Happy Birthday Best Fran...

Every once in a while, you meet somebody who is just really freaking awesome.  Someone who makes you laugh so hard that it hurts.  Someone who always makes your day brighter.  I have known this CRAZY girl since I was in third grade, but we didn’t realize how awesome each other were (a humble moment) until we were both in college. 

She is the only person that makes me feel totally normal, because she is equally as weird as me.  Her dance moves are seriously out of this world and so is her Russian accent.

She is a part of some of my most treasured memories. Memories like driving around the UMHB campus and talking to random strangers, going out with our boots on, dressing up in trash bags and making music videos, JUST DANCE, my bachelorette party, the Taqueria,  and SOOOO many more.

She was also a great Maid-of-Honor, despite her beyond awkward speech.  (Yes, I am publicly making fun of you!)

What most people don’t see is that our friendship goes beyond laughter and good times.  In the good times and the bad, she is always there to walk beside me and encourage me. She is brutally honest at times that I need for someone to be brutally honest with me.  She makes my heart smile and spending time with her is like medicine for the soul.  Our friendship is not perfect, and there are times when we let each other down, but I wouldn’t trade her friendship for the world.

 

Kris,

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I am so blessed by your friendship.  Thank you for always being there for me.  You are such a sweet gift from the Lord, and I am so thankful for you.  Happy 22^nd Birthday!

Love Ya,

Kels

 

Take me out to the ball game...

I am still recovering from a great weekend…

Drew has been working a lot of nights lately, which means that we don’t get to spend a lot of time with one another.  When I leave for work he is catching up on his sleep, when I get home from work he is at work, and we he gets home from work I am usually already asleep.  I say that NOT to complain, but to say how much more I appreciate the time that I do get to spend with him.

Being apart so much lately, made our weekend away together even more special.  We headed out for the ballpark on Friday afternoon.  The traffic between Temple and Hillsboro on I-35 is some kind of ridiculous, but we I, made the best of it with the Shania Twain Pandora station. I literally felt like I was five again, and my voice still sounds just as awful as it did then.   Drew loved hated it!

Before the game, we stopped to pick up some quick snacks to take in with us, and that is when I had a victory moment.  Drew walked up to the counter to checkout and said to me “these aren’t my favorite brand of sunflower seeds, but I am going to get them because they come in a resealable bag.” WHAT did you just say?  Did you just make a decision based on a resealable bag?  What have I done to you?  VICTORY!

After the VICTORY moment, I wasn’t sure how the day could get much better…but it did.  It was great night for a Ranger’s game. It was a bit cooler than we expected, which resulted in some obligatory cuddling (feel free to gag if you’re single).

On Saturday, we slept in (thank you sweet Jesus) and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to watch “42” with Grandma Jett.  SUCH a great movie.  I literally cried for 78% of the movie. 

After the movie we headed out for dinner before the game.  Drew thought it was going to be just  thw two of us, but I had arranged for our best friends to be there to surprise him.  Well, traffic made the surprise an epic fail.  Everyone was stuck in traffic, including us, and when we arrived for the surprise… only 2 of the 11 people were there.  He was still surprised confused!  He really was thrilled and shocked to know that our friends were going to spend the evening with us.  We watched the Rangers win again and then headed to Louie Lou’s Piano Bar for some sing along fun. 

We made our final trip to the ballpark on Sunday with Drew’s parents, Ryan, and Julie.  It was a dream day.  Perfect weather, baseball, family, and friends. 

 

 

On our way home, we made our final birthday celebration stop.  We had dinner and dessert with my parents. 

 As I reflect on this weekend, I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing us and providing a wonderful weekend for us to get away. I am thankful for wonderful friends and family who drove to Arlington, paid for a ticket, and gave up a Saturday night to be there for Drew’s birthday.  We are so grateful for your friendship.

Our baseball adventure didn’t end in Arlington.  Yesterday evening, we headed out to the Round Rock Express game with our friends Shayne & Kaysie. I won some owner’s tickets in a silent auction a couple of months ago, so we decided to use them.  If you have ever been to a Round Rock Express game, especially during the week, you know that “owner’s tickets” are not a big deal at all.  You could basically walk in and sit down on the front row, but our tickets did say “Ryan Family,” which I must admit made us all feel pretty cool.  It was also pretty cool to see Jurickson Profar, who is one of the top prospects in the MLB right now.  Fun fact: I am pretty sure he is 8, or at least he looks like it.

