8 years!!

Today's the day folks!! 8 years ago I married my best friend!!

Here we are on June 8, 2002!


The past 8 years have been remarkable. We've grown up together, grown closer to God together, grown closer to each other and have two awesome little girls! God is so good and I am so thankful that I have such a great and loving husband!

I am looking forward to many more wonderful and remarkable years together!!











Have a great day everyone!!
Jessica

Camping Days!

This past week we decided that since we were going to have a 3-day weekend that we would take the girls camping. Our kids have never gone camping before so the whole week, they were just sooooo excited about going. I think I heard about 100 times a day..."is today the day we go camping Mommy?" and "is it Sunday yet so we can go camping?"

FINALLY Sunday came and after church we came home...loaded up the car and went out to Tejas Park at Lake Georgetown. This park is really cool. They have 12 "tent only" camping sites and each site has a lantern stand, picnic table, fire pit and an area to set up your tent as well as TONS of trees. Anyway, we get to Tejas Park, go pick out the site we want and start to unload. The girls loved the big tree we had at our site. It had two big branches that came down to the ground and they used the branches as swings. We got the tent all set up and then took the girls on a hike of the area.

They found butterflies, capterpillars, grasshoppers, scorpions (yes we even had scorpions...but they were off in the woods...not near our tent) and all kinds of bugs that you would expect to find outside. Right there at the park is the tip of the lake with a crystal clear swimming hole. The water was perfect! Not too hot, not too cold...it was no more than about 5 feet deep all the way across so we got the girls in their swimsuits and took off for the swimming hole. After an hour or two we decided it was dinner time. The girls got to roast hot dogs over an open fire, which of course they also throughly enjoyed. And of course who could forget the experience of smores on an open fire. We all LOVED that part!

After a night of tent sleeping, which wasn't bad at all, since we had such a nice breeze and it was a cool night. We took the kiddos fishing...we didn't catch anything, but we did manage to drown a few worms. One more trip to the swimming hole then it was time to come home. All in all we had a FANTASTIC camping trip and the girls LOVED every minute of it. From hiking in the dark with our flashlights and lanterns, to cooking over an open fire, to just swinging on the tree branches. This is a family activity that we are DEFINETELY going to be doing again!

Hope you all had a great long weekend too!
Jessica

Crank It Up!!

We recently got back from a trip in Lubbock where we went to a Transformation Conference at Church on the Rock. This was good stuff people...if you haven't already done Transformation...GET YOUR HANDS ON IT....it's really, really gonna change your life!!

Anyway, at this conference I got the privilege to work with the COTR sound/media team. They were a TOTALLY awesome group to work with! Anyway, back on topic...the sound guy, Robby, is always on the look out for new bands, bands not so widely known etc etc. Robby introduced us to the Parachute Band....THEY ROCK GUYS!! If you look it up on youtube, google etc...there are 2 Parachute Bands...one was the original band...the newer band is younger with a more "rock" type style, but very very good!!

Their lyrics are so pure and so true...just what I want to hear and CRANK IT UP! Take a listen to their song, Come to the River! It's such a catchy song with GREAT lyrics. I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. Travis and I will be putting these songs on our playlist...how about you???









Have a fantastic day in the river!!
Jessica

New Adventures

Don't you love when you take on new adventures in life??!! I've always wanted to decorate cakes...not just throw some icing on them...I'm talking really decorate some cakes. The other day I found the Wilton Course handbooks ON CLEARANCE!! Clearance...my absolute FAVORITE!! Anyway, I took some time and read through the books, started practicing and tonight made my first offical cake using real decorating methods!

My niece turns four on Mother's Day...so her party is gonna be tomorrow. She asked for a Strawberry Shortcake party and I just so happened to have a Strawberry Shortcake pan from when I was little, so I volunteered to make the cake. It took a long time, but here's the final product!





I hope to make many more cakes in the future and get better and better!!
Jessica

Mom's Life!

Okay so by now you all know about our weight loss journey...it's still going great!! It's getting to where I'm only seeing a pound a week, compared to the 5,6 and 7 lbs a week I was seeing, but hey 1lb is better than gaining...right!!!

Well, I was sent the following cartoon and it's soooooo true! Hope you enjoy it!!

A mom's life....new method to work out!








Have a happy day!!
Jessica

Still Going!

So do you all remember when I talked about losing weight and going at it with a new mindset...the mindset of an Olympian? Well, I just wanted to let you all know that I am still at it. Yes, there are times when I just really and truly want to quit and there are also times when I just totally skip working out, but I am still going and reaching my little goals one step at a time.

When I decided that this year I was going to start this journey and STICK WITH IT I weighed as much as I did when I was pregnant with my 1st baby girl...and she turned 4 this year! Yes, 3 and 4 yrs ago I could say that I was heavy because I was pregnant, but really after 3 yrs (after our 2nd was born) I am still carrying around all that weight...what is wrong with this picture???? That realization FINALLY struck me like a TON of bricks and I decided that now was the time for a change. I AM NOT going to be looking at myself this same time next year saying "man, if I had just finished I would be in better shape by now"...and repeating that awful cycle year in and year out. I AM DONE WITH THAT!!!
In 2010 I will be a new creation....just like it is written in God's Word...I am a new creation with a healthier and more fit body in 2010! If you too are embarking on this journey for a healthier more fit body....not a superficial worldly looking body, but a healthier more fit you...then I want to just encourage you and say...YOU CAN DO IT!! Yes, there are days you want to quit, yes there are days when you will splurge and even days when you won't even exercise, but keep going...YOU WILL GET THERE!!

I am proud to say that after 3 months of exercising (no, it hasn't been a solid 3 straight months...I have slacked off here and there)...I have lost....drumroll please......

20 lbs!!! That's right folks!! I am now 20 lbs lighter than I was when I started this journey in Jan. It feels really good!!I am about 2 lbs shy of hitting my next BIG goal and that is busting through this one number that has been alluding me for the past 4 years....I know that once I finally break through that hurdle I will NEVER go back over that number EVER again!!

I pray that if you too are embarking on this journey that you will KEEP GOING! You can do it and I believe in you!!

Love and Prayers!
Jessica

Family Days!!

I just love family days and I especially love family days when the weather is so beautiful like today was!!!

With nothing on the church calendar for today and no other plans we decided to take the girls to Mt. Bonnell in Austin. It's a place where you can just climb the stairs and look at the view of Lake Austin, or walk along the trails and see different views of the houses and the lake and they have lots of picnic tables there too. So we thought....let's do it!! The girls had soooooo much fun!! Haley said she loved hiking! One day we are going to take them to some REAL mountains to hike, but this satisfies them for now!! :) After our hiking trip, we came back to Round Rock and took the kids to the park where they got to play on the playground and play in the sand and we also wore them out at the tennis courts!! Travis and I had fun playing tennis and the kids played for a few minutes then they became the ball chasers...they had fun doing that too!! Anyway, I hope you and yours have many fantastic family days!!!

Here's a glimpse of ours: