We are the Fowlers

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

2012-01-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

Oh wow its snowing! And by snowing I mean like 10 inches of snow. wow.

Whilst I was driving home early from work (because they let us early because we had NO patients who wanted to come out in the weather) I was trying to remember the most memorable moments that involved snow in my life. I came up with a top ten... really in no particular order bc I can't order them in my mind quickly enough but anyways here is the top ten snow related memories:
1. 2007 Easter weekend: a big snow occurred in Midland. Robert and I were in Abilene looking for an apartment when it began to snow on our way home... it was a fun memory bc we were looking to start our new lives together when we got married just a few months afterwards.
2. January 2007: we went skiing with the youth group (before we got married) and upon my return to Midland I had to fly into Austin and then drive to College Station.... I remember that it took me 4 hours to make the 1.5 hour drive from Austin to CS home. It was forever long, but I had a good time in my car jamming to music and praying that the roads stayed clear enough to make it home.

3. Vermont 2009: Robert's best friend invited us to come stay with him up in Connecticut and then travel to Vermont to go skiing (or snowboarding for the boys)... it was by far one of the best ski trips ever!

4. 1998? Midland had a very big snow storm come through that luckily released my brother and I from school early (I believe I was in 8th grade). We had alot of time on our hands and alot of snow to work with so we built a full size Igloo... yes Igloo. All the other people were making snowman but we made an igloo that you could crawl into and hang out for awhile... it was a good memory of my brother and I (actually working together for once :)

5. The first time I went skiing in 1997? Can't quite remember but I believe I was in 7th grade on Spring Break with our church choir. We had been touring over Texas and New Mexico and ended in Colorado where we got to go skiing. I was actually finishing ski school one morning, on my voyage trip up the ski lift, when half way through I decided to tap snow off my ski.... thus trigering the button and releasing the ski to the snow at least 40 feet below me. I had to fall off the ski lift with one ski and wait for someone to retrieve it before I could finish. Needless to say I'll never do that again.

6. The time my family got stranded in a snow storm on our way to a family reunion... THanksgiving 199? The storm was so bad we stopped at my grandparents lake house (which had no working heat or electricity bc lines were down) so we burned all the wood we could find and slept by the fire... it was cold, but a good bonding experience.

7. This is a solemn memory, but my papas funeral Thanksgiving 2007. He died on Thanksgiving and we held his funeral that Saturday when it decided to snow pretty hard. It was a beautiful moment though as we buried him under a blanket of the pure white snow.

8. Another childhood memory.... 199? It again snowed alot in Midland and my brother and I decided to make the tallest snowman alive... The Arnold Schwarzenegger of all snowman... he was well over 7 feet high and decked out with all the decor... we even were in the front page for him :)

9. Of course I can't forget the time in Portland July 2011 on Mount Hood... snow topped mountain and in shorts... great memory!

10. Sadie's first time in the snow.... December something of 2011. At first she was scared to death... now she just runs and plays :) Its so fun to watch her!

What is your favorite snow memory?

Oh January

2012-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well it seems that January is my least favorite month. I always seem to get severely ill in this month and require heavy antibiotics and lots of meds to survive. I HATE medication. I take Vitamin C everyday which usually helps me ward off disease and infection, but January seems to always be the exception. Last January I was taking antibiotics for the majority of the month and this time I have already been on one round... boo. So I am sitting in my comfy bed waiting for my Unisom and NyQuil to take effect while watching recordings of Top Chef and reading The Hunger Games again (this time slowly to savor every word) on my Kindle Fire. I love my Kindle Fire... at first I wasn't so sure about it bc I love the feel of turning pages in a book and watching myself progress through and get nervous/excited as the end of the book approaches... but with the Kindle I can read in low light such as during travel which is big for me. So even though I may be sick again, I will allow myself to slow down and chill and hope that tomorrow is a better day...

Dear Immune system,
I know that Christmas and New Years just occured but you can't take a break in January... please get back in gear and come to life so I can keep going with mine! Thanks alot!
love,
self

2011 in Review

2012-01-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

Typically at the end of the year/beginning of the new one, people are ready to put the previous year behind them and looking forward to changes in the new. I can't say that 2011 was all around a great and joyful year, but I'm not ready to just throw it away either. There were many challenges and painful memories, but there are just as many joyful and exciting ones. This is my annual year in review post... here we go!

January
-January was a challenge as it was the last month before I took on some heavy responsibility at work, it was a stressful time, but I knew God had a plan.
-We took the teens on the Winter Retreat hosted by the South Naz District in Ruidoso. It was fun to go tubing, some went skiing, some shopped, and we all enjoyed worship and the great Mountain air together as a group.

-January also brought on the beginning of Weight watchers and a Daniel Fast with our church. I did great with WW through this month and i believe lost 10 poounds. The Daniel Fast was just to help up prepare our hearts for what God had in store for our church this year... it was a great experience and I encourage anyone else to follow it.
-The last part of January was me fighting sickness! I was sick for about 75% of the month, went through 3 sets of antibiotics and tons of other meds and shots... I filled my sick quota the first month of the year.

February
-We got sadie on February 5th. She is the perfect addition to our family and was soooo tiny then!

-Of course we spoiled her and Rob built her a dog mansion for outside.
-February was also the month of the first big ice storm... no moisture really just a thick coating of sleet and ice... We were still in the drought as we hadn't had rain since September of 2010, so ice was not fun... except I got to miss work :)

March
-March was spent trying to get used to our puppy and spending some time together amongst lots of responsibility at work.
-Our beautiful niece, A, turned 5 this month! I can't believe she is that old!
-We managed to take a nice get-a-way trip to Alpine to explore the Davis Mountains, Marfa, and all of the secrets that Alpine had to offer. It was a great trip for us!
April
-April was busy as we had our annual telethon at work which is one of our biggest fund raisers.
-On April 21st I had to have right knee arthroscopic surgery to correct a knee meniscus tear. This has changed my life as its still not completely healed and I'm having to undergo physical therapy. Stupid knee.
-The worst part of the year happened when my Mema passed away on April 30th. It was unexpected and sudden and not supposed to happen at this time so we were very shaken up and still haven't been able to fully come to grips with this loss. I know she is with Papa having some great conversations with Jesus, but I'm still in shock.
May
-We buried Mema on May 5th in a beautiful ceremony that I had the honor of participating in. I read from a book she left me about memories from her childhood and shared some of my favorite moments with her. It was the best way to say goodbye.
-May was otherwise filled with remembering Mema and distributing her possessions between loved ones which is always quite a task. Amongst the sadness we managed to celebrate my dad and my nephew, JD, turning another year older (49 and 6 respectively).
-Due to the knee surgery and the events with my grandmother I stopped WW with a total of weight loss at 15 lbs. I was unable to keep all the weight off the rest of the year to which I attribute being unable to work out from recovering from this knee. Again stupid knee.

June
-We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! We didn't have time to make any exciting plans because of youth camp the following week, but we did manage to enjoy a nice dinner and Robert got those vibram 5 finger shoes... they are so weird.
-Youth Camp! Oh how we love the teens and youth camp is always fun and crazy!
-And the lovely niece, MJ, turned 6 in June! She is so big now!

July
-The best vacation of my life ocurred in July with Roomie Reunion 2011 in Portland, OR! You can check the July posts bc I had two or three from Portland with all our pictures! But to sum up about 300+ pictures of my amazing friends Ashley and Tracy I chose this one:

bc its July and we were standing in shorts on a mountain of SNOW! It was amazing!

-My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this month and took a trip to Italy, Spain, and other Mediteranean hot spots. They are such good role models of a God lead marriage- way to go mom and dad!

August
-Rock the Desert! Always occurs on the first weekend of the month so we loaded up the teens, had a girls sleep over at our house, ate lots of junk food, and listened to top Christian artists perform in the 100+ heat and dust. Always a good time :)

-I chose this picture to mention my amazing friend Kendall who has gone through so much this year and has one more semester of high school left and I know she will make a big difference wherever God leads her!
-August was also the time for teen hangouts at the baseball park and painting our kitchen and living room.
-Another unexpected event of this month was my mother being taken to the ER due to significant lung and breathing issues. She was in the hospital for several days due to an inability to catch her breath and swelling in her legs. She is doing alright, but is being followed by several doctors and is in need of continued prayer for her healing.

September
-Oh September, we start with a trip to Six Flags with the teens! Its always fun (watching them ride the crazy rides and) enjoying the shopping and simple wooden rollercoasters that don't plummet up upside down or backwards :)
-My family also got an early Christmas gift for ourselves and went to an AGGIE GAME! Whoop! Although we didn't beat OSU that weekend, it was great to be in Aggieland and enjoying all our favorite spots in Bryan/College Station. Oh How I love that place!
October
-Well besides my birthday :)... which is like the best holiday, right?

-One of my coworkers also had a nice fancy party for her 50th so we got to spend some good fun time outside of work and our usually running around with patients.
-My mom and our niece, MB, celebrated a joint birthday (now 49 and 3 respectively). We had a good time sharing laughs :)
-The doctors officially gave me a diagnosis of arthritis in my knees which meant I really can't do any running or jogging soon... this knee is now my nemesis.
-To end October I drove my mother to see her sister and my cousins in Albuquerque, NM. I really enjoyed getting to see them and hope I can again soon!

November
-Rob turns 26 and celebrated with his grandmother who also turned older (I believe 93?)

-Then of course our family pictures, I just love these :)

-For Thanksgiving we went to Dallas for my Dad's side family reunion and then headed over to the Cowboys stadium to watch texas tech play baylor... really we just went to be in the stadium and spend some extra time with the family and it was so cool! I can't wait to go back!
-I also received injections in my knee to decrease pain and increase my joint space fluid. Again with the knee thing....

December
-AND finally December. That was a busy month: San Antonio for a church staff retreat, work Christmas parties, family get-together, the teens Christmas party, and...

(this was on the riverwalk boat tour in San Antonio, such a nice lights display :)

...SNOW! It snowed for several days here (which is way weird) and it stayed for several days too! I loved it! It took Sadie a little while to get used to it, but eventually she gave in and decided that she would sit in it and play :)

This is the freaky tumbleweed snowman someone created in their front yard... humorous, yet quite frightening for a Christmas exhibit.