After getting my full dose of baseball in this past week, I have grown to love the sport even more.  I was never really that interested in baseball until I met Drew, who is a total fanatic.  It took me a while to really understand his passion for the sport, but I think I am starting to get it. Baseball is such a unique sport with unique fans.  Being at baseball game forces you to relax and sit still for 9 innings, which is something that I need.   

Thank God for baseball...

 

happy, happy birthday

Happy, happy birthday, baby! 25 has arrived!

It is crazy to think that this is the 5th birthday I've celebrated with you.  It is even crazier to think that since you are 25…that means that I have officially known you for 1/5th of your life.  Not sure why I am so impressed with the whole 1/5th of your life thing, but I am :)  The real victory here is that God created someone who could handle me for 5 years, well someone who didn’t have to love me – like my parents. 

For me, your birthday is more than just a time to celebrate who you are today.  It is a time to celebrate all 25 years of your life.  Especially the 20 years before I knew you, that helped mold you into the amazing man and husband you are today.   By celebrating you today, I am appreciating all of the love, time, and energy that your parents, family, and friends have invested in you. 

I am sure that in fifteen years, when I’ve celebrated more than half of your birthdays with you, this will seem really insignificant; however, right now it seems like a milestone.  In 5 years I have grown to love you, know you, and appreciate you more each day.  I can’t fathom knowing you any better or feeling any deeper for you, but I know that I will.

I have celebrated with you as a friend, girlfriend, and fiancé; however, this is the first time I have ever celebrated your birthday as your wife.  I would have never expected this day to feel different as your wife, but it does.  This day feels so much more significant than it ever has before.   You represent all that the past has taught me and all that our future holds. 

Sometimes, it feels like such a long journey that brought us here, and other days it feels like the time has just blown buy.   Regardless of the journey that brought us here, I am amazed by where it has led us to. 

I am still amazed on a daily basis that you love me so much, that you choose to live with me.  I know that I am not an easy person to live with.  I just need to make public that you really are a champ for putting up with me all of the time.  Between my obsessive compulsive cleaning, awful singing, and moodiness – that is enough to drive a person insane. 

In all seriousness, you are incredibly patient, kind, and forgiving.  You are my very best friend and I love living life with you. 

I appreciate who you are everyday, but today, let’s celebrate who you are! 

MWAH!

 

the ultimate chicken calling...

When Drew and I were working in Dilley, we often thought about how awesome it would be to "own" a Chick-fil-a.  We even looked into to the process of applying to be an operator.  We considered applying, but after reading that over 20,000 people apply and only 60-70 people are chosen a year...we had second thoughts.  We knew it was highly unlikely that at age 23 and 24 that we would be chosen, so we decided that maybe after gaining some work experience that we would one day attempt to apply with the masses.

All we really knew about Chick-fil-a then was that they had ahhh-maze-zing food and the people there always said "my pleasure" and were contagiously happy.  We also knew that the owners were clearly devout Christians who placed their morals and values as a top priority, which is so refreshing.

Just a few days before Drew and I were set for our move from Dilley to Georgetown, a group of hunters walked into the Oil Patch Cafe. I greeted them and began to explain some items on the menu, I didn't think much of it.  After a while, I took their food out to them and began talking with the gentlemen again.  It turned out that one of the men, Kirk Thompson, was actually from Round Rock and we actually knew some of the same people.  I explained that Drew and I were fixin' to (yep fixin' to) move to that area and that Drew was looking for a job. 

Long story short - Kirk is the operator of a Chick-fil-a in Pflugerville and offered Drew some temporary work until he found a job.  He gave Drew his card and we parted our separate ways.

Later that day, Drew and discussed how neat that group of guys was and how nice it was of Kirk to even offer to help us out.   We kept his card, but didn't expect that Drew would actually end up working there.  Insert point one:  God has a plan, and it is ALWAYS better than our own.

Within a week of moving, we had experience a series of unfortunate events, so Drew and I decided that it would be best to go ahead and find some temporary work until Drew could find a full-time job. Drew met with Kirk, who was totally awesome, and agreed to basically fill the gap for Drew until he found a permanent job.

