happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to the best mom I could ask for!  My mom and I have not always seen eye to eye (read: I was a pretty terrible teenager) but as I have grown up, we have only grown closer.  I am so thankful to have her in my life and grateful to be her daughter.  So in my mom's honor, I've made a list of twenty things (big and small) that I've learned from my mom over the years.

a golden birthday

Steve turned 28 on the 28th yesterday.  We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather - low 80s and sunny - all day, which was great because we had a full day of outdoor festivities planned!

We began the morning with a birthday breakfast and then took off for our first ever Westie Walk.  We heard about the event through a random Starbucks bulletin board post and figured we'd give it a try.  None of us really knew what to expect.

Turns out, the Westie Walk was amazing.  Imagine one hundred and fifty little Westies all gathered in one place, and then a parade of the cheerful pups on a twenty-minute walk led by bagpipers.  It was absolutely precious.

There were Westies everywhere.  Some wore kilts, others had dresses on - there were even some Colts uniforms.  Some of the owners went all-out in Westie sweaters and Westie hats.  We weren't that hard-core but it was still fun to people- and dog-watch.  Lyla absolutely loved it.

Lyla is a social butterfly and loved meeting as many other dogs as she could.  She was worn out when the event was over!

After the Westie Walk, it was time to start getting ready for Steve's birthday party.  Since Steve loves Mexican food, we decided to make fajitas for our guests.  We marinated steak and chicken for about eight hours.  In the meantime, I cut up red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers, along with sweet onions and mushrooms.  We had about 15 guests for the party, so there were lots of veggies to chop!

(the little 4x6 in the corner is Steve and his twin back in the day.  Such sweet birthday boys.)

Next up was the birthday cake - a chocolate cake and yellow cake cupcakes w/ chocolate icing!

Next came present-opening for Steve.  He got a new firepit from me, and some great presents from family members.

Finally it was time for the twins' party!  The party itself was a huge success.  We have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and it was great just spending the evening outside enjoying the weather and each other's company.  There were a few games of cornhole and bocce ball, and Lyla of course was in the middle of all the excitement.

The birthday boys...

 Time for cake!

We hung out as the sun set and lit the firepit as the night sky set in.  

 Steve and I ended the night exhausted but with full hearts.  I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate my love's golden birthday (and his twin's!) than with so many sweet and wonderful people.

Today, we are recovering and enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon watching the Colts game.  Life is good, my friends.  Hope you had a great weekend!

from one amy to another

I've been reflecting a lot lately on this phase of my life called my "twenties."  I'm over halfway through them, and starting to look to thirty.  There's so much to look forward to, but also so much I have learned in this phase of my life.  I have found myself thinking back to who I was as a twenty-year-old, and wishing I could pass along some "life lessons" to that girl.  As a twenty-year-old, I was still learning so much of who I was and who I wanted to be.  Now, seven years later, I feel like I have a better understanding of who I am, where my priorities lie and who/what is important to me.  I've learned a lot since I was the girl in this picture and am so thankful for the journey of life that she has traveled to get to my present-day. 

But if I could sit down across the table from her, maybe over a chai tea latte, some froyo or a glass of white wine, I'd love to share some of my heart with her.  I would tell her:

• It's okay to be pale.
• There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to bed early.
• Not everyone will always wish you the best - but that's okay.
• Just because you're swimming 4-5 hours a day doesn't mean you should eat whatever you want.  Make smart food choices, because when swimming stops, you'll have to eat like a regular person.  And it will be quite a shock.
• Spend time alone with God every day... it will make the rest of your day so much better.
• Stop looking for love.  It will find you when the time is right.  And stop worrying about finding The One.  Believe me - you'll know when you meet him! 
• Swimming isn't everything.
• You don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of.
• Don't pretend to be someone you are not - God sees right through you.
• Soak up the little moments of college - you'll never experience anything like it again and you will think back on it with fondness for the rest of your life.
• Thai food is really delicious.
• Guard your heart. 
• Embrace your inner nerd.  She's bound to come out sooner or later, anyway.  (but surprise: you're not going to do anything with that biochem degree after all!) 
• Pizza at 2am is not a good idea.  Ever.  Ok fine... rarely, ever.
• RELAX.  You don't have to try to be perfect at everything!
• Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
• You have the rest of your life to pursue your dreams - keep 'em big!
• Believe it or not, after you move away, you will actually miss Houston.  But don't worry, you'll get to travel back more than you would have thought and each trip gets better and better.
• You're beautiful in your own skin. 
• Mexican food just isn't the same outside of the Lone Star State.
• Love doesn't always look like what you see in the movies.  But it's better than the movies, because it is real. 

Yes, I think we would have a really nice chat.  Oh twenty-year-old me - what an incredible journey these seven years has been.  Can't wait to see what the remaining three years of my twenties have in store.