Another Gift From God: Friends

I've come to the conclusion that friends are another form of family.  They are each gifts from God, sent into our lives in His timing. These friendships may be just for a season or for life, but always for a purpose. We were recently blessed to be able to host Andy and Kate, two of our good friends from college. Andy- Sol's former roommate and Kate- a member of my women's bible study in college, were both a large part of our "college season" in life but we hope to remain friends through the many seasons to come.

Andy and Kate are both dedicated students and have a deep appreciation and understanding of the sacrifice that graduate school requires. To honor us and celebrate our graduation they brought us each a very thoughtful graduation gift. Sol received a classy tobacco pipe from Andy. He, Andy and Ben (Sol's other dear friend from college) were able to share some man time out on our deck enjoying their pipes together. I love this picture!

Kate brought me this beautiful spoon bracelet. I had commented that I loved these when I had seen a similar one in the past and she took note! 

Thanks to some good weather during their trip we got to spend a few nights outside including a night at the Arkansas Traveler's ball park where Kate and Andy had their very first, that's right, FIRST funnel cake! Of course they loved it :)

Kate and I spent quite a bit of time on our deck enjoying the cool evenings and interacting with some of the friendly neighborhood bugs :)

During their trip we were also able to host a Sip n' See Housewarming party for Ben and fill his new house with love. Here is the crew breaking in his wonderful screened in porch! No bugs here!

I have to say over the last few months I've gained a new appreciation for and realized the value of having friends in my life. I have witnessed friends walk through both extreme pain and joy. God has been revealing his character though these experiences and relationships. Part of this revelation is that friendship is essentially love in action. Romans 12:9-10 "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." That is friendship, and I am so thankful for the dear friends in our lives in this season. Thank you all, you know who you are :) 

MinnesOOta.

I don't know what is is about Minnesota. Just like my homeland of Maryland, Minnesota has a special place in my heart. Special people, special places, special memories. Here are a few pictures from our most recent trip to MN to visit friends and family. We are so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives!

First, we got to finally meet Pete! My Bestie and former college roommate Lindsey's son. GIANT baby but sooooooo squishable! :)

Then we headed to Sol's Sister's cabin near Crosslake, MN to be with family for the weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better place to relax. 

On our way out of town we met some college friends for 6am coffee at Kopplin's, my favorite coffee place EVER. Look. at. that. coffee. YUM!

 These guys (Sol, Corey, Andy) will forever hold a bond... that I will never understand.

 Love this lady, the wonderful Mrs. Kate Hook!

Andy and Kate are coming to visit us this week so I will be blogging about that next! Stay tuned!

Austin Part Two!

After spending a few days with friends we took some time to celebrate our 5 year anniversary together. Here are a few picture from our adventures together.

Our first dinner solo was at Frank, a gourmet hot dog restaurant. This is my glorious "Porked Chili Dog" or in layman terms a hot dog, sliced and stuffed full of cheese, bacon wrapped, deep fried, then covered in chili, onions, and cheese!!! Shockingly AMAZING.

 This picture below is for Lindsey B who swears people make up quotes and put a famous person's name by it. I think this occurred at Frank... They claim Dwight Eisenhower said this one:

 Sol enjoyed this local beer "Pearl" while waiting for our franks at Frank!

What Anniversary is complete without some smooches? Sorry but I can't help it, I adore this man! 

 Here is the view along our evening walk back to our hotel as we watched the sun set.

Once it was all said and done it was a wonderful first Austin experience. I can't wait to go back! This anniversary trip also helped me realize how thankful I am for my husband, how incredibly blessed I am that God chose him for me, and how blessed we have been over the last 5 years. Can't wait to see what the next 5 years hold for us!

Austin Part One

Solomon and I took a trip to Austin to visit friends for a few days and then took a few days to celebrate our five year anniversary. A special thanks to Dylan & Michelle for hosting us and showing us around Austin for 3 days!! Here is a few pictures of our adventures during our time with them in Austin.

Wine tasting and chili cook-off at Becker vineyards -

We took a little trip to the Capitol for a guided tour. Here is my artsy version of the view inside - 

We took a short hike up Mount Bonnell  to see these views -

View of downtown Austin off in the distance - 

These are our wonderful hosts Michelle & Dylan who introduced us to all you can eat BBQ at Salt Lick! - 

Glorious BBQ platter of ribs, brisket, and sausage. Some of the best I've experienced in my life! - 

Once you are done with you BBQ they have a Hammock Garden to relax in!  