And thats 2011.
Very busy. Very hot and dry. Very quick. Very memorable. Very Sad. Very unforgettable.

God, I don't know what you have in mind for 2012, but I'm willing to trust you all the way.

Thanks for reading, have a great New Year.

Here We Are!

2011-12-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm ready for 2012 to be here and to get started on my resolutions! I will reveal those in the next blog :) This year has been crazy but for now just enjoy some of our photos taken by the beautiful Kate Dominguez of The Wild Curl Photography. Absolutely love her... enjoy!

The next three shots are best viewed quickly one after the other as they were taken within seconds of each other :) Just our crazy romance shining through

Snow Day!

2011-12-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

OH my I should have posted alot today, but I was preoccupied.... with what you ask? READING. I am so obsessed with reading right now (well I have been for several years) but it seems I'm finding all these very fascinating stories to occupy my dreams with lately... My latest craze is the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My friends have suggested it so I finally gave in and had to read it. The first of three books is so entrapping that I couldn't read the last two books fast enough... and thats saying something bc I did read the last book in one day... today actually thanks to a surprise snow day that forced the shut down of most of Midland/Odessa. And I'm thankful for that time off so I could sleep in, shampoo the carpets ( yes I did do this for reading breaks, but in the end I was reading as I was shampooing the carpets... talented yes I know), and making dinner. But the most important thing about today was I got to READ. I started and finished the last book of the series and am now prepared for full out dreaming about the characters.

They are making a movie to come out in March of 1012 about the Hunger Games... trust me you want to read it before the movie because it will lure you in and you don't want the movie to give it all away :) Plus then you have the books afterwards to read and read them you will bc you WILL fall in love with the characters and your heart WILL race a million times a second as you read. I have been wanting to talk about this book for awhile so thats why you are getting these long sentences about it ;).

In the world of Rob and Jen we have been traveling up a storm to Dallas for the entire Thanksgiving holiday and then to San Antonio this past weekend (where I read the 2nd book on the road) for a church district meeting. We don't plan on traveling anywhere else for awhile which will be nice. We need to spend some time with Sadie who is poorly deprived of our affection. I hope the week treats you all well and if you have any new book obsessions I should read please do share :)

A preview of us :)

2011-11-15T20:07:00.001-08:00

My Amazing friend: Kate of The Wild Curl Photography
took this picture of our family last weekend. We have many more pictures to share, but this is just a preview :)

Thanks Kate!

To Aggieland and Back :)

2011-11-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

This year for the boys' birthdays/Christmas gifts (that would be my husband and brother), we decided to go as a family to see an A&M Game. We went in September to the A&M vs Oklahoma State Game (we lost :( but it was a good game and we had fun. Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Midnight Yell!!! Oh how I miss going to those on a regular basis :)

So "M" traveled to the game on my dad's (her papa's) shoulders. There is an Aggie tradition where you say "Howdy" to those you pass when walking... "M" was YELLING it to everyone she saw, which was only about a gagillion people! It was hilarious...

The Popcorn. It lasted us the whole game. and "M" kept eating it and eating it and eating it as we walked out of the stadium and across the campus.... she spilled probably half of it in the process, but she never put her bucket down!

The fam. It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun shopping to buy new clothes and Aggie paraphernalia. Plus getting to eat at Wings N More, Sweet Eugenes, Blue Baker.... yum!

An UPDATE:
So I am all set to get my right knee injected on Friday morning with Synvisc 1. I will be missing work and being a couch potato for 48 hours per doctors order. I have a ton of recorded shows and movies to watch so it should be interesting. Pray that this helps!!

Here I am Fall!

2011-10-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of pictures to upload from personal and family adventures that have happened this fall... but Blogger won't let me! boo. Oh well, I'll get them uploaded sometime. Sorry I've been missing again lately, just part of the everyday busy-ness I live in! But to catch you up here it goes:
-We went as a family to College Station to see the Aggies take on OSU (we lost). I love going back to CS and eating at all the good and yummy places there and shopping for more clothes and things :)
-The next weekend Robert and I went with my dad and brother to see the Aggies play against texas tech in Lubbock. It was a good game and we enjoyed ourselves although the fans were not the nicest.
-Then I turned 27. Wow already! haha turning 27 felt no different than 26, but it is oftly close to 30.....
-I went to a new doctor for my knee. As you may recall in April of this year I had arthroscopic knee surgery for a torn meniscus. My knee felt great for awhile... and then I tried to start working out more... and now it hurts all the time. An x-ray would reveal that I have mild arthritis in both knees (bummer) so I'm doing some intense physical therapy to see what can be done.
-Then I took my mom to Albuquerque to see her sister and my cousins. It was a good trip and it was good to see some family although driving through New Mexico is very painfully dull... but thats why mom and I watched Scream and other old scary movies to pass the time :)
-So now we are awaiting next Friday when I have to get some injections in my knee to increase the cushion around the joint and decrease my pain. I can't move for 48 hours after the injection... so doctors orders to be a couch potato :) OK!

Thats whats happened in word form, maybe I'll get to post the pictures soon.

Fall is so here!

2011-09-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Umm so this morning I definitely got ready a little bit more quickly, rushed out the door, and made myself a date at starbucks to get my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season! I. Love. These!!!!

I was very happy today... I attribute it to the Pumpkin Spice.

Thank you PSL :)

The Reason I Love...

2011-09-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Oh they grow so fast... and have the best smiles :)

For our families...
nieces, nephews...
friends...

and Sadie...

We love you all :)

These were the pictures from our Labor day weekend which was awesome and I hope you enjoy watching these little ones growing up as much as I do :)

A Well Jammed Packed Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well hello everyone, thank you for those who responded about my mom. She was able to go home last Monday with a confirmed lung infection and some blockage in her lungs (not too sure the specifics). She is doing better, but still has some of her symptoms so I just hope her doctors can figure out everything :)

Anyways, We had a super busy weekend! Friday we left at noon for our traditional trip to Six Flags with the teens for Naz Nite. We go to Six Flags over Texas every labor day weekend with the teens... we give up relaxation for riding rollercoasters, sweating profusely, walking 200 miles around a theme park, eating fried fast food, and sleeping on the floor of a church without showers... but we do it because we love our teens :) And this year we didn't have very many kids go with us, but we still had a great time. And Robert even got pulled over in the church van on the way home... but only because the cop couldn't see the license plate from 50 feet away.... well get closer is what we were thinking! And he was shining that stupid flashlight in my face the whole time... I mean do I look like I'm harboring drugs or something!

We got home Saturday night really late and had a great time at The Gathering on Sunday morning. I love my church :) We spent the rest of the day Sunday with my family watching the Fightin Texas Aggies BTHO SMU! It was a good game and I'm glad we won... before the game my mom, sister in law and I played a game to reveal a secret to the boys... We are going to the Aggie game on September 24th!! Whoop! I'm so excited!

Monday we spent the day with Robert's family eating and playing lots of games. I went for a run with Sadie that morning which I've been doing little by little, but this time I way over did it! My knee has been killing me ever since, boo.

Overall it was a great Labor day weekend and I'll be sure to post pictures soon from the teens trip!

Living in the Crayon Box

2011-08-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was full of anxiety. My mom was taken to the emergency room on Thursday due to loss of breath, difficulty breathing, and increased swelling in her legs. She was wheezing and looking very tired the week before and when my dad took her to the doctor on Thursday they immediately sent them to the ER. She was there for the majority of the day (I got off work at lunch and rushed over there) in a room the size of a crayon box... like the 12 piece box kind not the 24 box. She was given a ton of meds, lost about 10 lbs of fluid from her body, and continued to show low oxygen. She was admitted to the hospital that evening (late) and stayed until Monday night in a room the size of the 24 piece crayon box. It was tiny! I stayed with her Friday and Saturday night which means very little sleep... how they expect people to rest and get better in there when they wake you up every 3 hours or so to take vitals is beyond me!

Currently, she has significantly improved and is on the up and up for now. Her heart has early signs of CHF (congestive heart failure) and her lungs have some problems also. It was sad to see her trapped up there for the whole weekend, but I do commend the staff at Midland Memorial Hospital who took care of her because they did a great job! and they were pretty humorous which is just what our family needed. I'm very thankful for all of you who prayed for us during this time and continue to pray that she stays strong.

Hope everyone has a good week...Keep Christ first on your to do list and all other things should fall into place!

Nostalgia Fudge

2011-08-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

We finally finished our bedroom makeover! I thought we would never get this done! It took almost a week because we had to go to work and took several stops to run some errands, but we finally got everything finalized and back in the room.

This is the BEFORE picture we took right after moving in last May:

and now for the AFTER!

The ceiling is called Fudge and the blue on the wall is Nostalgia... We like it :) and alot of people told us our room would look smaller with such dark colors, but it actually feels bigger!

I know these pictures were hard to see because of the lighting, but you should just come by and see it in person! (and visit us and Sadie :)
Happy rest of the week everyone!

Sadie's Best Friend

2011-08-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Sadie went to her first doggie birthday party!!
Our neighbors across the alley have a black lab that is almost identical to Sadie... her name is Raider. Sadie and Raider are best friends. and I do mean best friends!
They play together all the time... its very cute.
Well Raider had her 2nd birthday on Saturday complete with invitation and a trip to the dog park in town...
Of course Sadie was invited :)
Sadie with her goodie bag from the party :) It had some very yummy treats in there... for her that is...

At the dog park was alot of vendors giving away free things and coupons for grooming
it was alot of fun!

Sadie leading the way with Raider carrying a soccer ball

Just playing around!

Afterwards both pupps were exhausted!

and she didn't move from this spot for about another 2 hours :)

Raider with all her gifts... the dog bone in front was from Sadie
Yes I stuck her paw in some paint and made a card for Raider...
it turned out cute :)

Happy Birthday Raider, Sadie had a blast!

We just love our neighbors :)

Some Summer Fun with the Teens

2011-08-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Rockhounds Baseball Game!
Robert's friend was able to hook us up with an awesome box suite at the game. We were able to watch the windy game on our own private deck or in the room with air conditioning :)
It
Was
Awesome
!