So the job search began.  It was exhausting and emotional for both of us.  Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and still nothing.  All the while, Drew and I fell in love with the amazing company that Chick-fil-a is.  Not only did we fall in love with the company, we fell in love with Kirk and his wife Sheryl. They took an interest in us an our well-being, and for that we will be forever grateful. 

It began  to click in our heads that maybe the job that Drew was searching for was right in front of him.  And then...it happened.  Drew came home from work one day and was noticeably happier than usual.  I made the mistake of asking why, and that is when the word vomiting began.  All joking aside, Drew was truly pumped about an opportunity that Kirk had talked with him about. 

To make an already long story, shorter, there is program through Chick-fil-a called the Interim Operator program.  Basically, an existing employee can apply to become an "Interim Operator."  If selected, the employee trains at the corporate offices in Georgia and then is placed at Chick-fil-a's around the country as Interim.  The Interim Operator serves at
Chick-fil-a's that are in need of an operator because the pre-exisiting operator either retired, was fired, etc...  After serving as an Interim for 1-2 years, you become an operator of your very own Chick-fil-a.  Hellloooo....that is AWESOME!

We pretended to be unsure about what we wanted to do, but we knew that this was where God was leading us the whole time.  I was even more confident in the decision, as I saw the joy in my husband grow. 

So here is a rough time-line of the next year or so...
Drew will continue serving at the Pflguervill Chick-fil-a until Kirk feels that he is ready and qualified to apply for the program.  We hope that will be sometime between January and March of 2014.  He will then apply for the program, and if accepted, he will head to training in Georgia.  We also know that at the end of this, Drew could not be accepted into the program, and we are okay with that risk, because we know this is exactly where God wants us to be.

We also decided that it would be a good idea for me to Chick-fil-a savy as well, so if you're lucky, you might find me there too.   I just finished my training and spend about one day a week get my chicken on. 

So here is to another crazy adventure in our lives! Until next time...

 

A box of chocolate...

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know whatcha gonna get. “

This blog will have 2 applications of this quote.  Practical and personal. 

Let’s begin with this:  Chocolate.  It is no doubt one of the greatest things God has ever given us.  I rank chocolate up there with  family, friends, sweatpants, and Friends (the TV show). 

With that being said, boxed chocolates are the best thing and the worst thing all at the same time.  On one hand, you have the most delicious chocolate coated almonds, chocolates filled with toffee, and my personal favorite, cherry cordials.  On the other hand, you have chocolates filled with the mysterious berry (vomit) paste.  It’s repulsive.  You never know it’s coming, unless you try to use that impossible treasure map that comes in the box, and then BAM – disgusting.  

Now that my chocolate rant is over…

This quote is a pretty accurate description of our life lately. We never know what is coming next…  Please pardon my pessimism for a moment (I promise the optimism is coming).  The job searching for Drew has been disheartening and exhausting.  Part of the exhaustion comes from the lack of response, the other comes from trying to force ourselves to be optimistic about it.  At the end of the day – it just sucks.  In addition to the job search, we have also been dealing with some unexpected financial issues (those are always fun).  Here comes the cherry-on-top, last week I got hit by a guy running a red light.  I tried to be the nice girl who lets the guy to court which he is running late for (yes, he even showed me the court documents), and what happens? He lies.  He denies running a red light.  Which means…. I have to pay to get my car fixed, instead of him.  Grrr L

If you are reading this right now , you’re probably thinking “this is depressing, can you please write about something happy,” …here it comes J

In the midst of all the frustration and pessimism I hear God saying “SURRENDER!” It’s a struggle for me, because I am such a control freak.  I ALWAYS have a plan.  I am ALWAYS prepared.  What I am learning is that by being flexible and open to the idea of deviating away from that plan, gives me this unbelievable feeling of possibility.  It’s a freedom that I don’t feel often, because I bind myself to this “perfect plan” (yeah, right)  that I have made for myself. 

The sweetness of not knowing what we are going to get comes when we have fully surrendered our lives to God and His will.  Letting go of my plan, means opening all of the possibilities of His plans for us.   I am learning that my plans fail in so many ways.  My plans always take into account what people will think or how I will be perceived, but often don’t take into account God’s purpose for our lives. 

By not having a plan right now, we are able to discover more of our purpose, and for that I am so thankful. 

*Disclaimer*:  I do believe that is still important to plan and prepare for life, just not to become so rigid in that plan that we are blind to His will. 

Thanks for reading!