) ...




Our huge, beautiful ship.


Cozumel, Mexico.


My new favorite people ever. Seriously, these girls became such good friends of mine in just a week. I can't believe Mandy (middle) lives just 10 minutes from me. You will probably see a lot more of her in the future. ;)


Colton and me with a giant stingray in Grand Cayman.


Colton ziplining in Jamaica.


Game night: I think this sums it up.

Our wonderful waitress, Renata from Croatia and our table mates. We had the best conversations.

I may break down each day in more detail with pictures/scrapbook pages, but for now...I hope you get an idea of what we experienced.

100 degree summer, lakes, rivers, and fireworks

Oh my!This past week was a whirlwind of fun and adventure. Wednesday, I spent the day packing for my two trips and getting food, snacks, drinks, etc. for everyone. Thursday, Kandice picked up Hailey and me for our roadtrip to our secret location for a 2 day trash the dress extravaganza. Seriously...it was a freaking blast. We played in sand, canoed, jumped in a lake, went grocery shopping, late night movie theater and creepy alley, swingset, played with animals and much more (all while wearing a wedding dress, I might add). To take a look at a tiny sneak peak, go here. You can see the bottom of my TRASHED dress. :)


This was our cabin for the night.




Kandice, me and Hailey at the grocery store.



Taking pics with the BEAUTIFUL scenery.



Sneak peak! (Hailey took it of us)




The super cute movie theater. :)




After taking all the pics, Friday we just hung out and picked berries.


Kandice, I had a wonderful time. Thanks for making my TTD pics rock. I know they are gonna look amazing. You're the best.
Jess~

Friday, as soon as we got back from Road Trip #1, we grabbed our other bags and headed to Oklahoma (Beaver's Bend) for Road Trip #2. It was so much fun to go away again. Hailey and I felt super spoiled getting 2 vacations in one week. We went on a TEN MILE kayaking trip down the river. It was super hot. We all got burned pretty bad...

Hailey and me at our pit stop.

Again.

After kayaking, we went to the motel to change and went out to the lake to watch the fireworks. Seriously, best fireworks show ever.

Colton and me. 6.4.09

Sunday morning...showing off our burns. Hailey and I pretty much got the same (thighs and stomach), Forrest was the worst, and Colton's legs and arms were burned.



Last group shot. :)

I'm walkin' on sunshine...

That song is stuck in my head for some reason. It is absolutely NOT sunny outside right now either. It's rainy and in the 70s(which is a lot better than the 100s). This weekend was super busy. Saturday, Colton was supposed to be shooting engagements pics in Las Colinas(where he paid a $50 deposit) at 2:00pm, plus lunch and a meeting with them about their wedding. He tried all morning to get a hold of her and couldn't reach her. We showed up anyways, just in case something happened with her phone or something. Well, of course, she didn't show up. Finally, we called her from my phone, and she returned my call, only to hang up as soon as she heard Colton's voice. How inconsiderate.
Seriously, this girl didn't even give any kind of explinationa nd stole 50 bucks from us.
Hailey spent the night, so we could go to church in the morning. We shopped (thrift stores and such) for her to find a cute sundress to wear when we trash my wedding dress this week. I wanted some pics of her with me and definately a shot of us jumping in the lake together.
We went to downtown Mckinney (where the following pics were taken), swimming, and just running around.
Colton got the idea that it would be fun to "spontaneously plan" a trip for this weekend (July 4th). When I get back friday from my TTD location, we will leave for Beaver's Bend Friday night (we=Colton, Hailey, Forrest and me) It should be an exciting time, but super busy weekend.

Check out my new sunglasses. tehe.


We found a Starry Night Frog (Starry Night being our favorite painting and frog being her favorite animal).
Can't wait to leave for my trips!! I will post many pics.

goodbye 2008

I stole this from a friend. tehe

Where did you begin 2008?At Hailey's New Years Eve Party at her house.

What was your status by Valentine's Day? Engaged!! :) Ready to get married.

Were you in school (anytime this year)? Yes.

Did you have to go to the hospital?Yes, for my checkups on my kidney.

Did you have any encounters with the police?Haha. actually yes, I got pulled over (for the first time) because COLTON'S taillight was out and he was "informing me"

Where did you go on vacation? We went to New York for our honeymoon.

What did you purchase that was over $500? My wedding dress, our wedding, my car, New York (well, we didn't "purchase" New York, but you know...)

Did you know anybody who got married?Yes, my two cousins (not to each other) and a bunch of Knotties!!

Did you know anybody who passed away? Not anyone personally that I can think of.

Did you move anywhere? From Dallas to Collin county :)

What sporting events did you attend? I don't think anything =/

What concerts/shows did you go to? A LOT too many to name (but I will say we saw Lion King on Broadway and Jack's Mannequin in Dallas that rocked!!)

Where do you live now? Same as where we moved.

What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008? See jack's mannequin

What has/have been your favorite moment(s)? Getting married.

What's something you learned about yourself? That I could successfully plan a beautiful wedding virtually stress free. =)

Any new additions to your family? We have Chuck Taylor.

What was your best month? june

What music will you remember 2008 by? Probably the wedding songs

Any regrets? Nope.

What do you want to change in 2009? I want to eat healthier, tone up, graduate!! =)

Overall, how would you rate(or award) 2008? Best year of my life.

What would you change about 2008? Hmm... I don't think anything

Other than home, where did you spend most of your time? At work (the library)

Change your hairstyle? haha, yes actually. I got bangs.

Get a new job? Yes I did!

Do you have a New Year's resolution? To read my chapters in school better so I will stress less...

Did anything embarrassing? I'm always embarassing myself (or others)

What was/were your favorite purchase[s]? Kandice as my photographer

Got married or divorced? Sure did (married).

Be honest - did you watch American Idol? yeah, because Jason Castro was on it this year.

Did you get sick this year? A few times, yes!

Start a new hobby? I improved my old one (scrapbooking)

Been snowboarding? Yes, on my Wii.

Are you happy to see 2008 go? I don't really know.

Drank Starbucks in 2008? I had hot chocolate a couple of times.

What are you wishing for in 2009?A 4.0? =)

Off to Arkansas...

Colton and I are leaving for Arkansas, so I won't be able to post anything until like sunday or monday...but rest assured... there will be many pictures of our adventure.
1st road trip since we've been married!! woohoo.