Ok, this person I'm leaning on is Noah, one of the pastors' sons.
He hates when I take pictures of him...
so I stole his hat and took a picture of his hair haha...

and tried about a million times to get his face in a picture that night
The girls thought it was funny :)

ROCK THE DESERT!!
We were once again out in Rock the Desert for 2 days of heat, sweat, and great Christian music.
The teens were wiped out by the heat... can you tell :)

RTD weekend always brings out some very spirited and interesting people such as this guy:

I think Robert should be him for Halloween :0

Several times throughout the weekend Chick-Fil-A would fly their helicopter and drop these things from the sky... see the tiny specks floating around below:

They dropped thousands of these little cows with a coupon on it! It was quite cute and entertaining as everyone would run around frantically trying to chase the little flying cows

Me and Kendall!

THis was our view... we were on the front row of tents and it was awesome!

We love these guys and hope they know how much we care for them! They are definitely going to keep us young... especially with the girls staying up till 5 at the house with me... ya'll are so silly.

Ready. Set. Here comes fall!

We are camping!

2011-08-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

... in the living room... yes the living room. Once again at the last minute we have decided to start a random project in the house and this time its the bedroom. As some of you may recall Robert added crown molding to the bedroom several weeks ago and we painted the ceiling brown several months ago. Now we have decided to finish the project... this means we moved our bed... mattress and sheets to the living room. Sadie is loving it :) She still sleeps in her kennel but we have left the door open so she wanders over to our bedside and puts her head so sweetly by my pillow. I would get a picture but I would have to turn on the lights and she would move. So until we finish this project we are going to keep camping out in the living room.. which is kinda fun. But if you come over... please keep your shoes off my bed :)

La Fonda Green

2011-08-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

We painted the kitchen... :)

I had a wonderful friend of mine come visit and give us some decorating tips and she said "You should paint your kitchen La Fonda Green..." So we did...

It was hard to get pictures at night, but I think it looks really good! Kinda feels like a whole new house to us...

next project... the bedroom :)

Portland again!

2011-07-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

So I know I have alot of pictures from Portland but these one were taken on my phone so I couldn't leave them out :)
We started out at Red Robin bc Tracy knows how much I love this place!!! YUM!

Then we went to get frozen yogurt at YoCream. mmmmmm and it didn't melt as soon as I walked outside... it was great!~
On to Mount Hood again in the snow... in our shorts :)

This is some yummy pizza we had in Hood River, OR. I can't remember all thats on it, but it was very refreshing :)
Another picture of Moltnomah Falls... breathtaking!

And who could leave out Lady Liberty from the 4th of July parade...
on a bicycle that is....

Oh the beach... lovely

Yay Pacific Ocean!
So this ice cream was delicious... Marionberry ice cream (apparently Marionberries are indiginous to Oregon) it was good!
And this blue flower is also indiginous to Oregon... or so some strange lady said when we walked by them... I think a bee landed in my hair while taking this.
This was a cute kite store: Once upon a Breeze. Kites are a big thing up there... probably because its nice and windy...and cool enough to fly kites...and not so hot that they burn... yes kites are lovely up there
CLAM CHOWDER!!! of course we were on the coast so we had to indulge in a bowl of this deliciousness...

And last but not least...the huge biscuit and gravy and french toast we had for breakfast the last day of the trip... I was full for the whole day :)

Well the Portland photos are over, but there is more to blog about later! Have a great week everyone!

PORTLAND, etc...

2011-07-18T17:12:00.001-07:00

Roomie Reunion 2011: Portland Trip!

The roommates: Tracy and Ashley

DAY 1
Voodoo Donuts!!
check this place out at Here

We got a tang filled donuts, maple with bacon on top (yum!), oreo cookie donut, classic voodoo doll, m&ms, and captain crunch donut.... so good and sugary!

Trillium Lake, OR

Breathtaking!

MOUNT HOOD!

We visited Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. This was the same lodge where they filmed the Shining :)
Look snow in July! And yes, we were in shorts... it was cold, but felt so good!

We visited the Naked Winery in Hood River, OR. So fun!

Multnomah Falls
Gorgeous!!!!

(and they did film some of the Twilight movie here :)

DAY 2

We went shopping!!! Didn't take to many pictures this day except when we relaxed over dinner that night, but as you can see above we spent alot!

DAY 3

Happy 4th of July!
We watched a parade at Cannon Beach, OR. This one kid even yelled out "Happy 16 divided by 4!" haha it was great.

This picture is so American, little girl with her flags in front of the post office waiting for grandpa... too cute.

Haystack Pile Rock
Cannon Beach, OR

Remember the movie The Goonies? Yep, this was the place they filmed some of the scenes!

Can I just say how much I love this place!!

These starfish were hard to find at first, but they were a nice surprise to end our day

Miss you girls! Had such a blast and can't wait to go there again!

To catch you up

2011-07-10T19:30:00.001-07:00

So because I have missed a whole two months of posting, here are a few short pictures to catch you up!

First, our 4th wedding anniversary! June 2nd came and went so fast and we were busy preparing for youth camp as always, but Robert managed to send me this wonderful gift to work :) I love fruit! So I got him a pair of those ugly five finger shoes...he kept bugging me so I finally gave in.

Happy anniversary babe!

Next, my mema's tombstone came in.. I drove out to the cemetery by myself to enjoy the peaceful quite and the breeze as I remembered all my favorite moments with her. Its still hard sometimes to think she is gone.

Our puppy is getting so big! Once upon a time, she learned how to chew the cables in the back yard and we lost all internet and cable for a while... boo. This picture below was her "I'm sorry" face. She is too cute and has a fun personality. I just love our Sadie!

And our "kids" are getting so big! (all the nieces and nephews are growing so fast, we love you all!)

And in case anyone was curious because its summer and all... Sadie hates the pool.

More updates coming soon!

I'm Still Here!

2011-06-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

Again I say sorry I have been unable to post. I honestly have been using my time for my family, Robert, and to prioritize my life. Since losing my grandmother we have been going through pictures and her treasures and trying to value our time as family. Also Robert and I have had many things going on which I will summarize for you below:

1. We celebrated our 4 year anniversary on June 2nd. Robert ordered an edible arrangement and I bought him those weird five finger shoes because he kept bugging me about them, so I figured I'd give in because I love him :) We usually have limited time to celebrate our anniversary because it falls right before youth camp, but Can I just say how much I love you Robert and all that you have done for me! You are truly a gift from God and I can't wait for the rest of our lives together!

2. Youth Camp 2011! We had a wonderful time with 12 teenagers worshiping Christ and learning about His will for their lives. We absolutely love the teens and hope that they know how much they mean to us.

3. Sadie is HUGE! She is only 7 months old and seriously growing like a weed. We were told when we got her that she was the runt and wouldn't get to the normal size of a lab, but they LIED. She is so cute though and I will get my latest pictures of her loaded up.

4. I had knee surgery. Ouch. I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but in April I had a knee scope done to fix a torn meniscus (the cartilage lining on the top of the tibia, or in short form, some stuff in your knee joint). I have been recovering well although working with kids all day is hard to take it easy on your knees. I still can't workout the way I want to which is frustrating, but at least I know its all fixed in there. I wish I wasn't given so much morphine following the surgery because that was the last time that I saw my Mema before she died and I can't even remember it. But at least I finally got some answers on my knee so I can stop limping.

5. We finished the Largest Loser at work that we started back in January. I lost 15 lbs total on weight watchers amidst experiencing some crazy events like the surgery and our family loss which is only some of my goal. I plan to get back to my disciplined self but I still have some healing to do (physical and emotional).

We have had alot of other church activities going on as well as family events such as Father's Day and Memorial Day, but those are best expressed in pictures to come. I promise :) All in all the last few months have been tough on me, but I'm glad that God placed the distractions of the youth group, work, and my wonderful family around me.

I have missed you blog world, if you are even out there still, and I hope to get back to my blogging routine.

Time to Remember

2011-05-02T18:30:00.001-07:00

Saturday, We said goodbye to my Mema. She was scheduled to have heart surgery that day, but God took her home early so as to save her from pain. It was sudden and unexpected, but God knows what He is going and what His purpose is, so we are just trusting and praying. I was fortunate enough to be quite close to Mema, I was able to spend alot of time with her and Papa before they passed and really get to know them. She would write me letters when I was at A&M and never missed a special occasion with a card. She even gave me a written heirloom book that contains pictures and stories from when she was a young girl, up to meeting Papa, and when my mom was born. It is something I will always cherish. She was 73 years old and one of the greatest women that I know.

I will miss you Mema, but I know we'll see each other again soon.

I hope that if anything, her legacy will be her family. She valued family so highly and her roots in the Lord were everything to her. Please don't let time go by without sharing with your loved ones how much you care. You may not get that chance to visit them or to call them. Trust in the Lord for he is everything!

Mema and Papa at their 50th wedding anniversary

Our wedding, so happy they were both able to be there.

At my wedding shower, Mema on the left and Grandma Mason on the right. Both wonderful grandparents :)

Who do you need to tell you love them today?

Sorry Blog

2011-04-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Well I apologize for the lack of posting. Of course we have gotten busy and as I've said before, its hard to get on my computer when I get home from work. But never-the-less I will be preparing for all our summer activities and fun events with the youth group as well as my much anticipated trip to Portland to see Tracy! I will try to do my best to post.

I do have some somber news for today, this morning my grandma, who we called Mema, suddenly passed away. I'm still not able to grasp everything that has happened, but please keep my family in your prayers, this is my mother's mom.

A little Get-Away

2011-04-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yee Haw, we went to ALPINE, TX a few weekends ago for a nice get-away. They had to renovate the floors in my workplace so we took a 3 day weekend to get away to a place where we knew noone :)

Our first stop was Fort Davis and the McDonald Observatory

Next, we climbed a very tall pile of rocks (which Robert calls Rock Pile Park)
This is the view from the top:

It was quite an accomplishment for us... and it took us a total of 3 hours to get up and down this thing... It even included use having to take some scary jumps across crevices and down an 8 foot drop (which freaked me out, but Robert caught me). Overall it was some good physical fitness to add to our weekend.

In Alpine we stayed at the beautifully renovated Holland Hotel
It was beautiful and very rustic inside!

Hello Jacuzzi!

Of course we had coffee... lots of coffee :)

and ate at fun places like Penny's Diner

And enjoyed delicious chocolate treats (of course that was my idea)

In Marfa, we visited this old Hotel (the Hotel Paisano)
and I became obsessed with this fountain...

