A Summer of Reflection

This summer has been wonderful. A time meeting new friends and connecting with old ones, a beginning of new ventures and the continuation of our family routine. And, for me personally, a time of introspection. A time of self-reflection which if I am honest I really do not like to do, haha. However, for whatever reason I found myself frequently looking into my own motives this summer, was made aware of some character traits which aren't that pretty that I want to change and overall I feel like I know myself a little better after this summer.

I think that some of this self-reflection time came because of my big b-day...I am now 30 years old, and by goodness I do feel as if I am more mature and know more of what I want out of life now. I am sure some of this looking-inward time also came because of some "discussions" that Aaron and I had during the course of the summer. Husbands (and children for that matter) have this unique way of making you see that you're not all you're cracked up to be...IF you allow them to show you...IF you allow yourself to see beyond the pretty exterior you put on for people...IF you allow yourself the possibility to want to change. Otherwise husbands (and children) just make you angry because you think you're in the right and think that they have to change. Obviously we all have areas where we can grow and mature, but often you have to squelch your pride in order to see what areas YOU need to change in. At least that is how it is for me.

Another thing that has helped me is the wonderful book by Ann Voskamp...One Thousand Gifts...I have been reading it slowly, on purpose, because there is so much to gain from it. I don't want to miss what I could learn by reading quickly through it. I am only on chapter 3, and the thing that has stood out so far is learning to live a thankful life. Thanks. We say it a lot, but do we really live out thankful lives? I know that I don't. I'm anxious to see what the rest of the book holds. It's pretty intense, at least for me it is because it is so relevant to my life right now.

Anyhoo, it's been a good summer all around and next week our "fall" schedule starts up more or less. Johnathan starts school at a wonderful little program we found for him so we will officially transition from our carefree summer days to a little more structure. And, the week after Aaron starts work. I think it will be good for all of us to get into more of a routine. I am looking forward to it, and looking forward to all this fall will bring for us!

A few images of our summer...























*Grace*

Hmm, where to start???.....

Well, since the last time I "really" posted a lot has happened. We moved across state and have started settling in to our new neighborhood. That in itself has been a huge transition and we are really loving our new place...lots of room for the boys to play and plenty of space to host gatherings which we have already enjoyed doing!

Also, on July 22nd I turned the big 3-0...yikes! My sweet sister Gail and loving husband, along with lots of my other wonderful family helped to pull one over on me...a surprise party that (almost) totally caught me off guard...it's hard to surprise me, but they did an awesome job and the party was beautiful! (To read more about it click the photo source below and you will be taken to Gail's blog where she posted about all her efforts to make my party so special!)

My beautiful sister, Gail!

(Photo source here)



My wonderful, ever loving husband, Aaron! xoxoxoxo

(Photo source here)

Also this summer we made a trip down to Corpus Christi, our old home, and spent some wonderful time with our dear Whitehurst family. We had already started to really miss them, so a trip down there was the perfect way to cure the We Miss the Whitehurst Blues! ;)

Now we are trying to really get settled in our new community...trying to find a good church, a good (convenient and low price) grocery store and we are continuing to meet and get to know our new neighbors. Aaron starts real-life working in a few weeks and so we are also very much enjoying some extra time with him before life gets back to "normal" around here.

Hope y'all are all enjoying the last dog days of summer.

Love,
*Grace*

We didn't disappear off the face of the earth...

We just moved! Wow, almost a month of zero blog activity but our lives couldn't be any busier at the moment. We are in full swing post move around here and boxes are flyin', things are getting organized and life is moving on...just in a new location! We are still waiting on our "real" internet...don't ask me how I'm on now, it's a long story...and hopefully once that is up and running I'll be on this blog a lot more. I have lots of beautiful new rooms to show you in the wonderful house we're blessed to now call our home!

Anyways, just wanted to let y'all know that we're still here and I'll be back soon to show things off! ;)

*Grace*

Celebrating Father's Day & the Crazy Days of Trying to Pack for a Big Move with Two Rambunctious Boys! ;)

Sunday we spent chillin' out with Aaron and honoring him for Father's Day...the boys gave him plenty of opportunities to demonstrate what a wonderful father he is, haha...they were a tad feisty, but it's no wonder since they've been cooped up a little more than usual as I flurry about the house prepping it for our big move coming up next week. We enjoyed a yummy Father's Day dinner out at Grimaldi's...Mmm, good pizza...and here are some pics of our nice evening.

They gave the boys some uncooked dough to play with while we waited for our pizza to cook...sorta like edible play dough...they LOVED it!

Yesterday the boys had about had it with being cooped up inside...so I took them out for pizza and games at Peter Piper's...they have a fun time and got a lot of their energy out...hooray for all of us! ;)

I'm off to continue moving prep while my little dudes are napping!
*Grace*

For Tio & Uncle Matt

On the way home from Dallas we stopped at Firehouse Subs and both boys got these cute firefighter hats (helmets?). Of course anytime we see anything having to do with being a firefighter we have a wonderful opportunity to tell the boys about how their Tio and Uncle Matt are firemen...which, of course is super cool for little boys to be able to look up to their uncles like that, to look up to them as heros, because they are! Anyways, here are my two little firemen, obviously not in their full gear since going out to fight a fire in just your undies would be quite crazy! ;)








We love you Tio and Uncle Matt. Thanks for all you do to help the communities you serve and for giving of yourself to protect and keep others safe.

Love,
Grace and your two adoring nephews!

Finding {Home}

We recently returned home after a house hunting trip up to the DFW metroplex. Aaron graduates residency in a little over a week (yay!) and will be starting up his "real" job with a medical group up there. So we have to pack our bags, box up our life really, and make the move to North Texas. It was odd, trying to find a house that will be home, trying to find a place where we'll make new friends and trying to locate that "perfect" spot to make new memories. Bittersweet, really. Our trip was successful tho, and we found a beautiful place that will become our new home. Home is where the heart is, or so the saying goes, so I think that Corpus Christi will always feel like home to me...so many wonderful things happened here, it would be hard for it not to feel like home.

Since we had blocked out two weeks of time for house hunting but only ended up needing one day for that (yep, found it and leased it in one day!) and only needed a few days for other personal business stuff we had lots of time to catch up with some of the folks we love dearly in our "new neighborhood." We spent time with all the family and caught up with several friends during our trip too. Looking back I didn't take many pics...too busy having a good time I guess...but here are some of my faves that capture our Dallas trip...

Don't you just love the creative way we came up with to strap our new iPad to the back of my seat so Johnathan could watch his movies on the car trip??? I was quite proud of it, even if it was a bit redneck! ;)

Johnathan was totally mesmerized by it!
The boys in a real live dump truck!
Sand for all at Grandpa and Grammy's.
Enjoying the water show at the Fairview splash park.
Me and my sweet boy hanging out at the water show.
The spray shot up about 50 feet! Pretty cool!
Aaron being "Amateur Nacho" at the Nacho Libre party we had at Gwen & Matt's...Eli didn't like the mask too much...:(
"Shh, secret tunnels"...da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da...
Nacho & Encarnación (Baby Cole & his mommy, Gail).
Eli enjoying playing at his cousin's house!
Levi with his "wrestling mask" on! ;)
Eagle powers!
It's hard to be a superhero without your trusty pig! (Greta, this pic's for you!)
Chancho!
The new place we'll call home!

Blessings,
*Grace*