After a few days with friends we took a couple of nights to celebrate our five year anniversary by staying on Lady Bird Lake downtown Austin. More on that part of our trip to come!

Family

While Sol & I were in Maryland for my friend Suzy's wedding we got to spend some time with my family. Living over 1,000 miles away makes it hard to visit them and it certainly limits the time we have to be a part of the "little things" that make lifelong memories. Here are a few of the "little things" that happened while we were in MD:

My nephew Stevie graduated from Kindergarten. Yes, that is a BIG deal!

Kasey celebrated her 8th birthday!!

My sister celebrated her 29th birthday... again. (because we all stay 29 forever! right?!) I loved the look on the kids faces as she opened her new Benelli shotgun.

We went fishing with Kasey and Stevie.

 We shot BB guns with the kiddos and played with my sisters new shotgun.

We also went swimming with Kasey and Stevie

I love these kids! Stevie's eyes will melt your heart!

I taught Solomon how to drive the cherry picker while picking these:

Those are just a few of the "little things" that hopefully made BIG memories for us and my family. I am so thankful for the time we do get to spend with them and look forward to our next trip to MD!

Suzy's Wedding Weekend

This past weekend Solomon and I traveled to Maryland to celebrate the marriage of my lifelong friend Suzy to her wonderful fiance Ray. She and Ray married on the same naval base Sol and I exchanged vows on nearly five years ago! Suzy was my Maid of Honor at the time and I was humbled to be asked to be her Matron of Honor and to stand by her side at the altar. It was great to be a part of her special day and I was thankful I made it through my speech with only a few tears! Here are the some of the only pictures I managed to capture since I was busy tending to the bride-to-be most of the day!

Here we are getting our hair and make-up done. She wore one of her future hubby's shirts! So cute!

Solomon, Ray, Suzy, and I after changing dresses and dancing the night away. 

Sol and I went for a walk down the candle lit trail on the beach later in the night.

The Bride and Groom's last dance of the night before heading to FL for their honeymoon!

I am so excited for Ray and Suzy and everything married life has in store for them both. They are made for one another and I pray that God will bless their marriage and draw them near to Him as He draws them near to one another!  I love you both and I am so thankful to call you my dear friends!

Graduation

Here are the pictures I promised from our Graduation May 13th. Solomon graduated with his Master's of Homeland Security in Information Technology as well as his Master's degree in Business Administration. I graduated with a Master's of International Management in Marketing.

 Us with my parents.

Us with our Moms since it was the day before Mother's Day!

Walking across the stage at the U of MD Comcast Center together!

I am so happy to be done with school and looking forward to the next chapter in our lives, whatever that may hold for us!

It's About Time...

    So let's pretend I haven't been neglecting the blog for a almost a year now. I mean, let's face it, no one probably noticed anyway but I'm going to add an excuse here to make myself feel better. I didn't have much time or at least any time that I was willing to sacrifice from other areas of life to spend blogging. There it is, a lame excuse but moving on...
    While I have been absent a lot has changed but the most important change that will help me to have more time for life, family, and friends is that Solomon and I (finally) completed our Master's degrees. One was not enough for my overachieving husband so he has two! He now has a Master's of Homeland Security in Information Technology as well as his MBA. Let's just say I admire him a little. That would be an understatement. I admire and respect him a lot, after all he completed a Master's and an MBA (with honors) in the same amount of time I managed to finish one Master's. :p
    Anyways, we are flying to Maryland this week to go to our graduation in College Park, MD. I will share some photos in my next post. Yes that's right, my next post that I will be making with all my new found time post grad school! Here are a few things I am looking forward to filling my time with:

• Nothing 
• More Jesus 
• Doing anything or absolutely nothing WITH my husband 
• Traveling to see family & family Skype time 
• My friends who I have so terribly neglected (if they will take me back) 
• Friend Skype time (lookout if you haven't heard from me I will be stalking you soon) 
• Workouts to help remove the "grad school 15" 
• Blogging 
• Music
• Reading (for fun) 
• Craft projects (thank you Pinterest) 
• Yard projects 
• Sunning by the pool 

    These are just what I could think of off the top of my head. There will be more and you can read about them here... Well, I will post about them here, it is doubtful many will actually read it. But it will be here none the less! Look out blog world I'm back :)