It was such a pretty area!

And it turned out to be the only real exciting thing in Marfa, so we headed back to Fort Davis to shop some more and then headed to watch a movie and enjoy a nice Italian dinner. It was so fun just to walk around the streets of Alpine and enjoy the quiet night air.

Robert, I love you!

It was a great trip! The best thing was not having a schedule and getting to shop!

I hope you all have a great week! Hopefully I can finish my 30 days posts :)

30 days of JEF- Day 5

2011-03-27T19:52:00.001-07:00

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.

June 2nd, 2007
Our Wedding Day
Midland, TX

I would say this was the best day of my life, but every day after this one has been pretty wonderful as we fall more and more in love with each other. But this was the day that it all began and I couldn't be happier! And as you have probably concluded by now... I have to post more than one picture... bc I can't commit to just one picture... so maybe I'll start changing them to say pictures of [blank]... haha. Hope you all had a great weekend!

30 days of JEF- Day 4

2011-03-21T19:25:00.001-07:00

Day 04 - A picture of a rememberable night night.

Summer 2006: Medieval Times with the funnest girls I know!

Summer of 2007: After the Jimmy Eat World Concert in Dallas
I pretty much remember everynight with these girls bc they are so much fun!

30 days of JEF- Day 3

2011-03-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Call me indecisive but I love these two shows: Seinfeld (hilarious!) and Army Wives (good drama).

We spend a wonderful weekend in Alpine and Fort Davis! Although these aren't the most exciting places in Texas, it was nice to have no agenda and just spend some much needed time together. Will share our story soon!

30 days of JEF- Day 2

2011-03-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close friends with for the longest.

Well I have known these two the same amount but pretty much my whole life. Love you Mols and Britney!

Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day! I love this day bc of all the green :) Surprisingly I have very little green in my wardrobe so I'll have to stock up on that!
I have an extra long weekend so I'm so excited to spend it all with Robert! Hope you all have a great Thursday!

30 days of JEF- Day 1

2011-03-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

I saw a friend of mine do this on her facebook and thought it would be fun... Who will join me for 30 days all about me!

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
See picture above (thanks to Kate at the WildCurl photography)
And now the 15 facts:
1. I love Ketchup
2. I will do almost anything for M&Ms... regular are the best but the peanut butter kind are made from heaven
3. I've been married to Robert for 3 years, 9 months and 12 days (and loving every minute)
4. I am a Texas Aggie and proud of it
5. I am a physical therapist for kids
6. I have a puppy named Sadie who is my child
7. I love the color Green!
8. The more I eat Chinese food the more I don't like it
9. I love jigsaw puzzles, but only if they have more than 1000 pieces
10. I am not a gardener nor can I keep anything green alive
11. I am a piano teacher with 2 students (following in my mommies footsteps)
12. I like diet coke from the tap, and diet dr. pepper in the can... not the other way around
13. I am a lazy clean freak... I would rather complain about the mess, but I'll clean it when I get to it
14. I have been blessed with an amazing house and an even more amazing life
15. I am a Christian and believe 100% in the Bible and in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Thats just a little bit more about me! Hope you all had a good Monday! Robert and I are hitting the road this weekend so I can't wait for Friday!

Spring is here!

2011-03-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

So I'm completely embarrassed that I haven't written since February! Goodness this is getting bad. I apologize for they delay, but I honestly have been over my head busy. I wish things at work would slow down a little, but then again... busy is good for the therapy world so really I should be grateful... but it would be nice to get some help :)

We have been up to... nothing. Trying to spend as much time together as we can and taking care of our child, Sadie (see picture above included for those who like pictures). We have been into watching the Indiana Jones videos and we found out that the only way to watch them is snuggled with pillows in front of our couch, on the floor, with our puppy on her blanket in between us. She is really a good puppy minus the occasional disobediences and the fact that she just loves to chew carpet. But if she gets to sit on her blanket with us then she is pretty calm and quite snuggly :)

We have finally been able to take her on a "walk" around the neighborhood although she gets tired real fast and will not... I mean not... move if we put the leash on her. She will run around the backyard with the leash on, but once we go out in the front... she becomes Statue Sadie. So without the leash on she is able to walk right at our heels for most of the journey. I really hope to get more pictures soon bc she is just so cute!

As far as everything else in our lives goes, we are just waiting for next week when we get to take a much needed VACATION together. Just the two of us. And nobody else. Yay!

On another note: I've been reviewing some pictures of two weddings I was in last March and December. I really wish I would have started losing weight before these. I know I don't look horrible, but from my point of view I really did gain alot of weight during PT school. I'm currently down 15 lbs. so far (Valentines Day kinda put a hold on the weight loss, but I didn't gain any). I feel so much better and I've dropped a pant size which is even more motivation for me. Its really hard to resist eating as much as I used to, but it is getting easier and I'm much happier (which I'm sure makes Robert glad). Thanks for your encouragement!

Well hopefully, it won't be a few weeks before my next post! Have a great Friday and weekend!

Blinkers

2011-02-22T18:17:00.001-08:00

So I hate car blinkers. Yes, that is random, I realize that. But I do.

I understand that they are illegal not to use and that they serve a good function, but I can't stand them. First of all, my last car (Ruby II the Ford Focus) had the most annoying sounding blinker in the universe. Tock. Tock. Tock. Tock. It was loud. And I honestly only used it if I knew there was a cop around or if I was needing to make an unobvious change in my direction. Meaning...if I'm in the left hand turn lane... I was obviously turning left... and in a right turn only lane... well you see what I mean by OBVIOUS. Thank goodness my new car does not have a loud or annoying blinker... because I would continue not to use it (yes you may scold me but I will not listen).

When I drive home from work I get plenty of opportunity to see annoying blinkers. Such as... blinkers left on after having made said direction change... blinkers in annoying places on cars...blinkers that are broken and flash really fast... those sorts of things. I was noticing this one car on my way home today that had what appeared to be rope lights for headlights. Seriously. It was a small line of blue lights that made a curvy pattern where each headlight was supposed to be. It was mesmerizing to look at and pretty cool I might add. Until... they turned on their blinker. Now if you have cool headlights that are LED and look like a curvy line of blue icicles and your blinker is the same standard manufactured dim yellow square, then we have a problem. The blinker totally ruined that car. Thus another reason to remind me on the road today why I hate blinkers.

The end.

Well not really. I remember in my first car (a Delta 88 Oldsmobile called Kernal Klunk) my blinker went out one time. This meant that when I turned it on to blink it was a solid, unblinking light. Not much good to me really. So instead I would manually have to click it up and down at stop lights and stop signs. This was amusing at times as I could change the speed of the blinking, thus confusing the person behind me :) It was the small thing that amused me then. But not I can't stand blinkers. So if you are in the car with me just know that i will use the blinker when it most warrants to use it... and I will keep you safe don't worry. BUT if I'm in the left hand turn lane, yes I am turning left unless some unseen cosmic force causes me to suddenly veer right or stay straight... so no blinker will be used.

The real end. Thank you.

They Have My Heart

2011-02-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day I ate alot of chocolate. like alot. oops :)
I've been pretty stressed at work just because there is alot of responsibility on my shoulders and I'm a perfectionist so it equals lots of stress... but nevertheless God is good and I just wanted to spend some good quality time with Robert on Monday evening.

Our plan was to order in food, but instead we went to Pizzeria Venti in Midland which was delicious! Then we went home and watched some recorded shows (such as Minute to Win it) and played with our child, Sadie.

She is such a doll :) and a cuddler...

And she loves to cuddle with daddy :)

For Valentine's day Robert and I never really make a big deal about it except with cards and food. I told him that I definitely didn't want flowers because lets face it... I kill things that are green and pretty. Flowers last an abnormally little time with me and I just don't have patience to take care of them. So they die. then they smell. then we have to clean them up. and its just not worth it. So I came home to these:

THEY ARE FAKE!! haha, I love my husband because he pays attention and he is so creative! They are beautiful and they will never die!

I hope everyone enjoyed this day of sharing love! I'm going to go hold my puppy till its time for us to sleep. Be blessed!

Meet Sadie :)

2011-02-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

Our new puppy!!
So I was supposed to go to Abilene over the weekend, but due to the crazy snow storm the conference I was to attend got moved. So we didn't go. So we bought a dog instead. :)

Robert and I have been talking about a dog for a long time. (no kids, just a dog). So we were just going to go to PetsMart to see what they had and then go look around town at some shelters... well PetsMart was having an adoption day. And I walked to the dog section. And I saw her in the cage. And I knew we would be taking her home. And we did :) She is a calm puppy who is still trying to get used to us, but we are so excited to have her here! I will post some more pictures of her soon, its hard to get a good shot where you can see her eyes bc they are so dark!

Have a great week everyone!

Always Busy

2011-01-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry you have been neglected Blogging audience. This has been the toughest last two weeks at work that I've ever had. My tough cases are getting tougher and its really hard to talk to parents of children who are dying at a faster rate than normal. Plus we've been having to report abused children and take care of premature infants. This is all normal stuff for me at work, but sometimes you just reach a breaking point. I'm there. At least I was last night. When I got home from work it was all I could do not to flood our house with tears. God has opened my eyes to so many things and I know I'm where I need to be, but its emotionally draining.

On top of all this my fellow coworker physical therapist will have her last day on Friday which places more responsibility on me. Its responsibility that I'm ready to tackle with the help of God and His strength (not my own), but none-the-less its more paperwork. Too bad I'm a perfectionist and want everything to turn out the way I think it should go and be perfect like it should be... haha I know that won't happen, but I want the best for my other coworkers and these patients who we see. At least God has shown me that He has provided me with the best group of coworkers I could have ever asked for. They rock!

And the youth group. I love these kids more than they will ever know probably and I want nothing more than to give them every amazing opportunity that we can possibly give them. I just hope God can continue to speak through us to them or just to them.

In other news, I've officially reached the 10 lbs lighter milestone so yay!! It only took me 4 weeks (Robert lost 10 lbs in a week and a half... boo). Oh well, the journey is still on and I'm so thankful for the discipline from God to continue to walk down the road. Thanks for listening to whats on my heart!

This should be a relaxing weekend for us and I hope will be for you all!

