5 Things I love Friday

Lee is doing well, he is still at Baptist Rehab Institute. We are hoping that he will get to come home by the middle of next week.  I'm excited to go to Benton next Friday and "Lee-sit" while my mom goes to California to see her sister.

It's been a rough week- but God is good. Sometimes it's hard to see how wonderful His grace really is. I can remember getting up early one day and thinking... "I can't do this today." The thing was... I couldn't... but through Him I can do all things! I prayed God would give me the strength and He did.

On a much lighter note... there are some things I am loving right now...
1. My Daniel Bible Study- by Beth Moore

A group of about 13 ladies meets at my house on Thursday nights at 7. It's a 13 week study and we just finished the 6th week. The book of Daniel is amazing! It's full of life application as well as prophesy of end time events.

2. PiYo Class
Adam and I joined a gym a couple of months ago. We've both been doing great about being in the gym 3-4 days a week. I love to go to the classes and one of my favorites is Piyo. It's a mix between Pilates and Yoga.

3. Shellac polish

I love this polish! I've had my current color on for 2.5 weeks! Other than my nails growing out a little, the polish looks great and isn't chipped or dull one bit!

4. My new fall boots from Bakers. Luuuurve! It's finally fall yall!

5. This new boutique opened up in Rogers recently and they have the cutest stuff! They have clothes as well as gifts. The store has Christian owners and supports many philanthropic products in their store like TOMS shoes and scarves handmade by women in Africa that when you buy the bulk of the proceeds go directly back to them.
 

I know that most of these things are superficial, but I'm so thankful that God gives us things in life to enjoy!

Happy Friday and Happy Fall!

God is Good

On Wednesday, October 5th my sweet baby brother (who is 19- but still a baby) was in a car wreck less than 2 miles from my parent's house in Benton. He swerved to miss a car that was in his lane, and wrapped his truck around a tree. He is not lucky- but BLESSED to be alive and is recovering from a bruised spinal cord. Thankfully, no bones were broken and there was no head injury. He was med-flighted to UAMS and remains in the hospital.

Lee's truck. The window had to be busted out for them to get to him.

Lee is going to be ok. He will do therapy for the next few days before they release him to go home. We are so overwhelmed by God's grace and the wonderful people that He has put into our lives. My parent's friends and Lee's have been at the hospital all week. It's such a wonderful thing to know that people love your family and are praying for his recovery.

I thankfully have a job that is flexible and allows me to work remotely so I have been Lee- sitting for the last 2 days so that my parents can rest at home and start getting back to work. We've had wheelchair races, watched the Cards win, Rangers win, then Cards win again. We've talked a lot about life and reminisced about the "olden days" when we were kids. For being 6 years apart, we're extremely close. I love him SO much and I am so thankful for the time we've had together the last couple of days.

 People have brought all kinds of goodies to the hospital. A good family friends put together a basket with wrestling magazines, candy, and some "squeezies" so that Lee could keep up his upper body strength. It was kind of a joke... but Lee really liked them!

We love each other.

Wednesday night, before my mom called around midnight- we had just gone to bed and had been at small group Bible study. This week at church we have been talking about Matthew 6- specifically about worrying. vs.33-34 says that God will provide for our every need. It also says "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I won't lie, when I got that phone call- I was worried. Adam and I prayed a lot that night and these verses were fresh on our mind. God has provided for our family this week and even if things had not gone as well as they have- I can trust that God's will is perfect. Everything- in time would have been ok had things been truly tragic if they were part of God's plan. I am giving Him praise for answering prayer and I am asking Him to help me not to worry and instead put my total faith and trust in Him!

WoOoOo Pig Sooie!

Its the most wonderful time of the year... Razorback football season! We became ticket holders for the first time this year and even talked both sets of parents into getting tickets too! We are halfway through the season and have been having a blast with them every weekend. They take turns staying at our house- and the other gets a hotel. Here are some pics from the last 3 games.

Husband and I before the Missouri State. WIN!

Friday night before Troy, dinner @ Common Grounds. YUM!

 Sunday after the Troy game we had brunch at Ella's.

 Hogs vs. Troy- WIN! It was freezing!

 Judge and Baba at the Auburn game. WIN!!!!

I wasn't really a Hog fan until husband and I started dating. We liked the Hogs, but didn't go to games and I don't remember ever owning a Razorback shirt or anything. Adam took me to my first Hog game when we were in college. Last year, we attended all of the games basically for free since he was a graduate student. This year- he begged to get season tickets... and I gave in. :) Notice we are pretty high up... in fact, you can't get much higher! But- we are in that stadium! It's been a blast having our families with us too.

The Hogs are #10 in the country! Sadly, we lost to Alabama a couple of weeks ago- but were still cheering! And I guarantee you my man is praying for a National Championship! We can dream, right?
#wps

Weekend in Waco

One of my childhood best friends, Megan moved to Waco, Texas after getting married last April. Several months ago (6+) 5 of us girls and Megan's husband, Nick started planning a surprise birthday party for her. That weekend finally came this past weekend when the 5 of us loaded up and drove 7 hours (I drove 10!) to surprise her for dinner. She seriously had no idea. It was the sweetest thing!
Here is a video I took on my phone when she walked in. I sound like a 4-toothed hag from the depths of Mississippi. Brittany sounds like a cackling witch! This video makes me teary-eyed though- Megan was SO surprised!