Over the Weekend

2011-01-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend we took the Teens to Ruidoso on a Winter Retreat... I won't lie, it wasn't that cold, but we had a great time! I have a ton of videos (thanks to our new Flip Video camera Pastor P got for the youth group). I think I played with that thing the whole weekend. I'll try to post the best videos and some pictures!

This weekend Robert and I are going on a date! We haven't had much alone time to chat and pour into our marriage so Friday night is just us! Then Saturday is another movie/game night with the teens and I plan on cleaning the house for sure!

Sorry no pictures this time, but I will have more things soon!
Oh and I couldn't eat very well this weekend due to camp food, but I didn't gain that much thank goodness!

A New Beginning

2011-01-11T17:12:00.001-08:00

So, like so many other Americans for New Years Eve, I made a resolution to lose some weight... however, I actually started my journey before New Years began... I have again joined Weight Watchers and am in it for the long haul. With inspiration from my friend, Courtney, I know if I stick with this that I can feel healthier and better about my body. Its not about just making myself "look" better, but I want to "feel" better and its time I got serious about getting my body back to what God made it to be... a temple for Him and His worship, not a temple for food.

So I'm taking you with me on my journey! Please pray fro me because this is hard especially to be around all the other pressures around me and to stick with this program. Luckily, Robert is very much on board and has been a big help.

AND my workplace has decided to make a Biggest Loser competition! There will be a winner each month (with a monetary prize) and an ultimate winner in May (with an even bigger monetary prize :). Talk about adding to my motivation!

I'm on my third week of WW and I've already lost 6 pounds- woohoo! So here we go... to a different Jennifer... wish me luck!

Its Sunday

2011-01-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

So once again I'm fighting sickness. I was feeling the onset of a common cold on Tuesday (Robert was already taking medicine for the same symptoms) so I went to a medical clinic in Odessa (I've been there too many times) to get some antibiotics. Well those anitbiotics didn't help much bc I ended up with laryngitis, then bronchitis, then woke up with a fever yesterday and still am struggling to fight this. I'm so tired of being sick... and I'm tired of my immune system not being able to handle a small sickness... it always turns into something big. My voice is starting to come back but I'm still not to where I would say I'm well. Boo... please pray for me! For now, here are some pictures I found on my phone:

Aren't they cute? Stay well people, sickness is going around and its not fun :(

A New Years Day Christmas

2011-01-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Well Happy New Year! I'm excited for 2011 as 2010 was full of many things, so what can we cram into this year :)

We started January 1st with Christmas with Robert's family. His brother and their family came in from Dallas as well as our Aunt and Uncle from Denton. So we hung out and ate... ate... and ate of course. Here are some pictures from the events: of course I really only take pictures of the kids :)

I love this picture!

They just love their Uncle Bob :)

And now its really time to begin 2011!
Now if I can just keep from getting so sick, then that would be great. I'm glad I didn't make a resolution to not get sick this year b/c its already over...

Have a great week everyone! I have so many pictures on my camera I need to share so I'll get them on here somehow!

Looking Ahead while Remember the Past

2010-12-31T16:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! 2010 is almost a blur now, so much happened this year! This is the recap blog, here we go!

January:
I started my first job as an official Doctor of Physical Therapy at Permian Basin Rehab Center. I'm still in love with my job and all the wonderful people I work with... can't wait for more lives to change in 2011.
We also took a trip to Ruidoso to celebrate when I passed my National Licensing test! We made the trip with Robert's parents just to relax and shop.

February:
The teens hosted a Valentine's dinner fundraiser and it was a hit! We will be repeating it again next year...
I can't remember anything else about February...

March:
One of my best friend's, Britney, got married in Maryland! It was such a great trip and I'm so happy for her and her husband!
Meanwhile our other friend, Morgan had her first child! She is a cutie too

April:
We bought a house! I still can't believe we are here, but we definitely are grateful for all the blessings God has given us. It has also been a joy to open up our home for church activities and friends :)
Robert and I also celebrated our 8 year anniversary as a couple... and I love him more and more each day!

May:
We said goodbye to the Townhome and moved into the house.

bye bye townhome

June:
We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! Can't you tell that we love each other more and more... :)
Then we took the Teens to Youth Camp!

July:
We took a trip to Dallas to see some friends and family.
and to buy a new car!

And I went to Austin for a bachelorette party for my dear friend Stephanie
And sadly we had to say goodbye to a wonderful family in our church, it was especially hard because that meant we lost one member of our youth group. We miss you Yair!

August:
Rock the Desert! We had a great time with the teens at this weekend long christian music celebration. And as you can see we made cool shirts :)
Our church also hosted a free clothing giveaway for the families in town to provide clothes before the fall/school year began. It was a great turn out and God truly touched some lives that weekend!
September:
Our annual trip to Six Flags with the teens!
I took a wonderful vacation to College Station with my favorite girls- Roomate Reunion!

October:
I turned 26... kinda scary, but I plan to have fun this year :)
We bought new bedroom furniture :) King size bed yay!
Halloween- well we don't really celebrate this, but we do like to support the cute kids who dress up... although I did run out of candy at my house, boo. Still, its fun to see all the nieces and nephews dressed up:

November:
Robert turned 25! and my brother turned 28 (old man) hehe...
Thanksgiving with the Fowlers meant lots of delicious food and time for playing games.

December:
Stephanie and Chris's wedding! It was a fun celebration and it was good to see lots of friends!
Plus a relaxing Christmas and a busy end to the year at work and with the teens and at church and in all our endeavors!

Thank you 2010. For all the tears and laughs, new joys and goodbyes...
2011, you have big shoes to fill.... what will you hold?

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

Yes I know Christmas was yesterday, but its still Christmas week :)
This was a very merry Christmas spent with lots of family and these two cute things:

On Friday night (Christmas Eve) Robert and I helped my brother with his candlelight service at his church and then we helped "Santa" put together my nephews trampoline... which meant my sister-in-law and I took the kids to Sonic and made them eat in the car for about 45 minutes until we were safe to return to the house... it was quite amusing but they played along :)

This was our Christmas picture of this year... hopefully we can have a better quality one next year, but Grandpa didn't do too bad taking this...

Christmas day Robert and I enjoyed our first Christmas in our home together with cinamon rolls for breakfast and a quick gift exchange before heading to my parents to see the family. And of course we ate alot... alot. It was very relaxing and turned out to be a gorgeous day!

This is just one of my other favorites with JD

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and remembered that this season is about Christ giving up His throne in heaven to come to Earth and prepare a place for us to live eternally! Thank you Jesus!

For now, its back to early morning workouts and work till I'm off Thursday and Friday :)

Christmas Decorize Time

2010-12-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

I would love to share with you all our decorative spirit for this season! I was so excited to have my own home to fill with festivity that Robert and I may have gone overboard, but here are just a few pictures of our favorite spots in the house... Merry Christmas!

I love my fireplace!

I had alot of fun making this wreath... bought the wreath at lowes ($50), then bought the decorations at Miss Cayce's Christmas Store ($100)

We just changed the stockings, these are our old ones, but they just didn't fit in with the large white stone, although they will always be our first ones together...

Remember, Christmas is Jesus!

The tree :)

Our first Christmas together ornament, brings back good memories :)

Our 2010 Ornament, the candy "J"

I love Penguins!

And the view of the outside... Robert did good didn't he!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our home! Have a great week!

Here comes the Holidays!

2010-12-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is a picture that one of my patient's moms printed for me... I love it and its now posted on my desk. Isn't she cute... this is what I get to work with during the day :) Just thought I would share.

Sorry I havent written in a while. There has been so much that has happened in the last few weeks! First of all, we have our decorations up- yay! and I will post them on here before Christmas is here... I promise! Second, we have a family in our church who recently lost a loved one and we have been spending some time with the family at the hospital. Third, we have alot of youth activities coming up and fundraisers galore (which we have now come to dislike, but if its for the kids we'll suffer through them). This weekend will consist of having the girls in the youth over for a baking sleepover as we are having a bake sale on Sunday. I hope my kitchen doesn't get entirely destroyed!

Well, enjoy the weekend and have a great Thursday! I'll post again as soon as I can!

Flying High

2010-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

So back in September, PBRC (where I work) had a fundraiser we call a steak out...it was so much fun! Part of the night included a reverse auction... where people bid on items or things for the center (such as the electric bill, naming a wing of the building, etc.). One of the items that was being bid on was to place a school spirit flag on top of the tallest building in Odessa for the entire month of November.

Sounds interesting I know, but there was alot of people who wanted a Tech or tu, TCU, Odessa College, all sorts of colleges fighting it out to be displayed. However... the one school that came out on top was of course... Texas A&M!! Whoop!

And the bill......$40,000 to display the Aggie flag on top of the tallest building :)

And for the entire month of November the flag flew high and proud... and not to mention that during the entire month of November the Aggies never lost a football game :) Coincidence? Surely not. I guess that means next year I need to make sure the A&M flag gets up there again!

Just a little fun for the end of the month. Coming soon: Christmas decoration post!

Movie Overload

2010-11-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

For 4 days (from Wednesday to today) AT&T Uverse has given us the privilege of having all HD channels and all movie channels for free :) This means we have been a bit recording happy :)

We have been stalking the channels and adding as many recordings as we could fit on our DVR and its been so much fun! I finally am going to get to see alot of the chick-flick and scary movies that I never got around to see in the theaters or on video. Here is a list of the movies we recorded that I am excited about:

The Proposal (Robert hasn't seen it and I loved it so...)
Marley and Me
Leap Year
When in Rome
Julie and Julia
The Unborn
The Crazies (this is an "A" scary movie in mine and my moms book)
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The Bucket List
Dear John
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Alice in Wonderland
Australia
The Others
Valentine's Day
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

And a few more that we already watched and erased to make room for the new ones :)

So if anyone wants to watch one of these with us... come on over and we'll make some coffee and have a movie marathon :)

There's alot of smiley faces in this blog post :)

So Thankful!

2010-11-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

This was by far the most relaxing Thanksgiving ever! This is our 4th Thanksgiving together as a married couple and we have definitely had some crazy ones.

2007: We were supposed to travel to Dallas for the biennial family reunion, however, my papa fell that morning and burst the tumor in his lungs. So we had to rush to Midland instead to plan a funeral. It was a very sad Thanksgiving to lose him, but I love him and will never forget how much he loved to get into God's word. So every Thanksgiving is our family's chance to remember him. Love you Papa!
2008: We were living in Abilene and Robert was working for the windmill business. At that time he was stationed up in West Virginia... and word was that he wasn't going to get to come home for the holiday. But cleverly he surprised me and arrived in Abilene the night before I was to drive to Midland. So we got to spend the holiday with our families together :)

2009: Family reunion time (Mason side). It was off to Dallas for us. My dad's side of the family crammed in a nice... no wait horrible hotel (they are no longer there). It was great to see my cousins/aunts/unlces/great aunts and uncles/ and a bunch of other relatives that I never remember. We ate, played games, and my parent's car got broken into while we feasted. That was the bad part. Then Robert, me and my mom braved the Black Friday crowd and woke up at 4 am to go to the nearby Target to snatch a deal on our flat screen tv...and countless other gifts. It was fun, minus the car issue. And we ended the trip by visiting my dear friend Ashley and her parents in McKinney.

2010: Here we are! Its Thanksgiving with the Fowler's year and we feasted very very very well. Plus the Aggies beat t.u. so it was extra awesome! I'm sad we didn't get to see all the family this round, but hopefully soon! These are the only pictures I took of the event bc my phone was missing (or being used by a certain young brother) the entire day. Don't you like my glasses on Robert...

Happy Thanksgiving! and now bring on the rest of the holidays!

I'm all Giddy :)

2010-11-21T17:11:00.000-08:00

This was a great weekend. I got to spend plenty of time with Robert and relax. Friday evening we went to reminisce at the Lee High Choir Madrigal. Its a magical event where the choir members dress up in old Renaissance outfits, sing songs, serve a meal, and perform a masque. Since Robert and I met in choir in high school, it brought back alot of memories...plus we took my brother and sister-in-law who also were able to help share their own memories. Just to give you a flashback:

2004: Robert's senior year
(he was the king that year :)

2003: Jennifer's Senior and Robert's Junior years
The hat I'm wearing was like a football helmet

Oh good times! Of course we were just in the audience this time, but we still had fun saying hello to our choir director (she's still going strong!).

Saturday was Harry Potter Day! Of course you know that I am obsessed with these books so we took my parents to see Harry Potter 7 part 1. It was great! I was being very optimistic about this movie b/c I know that they sometimes can't follow the book exactly and knowing how the 6th movie was far below my expectations... so I kept an open mind, although I didn't need to b/c they did a good job with this one! I wish part 2 was coming out tomorrow!

That evening we went to a wedding shower of my dear friend Stephanie and Chris whose wedding is only 1 month away! So excited for them and of course you will be hearing about the wedding when it happens. After the shower we went to my friend Kate's house to play games and meet some new friends. It was a good way to spend the Saturday.

I'm just looking forward to a 2 day work week, multiple Thanksgiving meals, and time to put up the Christmas decorations! Hope you all had a great weekend!

What am I listening to?

2010-11-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

JARS OF CLAY! I went to their concert which featured Brandon Heath a few weeks ago and it was awesome! I have always been a fan of Jars of Clay. They have music of all styles and their sound is very versatile. Below is one of my favorites and one of my new favorites:

Flood from the Jars of Clay Album

Shelter from the Shelter album (new!)

Hope you enjoy this music because I sure do! Happy week everyone- Thanksgiving is almost here, be sure and tell those you love how much you are thankful for them!

October-Vember Fest

2010-11-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

So my posting has been quite horrible for this month... sorry about that. But this past few weeks we have been with family and enjoying the season of Fall...

Bowling for John Allen and Robert's birthdays

Pumpkin pancakes with my darling friend Kate!

A little hangout with the Gathering girls :)

and of course some Halloween fun with a cute niece and nephew :)

Plus lots of playing cards and games (yes Dutch Blitz) and more of that to occur during the holiday season! I went to Hobby Lobby again today and got just a few (although I could have bought the whole store) Christmas items. I am going to be putting up our tree in the next 2 weeks and I'm so excited! I will post pictures when this occurs.

As today was my day off from work I am thoroughly relaxed. I didn't get to sit and read a book with a cup of coffee like I was hoping, but I did go shopping, ate lunch with Robert (which never happens during the week), cooked dinner, and even wrapped a few presents :) It was a lovely day!

I hope you all enjoy your week!

Random Thoughts

2010-11-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

So I have some random things on my mind and I was really trying to find a picture to post that would somehow bring up a story I could share... but I got nothing. So instead you get to hear of all the random things going on inside my mind (aren't you so lucky):

1. I have yet to nail down the fastest way to/from work. I've decided that I live in a very frustrating location b/c I'm on the closest side of Midland to Odessa and it still takes me FOREVER to get to work. I even live next to one of the major connecting roads and it still takes me a good 30 minutes everyday. Now granted, I may not be the best at following the speed limit signs, but there are alot of frustrating and crazy drivers out there that I would rather just zoom past. Never-the-less, I am bound and determined to find the most direct and fastest route to my job from my house... even if I try a different way everyday. Watch out Midland/Odessa, that cream Ford Edge you just saw zoom by was probably me!

2. So 2 times a week we have this girl come to work at our lunch hour and she gives us a workout... the perfect "minimal sweat, but still feel it in the morning" workout. Its usually a great time for me to destress from the day and to get some extra energy for the afternoon. However, today all the girls including myself were very complainy. And we just couldn't figure out our moods. Its halfway through the week and we were all exhausted. I think I was tired on Monday by lunchtime which was not a great start to the week anyway. I need to be more joyful at work, even if I do get exhausted. Lord, may you change my heart and give me the ability to spread happiness and not gloom :)

3. I haven't had chocolate in 4 weeks and I'm gonna go crazy. This is a long story and I'm not going to share it bc its personal, but just know that I have been struggling with food issues my whole life and have now come to the realization of just what that struggle is and am now seeking to truly conquer it. One solution has been to give up chocolate (the most beautiful and aweful sin around). Robert is also doing this, it won't be forever, but theres no finish line to this journey yet so no chocolate during the holidays (waaaah!) here I go.

4. In reference to #3... I didn't give up ICE CREAM. Just chocolate ice cream. As I am writing this, I am enjoying my vanilla ice cream very much.

5. I CAN'T WAIT FOR HARRY POTTER 7 TO COME OUT SOON!! Just in case you were curious.

6. Robert is no longer to play football in the front yard with the teens before youth group... why, you ask... bc he broke our neighbors car door mirror. Way to set an example babe.

7. Oh yeah, for Halloween we did nothing. boring I know. I passed out candy to whoever came by... which was not very much in the beginning and by the time the sun went down I was concerned that I was going to be left with this humongous bowl of candy (none of it chocolate of course)... so I started giving out bigger handfuls. I mean I didn't want to have to have any left over or I knew I was going to eat it. So the crowd slowed down...... and then 20 people came to my door at the same time. I panicked. I was only able to give each of them one item at this point which was sad to me bc they were all related somehow and had very nicely coordinated matching pirate costumes. So then I was out of candy and had to turn off my light and pretend to not be home. And Robert and I watched New Moon :)

I guess thats about it for now. Sorry it wasn't a typical post, but at least I got some things out of my head and onto paper... err... the screen so I can release them. Otherwise, my brain gets all tangled up ;)
Have a great rest of the week everyone!

The Princess is now 2

2010-10-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Little Miss MB turned 2 last week! I can't believe my niece is already 2. She is such a little pre-Madona :)
We spent the day at her house just playing games and having a cook out.

The balloon is my nephew JD is disguise... he wouldn't quit wacking me in the face with it all day, but at least it was fun.

She wouldn't sit/stand still long enough to get a focused picture... but at least she is cute

This was her modeling her new high heels... so fashionable :)

Happy Birthday my dear niece!

I hope everyone has a safe weekend! We will be relaxing at the house for Halloween as I'm just too tired to go anywhere, but if you would like some candy I will answer the door for you :)

New Decor!

2010-10-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

So I should never be allowed inside Hobby Lobby without another person or a very strict shopping list.

Last Friday I decided that I needed to decorize (yes I made that up) our new home with some holiday items. So of course I went to Hobby Lobby... I love that store... and I love it so much that I spent 1.5 hours there just walking up and down a total of 6 aisles... yes just 6 aisles. The first 3 were fall/Thanksgiving and the other 3 were Christmas...

And I won't lie... I got a little too excited when I got to this aisle so I had to do a little dance...

Of course I couldn't video myself so you have to settle with the thumbs up picture :)

But I did buy some new decorations for the house and here are just a few:

this is on our coffee table...

Our Fowler Funkin (yes that is the name) has survived all these years of moving! I love our fireplace right now with all the decorations lined up on it!

And it wouldn't be complete without the beautiful handmade pumpkins from my dear friend Molly (get yours at specsandwings.etsy.com)

Have I mentioned that I love fall! And so you can assume that I went overboard with my budget whilst shopping for beautiful decorations and I will admit that I did get carried away... but Robert loved everything so I give myself an A+ :) Plus when I called to tell him I was getting a few things for the house he said "Ok, get whatever you want!" which is translated to me as "Have fun and please go crazy" :)

Now I didn't get any Christmas things this time (just walked up and down the aisles with a big kid like grin on my face) but there is always next time!

God's Painting

2010-10-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

This was the painting God left for me in the sky today... on my way home from work, this was the picture I captured before I turned into my garage... breathtaking and beautiful.

My God is greater, my God is stronger, God You are higher than any other :)

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone!

Finally got a ticket...

2010-10-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well not really... See I have never gotten a speeding ticket or parking ticket. The only issued ticket I've ever had was a bike ticket- I was riding my bike on the A&M campus on the wrong side of the road and I got pulled over by a bike cop. Yes it was embarrassing and dumb. But I don't count it as a real ticket.
So a few Fridays ago I was with my mom for the afternoon and as I usually do, I parked in my dad's space of the garage. I figured we would arrive home before he would, although this was not the case. So I found the following things on my car:

P.W.O.P.S.
Parents WithOut Parking Spaces

Yes, my dad designed his own ticket. This is not the first one of these I have had on my car from him, although he is getting more and more creative...