We had the BEST weekend. I seriously love these girls SO much. We have all been best friends since the 6th GRADE!!! Can you believe that?? We were inseparable in high school, all went to different colleges, and now live between 2 states- all but 2 several hours apart. We talk or text weekly and pray for each other daily. It's rare that we are all together, and in fact it has been over 9 months- last Christmas that we were all together. Sweet Megan has had a tough time adjusting to a new city where she knew NO ONE. She has the cutest house and coolest job and I'm so glad I finally got to visit her!

What is amazing to me about our friendships- is that we literally can pick up right where we left off. We also don't have to be entertained. We always have plenty to talk about and spent many hours on Meg's back porch talking about life (and reminiscing about the occasional high school shenanigan we participated in.) We did some shopping on Saturday, then ventured out for a field trip to the site of the Branch-Davidians compound in Waco. It was super creepy, but the history and story was very interesting. There isn't much to do in Waco so we had to get creative!

One of the porch convos- me explaining that I have man hands. My ring in the middle, Megan and Kori's rings wont fit past my knuckles. :)

Jessica, me, Britt, Meg, Kori, and Tiffany

I love these girls so much! We are having our annual Christmas party in Fayetteville this year and I can hardly wait to see these girls again!

Working Girls

When I first started my "big-girl job" 3 years ago, I think its safe to say that I had a "rough" adjustment. I was not new to the working world... I actually got my first job at age 15 and worked 2 jobs in college. (this isn't a sob story I promise... I just really enjoyed working!)  Anyway... a full time job is different from even 2 part time jobs. I had to be on time- even early, commute 45 minutes each way, work in a 5x5 cubicle for 9 hours a day, and sell over the phone. It was hard. It was draining. I cried every day before and after work and sometimes on my lunch break. (I think my old job is open if you are interested, ha!)

With a LOT of prayer and support from my then future husband things got easier. About 3 months in, I started becoming really good friends with a girl named Amy. We sat across from each other but rarely talked and then just all of a sudden hit it off. We are not extremely close in age, and are in different life stages. Amy became pregnant when we worked together and I was just engaged. I've gotten to watch her sweet baby boy grow up. We really learned to lean on each other for work, but that relationship quickly extended into a friendship that has lasted for 3 years now and includes me in a different role at my company and her in at a different job at a different company all together. Amy's husband, Shawn, is somewhat of a local celebrity- he co-hosts a sports radio show. He and Adam have become good friends over the years. I know it was God that brought Amy and I together and formed such a strong bond. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her- and I certainly wouldn't have had as much fun at work!

 Amy and I at the Hogs vs. Texas A&M game in Dallas last year.

I had to get proof of Amy calling the Hogs! She is an Ole Miss girl!

Amy and Shawn FINALLY made it to Fayetteville to visit us a few weeks ago! They even brought sweet, Harris to play! I made a yummy Seafood Lasagna for dinner and we had a great time just catching up on life and laughing a LOT!

 Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?!

Poor Harris was all tuckered out!

Thanks for coming to visit us, Shawn and Amy! We're looking forward to another visit soon!

Summer Lovin'

This weekend, we attended one of my best friend's little sister's wedding in Benton. It is so surreal that little Karis is now married! I really felt old this weekend. The wedding was beautiful and was one of the most worshipful ceremonies I have ever been to.

These were two of my favorite pictures of them. They are a beautiful couple, but I am also obsessed with their photographer, Melissa McCrotty. She has shot several of my friend's wedding and I think she is so talented. I had a less than wonderful photographer at my wedding, so I'm definately a little jealous when I see beautiful pictures! Congratulations Karis and Shad!

My youth pastor, Jay Jacobs performed the ceremony. Here are a bunch of his kiddos all together at the wedding.

Me and my besties, minus Meg. Sorry for the blurriness, an iPhone camera is all I have right now because my camera decided to stop working!!

After the wedding, Adam and I headed to Conway to celebrate Elizabeth's 25th birthday!! I helped to plan a surprise party for her for all of her closest friends and family. We had a great time and gave thanks to God for this precious miracle.

All the girls with the birthday girl.

Me and Lizzybeth.

On Sunday, we celebrated mom's birthday. It was the week before, but we had lunch and cookie cake at their house after church today to officially celebrate.

Happy Birthday, mom! I love you so much!

Vacation Part II

After getting scorched by the sun for a couple of days, we decided to spend the afternoon at the aquarium.  It was nice and cool and much fun was had!

 My cute boys.

 Mom being silly. We really had a great time and have so much fun together!

 Seahorses!

 The shark tank!! So totally cool! My mom and dad... also totally cool!

 Me in the Shark cage. Don't worry it was just pretend. We were all a little obsessed with the Sharks since "Shark Week" aired on The Discovery Channel the week before.

 Dad pointing out a super creepy eel. Eww.

 We chose to eat dinner at a chain steakhouse. We were a little disappointed with the local food that we had eaten all week and wanted a guaranteed good steak. It did not disappoint. we all scraped our plates clean and Lee's lobster posed with him after the delicious meal.

 The Richardson and Fite vacations always include good food!

I can't figure out how to turn this pic, but I'm holding a t-shirt that says:

"For Sale: Brother

comes with video games."

I thought it was pretty cute.

We had a great trip to the beach! My goal was spending a lot of time doing the above! Feet in the sand, listening to the waves crash, Sonic drink and Kindle in hand!

Thanks mom and dad for treating us to a beach trip to Galveston! It was a great time of fun and relaxation.