Oh funny daddy! I will continue to use his space when he is not there, just to see how much more creative he gets ;) Oh and my last ticket said I had to pay 1,283,254,876,965 times the National debt... I wonder what the payment will be next time. hehe.

Birthday #26

2010-10-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

This year's birthday was quite exceptional. In the midst of work and exciting extracurricular activities going on we managed to have a little fun. My actual birthday was on Wednesday so the youth group got to partake in some birthday cake made by my mom. They were very sweet and excited to make it a surprise :)

Then on Saturday we were supposed to have lunch and games with my family, but my parents became sick... so Robert and I went to Stanton Trade Days with my brother, sister and their two kids. We then spent the rest of the day at their house playing wii games and watching the Aggies play. It was a great weekend and week!

Robert and MB before going to Trade Days

Stacy and JD

The yummy and delicious peanut butter and chocolate birthday cake my mom made...obviously it didn't last long enough for a whole picture :)

And flowers that Robert sent to me at work- well he sent them the week earlier to cheer me up from having a stressful day, but they are still gorgeous!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Our Love Grows Strong...

2010-10-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

So Robert and I haven't had real professional pictures taken of us since our wedding... 3 years ago. So I asked my amazing and talented (and beautiful) friend Kate from The Wild Curl Photography to take some shots of us. Here are a few of my favorites (the others werent able to load for some odd reason, but I'll get them up here sometime)...

The first one explains everything about our relationship...

Which one is your favorite?

Thank you Kate for being so wonderful and tender hearted to put up with us! We truly enjoy being around you!

I can't wait to put some of these new photos up in our home! You should come by to see them :)
Happy week everyone!

The Aggies are We...

2010-10-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

As promised, the rest of the good pictures form my weekend reunion with the roomates in College Station. Once again, it was a blast and I miss them so much! We are already planning next years reunion in Tracy's town- Portland! So good to have these girls!

La Bodega- our favorite restaurant!

Midnight Yell Practice Friday! It was hot and humid, but so worth it!
And we remembered most of the yells... most of them

And of course...Antonio's pizza by the slice after yell, mmm

Our seats at the game... awesome!

New things on campus... the large Aggie Ring

New Alumni Center Fountain

The linked Aggie Rings... how sweet

The MSC... or was the MSC, now is being remodeled. How sad.

And the new "War on Terrorism" Memorial

It was awesome to walk around the campus and see all the new things, and some of the same old things that we came to love and enjoy (and hate) while we were students. So good to walk down memory lane! It was a Friday to Sunday experience, but of course we went to all our favorite eating places :
-La Bodega
-Antonio's Pizza
-Kaloche Rolffs
-Wings N More
-Sweet Eugenes
-and Blue Baker

yum :)

Aggieland, I miss you!

We are the Aggies...

2010-09-22T19:28:00.001-07:00

I was so delighted to take a trip this past weekend with my best friends and roomates from Texas A&M... Tracy and Ashley. You girls are awesome and it was so fun to return to Aggieland and view the changes and all the wonderful things that we loved while we attended school there. I can't post all the pictures now, but here are some great groups shots :)

This is a reenactment picture from our sophomore year (see the original below)

The pretty academic building

At the game- we won! Whoop!

And the two new statues of the Aggie ring... very impressive and very massive

It was fun! I'll have the full details in the next post! Enjoy the week everyone!

Aggieland Bound!

2010-09-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am leaving tomorrow for College Station to see these girls:

Let the Roomate Reunion begin! I'll be back Monday and I'll post all about it (I promise!) and about our new arrival...a new bedroom full of furniture! Have a great weekend everyone!

The Finale...

2010-09-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

The Minute to Win It Finale was performed last Wednesday night... the contestants consisted of all the winners of the win-off games throughout the summer. These games had to be some of my favorite... especially the last one :)

Finale Game 1: divided the contestants into two groups... Contestants used straws to grab M&M's and carry them (by continuously sucking into the straw) to a small cup. Must have three to move on to the next round.

Finale Game 2: the 4 winning contestants must propel a balloon across the yard with only a water spray bottle. If your balloon pops, you are out. Last two standing move on to the ultimate finale.

Ultimate Finale Game 3: Contestants must bounce a ping pong ball off the counter and onto a slice of bread with peanut butter on it. It must stick to win.

I'm sad these games are over, but they were alot of fun. I hope you enjoyed them as well!

I'm so excited about alot of things coming up...trips with friends, fun times with Robert, and some awesome books that I'm reading :)

Stay tuned!

A Minute to Win It Summer

2010-09-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted these in awhile...like a long time, but we have completed many other Minute to Win it games...here are a few of the favorites from the remainder of the summer:

Candelier: Contestant must use plastic cups and paper plates to create an upside down chandelier. We didn't have flat plates so instead we did our tower from 1 to 3 than back to 1... you'll see.

On the Nose: Contestants must use petroleum jelly on their nose to transfer a cotton ball to a plate without it dropping.

Junk in the Trunk: Contestants must bounce out 6 ping pong balls placed in a kleenex box tied around their waste.
(A few things about this one: first watch in the right bottom corner for Jo, good technique, then in the top right corner for Robert who is laughing at Jo... oh and listen for the laugh)

Chocolate Unicorn: Using chocolate ding dongs, make a stack of them on your forehead 5 high. Must stay for 3 seconds to win... this only works if you have a flat forehead :)

Speed Eraser: Contestants must bounce a pencil on its eraser end into a cup. Obviously the winner was very good at bouncing pencils...

Hope you enjoyed them. Next post will be the games from the Ultimate Finale of all the winners which occurred tonight. Great stuff!

Have a blessed week everyone! Glad its a short one thanks to Labor Day!

Looking forward...

2010-09-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

I am posting this video because I just remembered it and it does kind of make me laugh at 9:45 on a Wednesday night. So, for you all to enjoy...its the Wave slide at Rock the Desert. Lalo and I are racing. It was hot remind you. really hot! Wait till the end and watch me on the right at the bottom.

Yes, my skin got stuck to the slide thing and so I had no choice but to tumble down to the finish line. Lalo, you won, hands down.

So, with all the busy-ness settling in (and I do mean good busy-ness) the fall for sure is looking promising! And I'm almost done with some more of my summer goals. Yes it is now September, and thus no longer summer, but I'm just about complete with the last of the goals including finishing a Frank Peretti book. Sadly, the goals that didn't make it include riding bikes or learning 10 new spanish phrases (I got about 6 new ones though). Well maybe I'll do them in the fall :)

I can't wait for some exciting things coming up:
-this weekend, NazNite at Six Flags with the teens!
-in 3 weekends, roomate reunion in College Station at the football game!
-October, my birthday :)
-Plus some exciting things at work and with Robert in the works :)

Stay tuned!

A weekend for Steph

2010-08-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

What do these girls...

...plus this girl...

...plus Austin, plus these delicious cupcakes equal?

Steph's awesome Bachelorette party! So excited for you dear! (and yes I know these pictures are late too, but hey they made it on here!)

plus we stayed at her fiance's aunt and uncle's house where they had this awesome tub... look closely b/c the water is coming from the ceiling. Yes the ceiling. I screamed when she turned it on... this is our next project for our house :) hehe

Rock The Desert

2010-08-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yes this is way late, but never-the-less here are pictures from RTD 2010:

Pineapple Drinks- yum!

Robert tried to fall alseep, but they just kept falling on him :)

Girls sleep over at my house! Chocolate fondue!

We made tye-dye shirts for the occasion- they turned out awesome!

The girls with our fearless pastor- Art

So RTD started Friday night for us, then Saturday we hosted a couple of Nazarene churches in our district for some games, lunch, and a small devotion before heading out to RTD. However, when we got to RTD is was out of this world HOT!! So we left at 3:00ish and swam for a little while in shorts and t-shirts before coming back out around 6:00ish. BEST IDEA EVER! We will definitely do this again next year :) But I have no pictures of this because I was too busy cooling off myself :)

Of course we spent some time with the mechanical bull

The brightly colored specs on their shirts is from a glow bracelet that snapped open and they decided to fling it on each other so they would glow. No worries, of course it said non-toxic :)

So one of the things they did at RTD this year, was try to break the World Record for largest line dance with the cupid shuffle. I of course was the videographer who tried to capture the thousands of people doing this in the dark... it may make you a little sick at times b/c it was hard to stand in one place, but here is the video of the record breaking line dance :)

Oh my!

2010-08-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

how the time does fly!

So, this is my second time writing this post b/c it messed up my first one... grrr
But I can't believe its almost halfway through August! I apologize for the lack of posting, but I am officially buried under paperwork and event planning. I do have some great stories and photos to share form my weekend in August with friends to Rock the Desert with the teens. So be on the lookout! Till then I hope everyone enjoys the week!

And I'm excited that Robert and I will be able to finally go on a date this Friday (just us!). We are going to a new Japanese Steakhouse in Midland, so I'll let you know how it goes :)

Be blessed!

Beautiful Friends

2010-08-01T18:51:00.001-07:00

So I'm back home from my multiple weeks of traveling and I'm glad to say that I think I'm done for awhile. This has been a long emotional week and I've had fun, but I'm so glad that I have God to help me get through the crazies of my life. So, I'm now trying to upload and post pictures that have been crying out to me from my camera for the past month.

A couple of weeks ago I had a girls reunion with some of my highschool friends. We have grown up together and all gotten married, moved away, reunited, been apart, and finally had some time to get together (of course we were missing Britney though!). And it was the first time for us to meet Lela...

Isn't she precious!

The girls: Morgan, Me, Lela, Molly
not pictured but in our thoughts: Britney

I miss these girls! I'm so glad we got to get together for a couple of hours to catch up on life and all the wonderful things God is doing in each of our worlds. I can't wait for the next reunion! Oh and I didn't say this but Lela is Morgan's beautiful daughter... you should check out her blog to the right :) and Molly is my artist friend who also has a blog to the right :) What can I say, we are just blogging kind of girls.

2010-07-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

So August is like right around the corner and its time to check in on my summer goals and what all I need to accomplish in the last few weeks!

Goals I have accomplished are:
-Have a great time with our youth at teen camp
-Eat at Red Robin- yay!! love that place and wish I could eat there over and over...
-Watch as God dramatically changes someones life- that happened this weekend!
-Visit friend/family in Dallas- although we didn't get to see everyone!
-Acquire new furniture pieces for the home- the loveseat, and hopefully some more things coming soon
-Take more pictures- and videos!
-Relearn my old favorite piano songs- not all of them, but I have played a few of my old favorites

Goals in progress:
-Start and finish another Frank Perretti novel- i'm on the prophet and its good
--Have someone take pictures of me and Robert- will be done in August!
-learn 10 new phrases in Spanish- I've got about 5 new ones so far
-Have more coffee dates with friends- come on Midland people we need to get together!
and hopefully... -putting everything in its place in our new home- I really want to do this!

How are you coming with your summer goals?

Lots to do!

2010-07-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

So ever since we got from Dallas (yes 2 weeks ago) I have been so busy! Work is crazy bc the other physical therapist has been out for personal reasons and that leaves me in charge... which is fine, but overwhelming. I worked at a spiritual get-away last weekend which was amazing seeing young girl's lives being changed by the Lord and I met some great people. And now I'm headed to Austin this weekend to see some friends from school and for a little bachelorette party for an amazing bride-to-be. Plus my brother and sister in law are having a garage sale so I'm trying to find all my sale stuff whilst cleaning the house and doing laundry... I mean thats alot going on! But God will get me through it all and I sure hope I'll have a blast with everything I do, but what I really want right now is just time to sit and do nothing- maybe in September...

I hope you all have a great week and I do have pictures to post, but I have to edit them first!

Yes, We did...

2010-07-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Have a great time in Dallas...

oh and we bought a car :)

Meet Erin, the Edge

She's so pretty! She's a used car, but we love her!
Although I was very sad to say goodbye to Ruby II, my faithful companion through college and the first few years of our marriage... goodbye Ruby II...you were awesome!

Now on with the tour of our Dallas trip:
We first headed out Friday evening and decided that we would stop in Abilene for dinner and to make a run to Walmart as I was having an allergic skin reaction to something... so we also bought some tunes for the weekend.

And then we went to RED ROBIN (yumm)! I miss this place and was excited to get to stop in and eat my favorite meal- bbq chicken wrap

And of course I got the freckled lemonade which is delicious!

We arrived in Dallas late and enjoyed sleeping in Saturday morning. We then went to Panera for breakfast, got ready for the day, and headed to McKinney (my favorite town in Dallas) to shop for our car. After lunch at Which Which and some awesome negotiating on Robert's part, we said goodbye to Ruby II and drove to the Allen Outlet mall in Erin. It was so much fun! Then we met up with my amazing friend Ashley and headed to dinner at PF Changs at a really cool shopping center called WATERS.

mmm... PF Changs was good... as was this 6 layer chocolate cake (I only ate like 1.5 layers)

Then we went for a little walk around the shopping center (although it was closed) and found this outside book sell from Borders... Needless to say we found some interesting book titles:

A dose of Advance Your Swagger

Also, I Think There's a Terrorist in My Soup...
One of my other favorite titles was Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
How random! But it was fun to look around... until I saw...

Yes that may be a white speck on the picture but its actually a HUGE spider that was spinning this awesome web as I watched in the lamplight. eww

Sunday we woke up and went to one of our friends church that he pastors. It was good to see them as it had been about a year if not more since we last saw them. We miss you Zack and Correy! Then we went to BJ's in Roanoke to eat with Robert's brother and sister-in-law and of course our niece MJ.

Oh I forgot we bought her a sucker at the Chocolate store in the Allen Outlet Mall...it was almost too pretty to eat, but she did :)

Well after a great trip we were tired, but happy to have a new vehicle, some good clothes, and many more wonderful memories to cherish! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! Be blessed!

Feel the Love, See Adventure

2010-07-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

We are hitting the road! A month ago we planned to just get away for the weekend... and I'm so happy that its finally here! Its so important to take time in marriage to just drop out of the normal world for awhile to add more stories, memories, and adventures to your relationship. I love taking trips with Robert (although I know he doesn't like me "helping" him drive and well I just don't like the way he does it) b/c its just something special to get excited over little things and talk and fall more and more in love with each other. And I do love him...an unspeakable amount... so I couldn't be more pumped for this little trip. We may be going to Dallas where we have been multiple times, but I'm also happy to see some friends and family while we are there and to hit all our favorite spots. I'll share pictures and stories soon!

Enjoy your weekend everyone! What adventures have you added in your life lately?

The Tale of a Love Seat

2010-07-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

So like 547829574398578 months ago we ordered a loveseat to match my beloved couch... This is the loveseat we got (which took forever to get to us):

It may look pretty, but as you can see in the next picture...

It didn't match!! They changed the fabric and stuff which is way frustrating! And if you know Robert...the couches have to match. So we were in a predicament, and had to jump through some hoops at the furniture store, but we decided to go with this one:

Yes. The Green version. I mean it is my favorite color right? And it matches the decor and feel of the room so we decided to just go for it and make it work!

What do you think?
And since this picture we have bought different coordinating pillows, so it looks even better :)
Hope you all had a good Monday!

p.s. Of course I can't forget to have a shout-out to my dear friend Tracy- Happy Birthday!! I miss you like crazy!

4th of July Weekend!

2010-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Mmmm... pound cake with whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries
So this weekend we were busy, but it was all fun stuff!
Friday I spent time with my mom and mema just being girls...
Saturday my mom and I saw ECLIPSE!! loved it :)
Sunday was a great church Gathering and then Robert and I went to the Rockhounds baseball game for hot dogs, peanuts, baseball cap ice cream, and fireworks!

Monday Robert and I went to play golf with his dad and our brother Isaac (well Isaac and I drove the carts) and then we went to my parents to play games with the family

Yes I was taking pictures of the animals also...

If you look in the top center of the picture you can see Robert's ball flying high in the air...
it was a great weekend and I'm glad we were busy, yet were spending time together :)

Min to Win Game Night 3

2010-07-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

This should catch me up on our Youth group games...

Games in the Park was the theme for last Wednesday. It was alot of fun although we were praying for it not to rain... which it didn't yay! Here are a few shots from the night as well as this weeks Min to Win it games...

Guys group hug after our water fight broke out

Group 1 Game: Shoe Fly Shoe
Contestants must flick a shoe with their foot onto a table 15 feet away and land it upright.

Group Game 2: Stick the Landing
Contestants must toss a water bottle into a table and land it upright...this took forever and we had to change the rules to whoever could just get the bottle to stay on the table.

Win Off Game: Ka-Broom
Contestants must use a broom handle to launch a marshmallow set on a paper plate into the air and catch it with a cup. Winner was the first to catch 2... obviously I didn't film this b/c I had to scramble to keep the plates full of marshmallows (which were devoured at the end, you'll see)

Good times! Fourth of July weekend post coming soon!

Fun Friday

2010-07-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun Friday. I went to work (well that wasn't on the fun part, but it turned out to be a slow day which allowed me to catch up on some things :), then I went to pick up my mom and my grandmother and we ate lunch at Olive Garden (soup and salad!). Afterwards we went to the Ivy Cottage to look for some fun purchases (I bought a gift for a friend and a calendar for our fridge) then it was on to Starbucks for a rainy day treat (caramel macchiatto with iced lemon pound cake...yum!). I took the ladies home then and went home to shampoo the living room carpet (b/c it was gross) before Robert picked me up, took me to Texas Roadhouse where we met my father in law and our "younger brother" Isaac. To finish off the night Isaac came home with us to play some Wii!! I've been missing our wii as we just haven't had time to play it lately so I was glad to bust out all the remotes again.

It was just a fun day! I hope your Friday was awesome and that you have a great weekend.

Min to Win Game Night 2

2010-07-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

So I know I've been posting alot about out youth group lately, but I can't help it that they are a pretty fun group :)

We have some exciting other things going on in the next few weeks though so keep posted for those updates!

For now its the Minute to Win it game night #2!

Group 1 game: Hanky Panky
Contestants must use one hand to pull out all the tissues in a tissue box one at a time... we had a few cheaters on this as you can see in the video, but due to the video we picked two winners

Group 2 Game: Paper Dragon
Contestants must use only one hand to unravel a stream of crepe paper

Win Off Game: Dizzy Mummy
Contestants must unroll one roll of toilet paper by spinning in a circle... on the show if the paper breaks you are out, but for us it was the first person to unroll the whole thing

I still haven't decided what kind of prize to give to the winners at the end of the summer... does anyone have any good prize ideas?

Get ready for the weekend... oh wait... looong weekend yay! and I'm so glad that Robert will have Monday off with me so we can have extra time together :)

Be Blessed!

Youth Group Games

2010-06-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Summer Youth Group Games have begun :)

Disclaimer: After you see these games I know you are all going to try some of these yourselves...don't deny it...just embrace it

So we have begun a series of games with our youth group on Wednesdays. There is a new fun show on NBC called Minute to Win It that takes ordinary household items and creates hilarious games out of them. On the show each contestant gets one minute to complete each task before moving on to the next one in hopes to win 1 million dollars at the end. We aren't giving away a million dollars (sorry teens) but we hope to offer a fun prize to our winners at the end of the summer. And we had to change the rules around to apply some of these games to a multitude of people playing at once to save time. But its made for some very funny wednesday nights :)

Game night one... [we divided the whole group into 2 smaller groups and then had the winner of each of those groups compete in an ultimate win game]
Challenge group 1 game: Face the Cookie
Contestants use only their face muscles to move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth. No hands allowed!

Challenge group 2 game: Caddy Stack
Contestants must stack 3 golf balls (we did 2) on top of each other

Ultimate Win Game: Bite Me
Contestants must use only their mouth to grab paper bags of 4", 6", 8", and 10" heights off the ground and place them on a table. No part of their body except the feet may touch the floor. This is hard! You must be really flexible to pull this off...

Now tell me you aren't going to try some of these! I'll post the video of Robert's attempt of the Bite Me game... its pretty entertaining... But I think I've given you enough videos for one blog. We have more games coming up! Stay Tuned!

A Little Educational Trip

2010-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'm staying here tonight...

The Overton Hotel in Lubbock

And I'm missing Robert. But I arrived here early this morning for a conference about manual therapy in the pediatric population (or in other words, new treatment ideas in orthopedic child conditions). It is such an amazing course! I can't wait to share what I've learned with my colleagues. I have been needing an educational weekend to help give me some new ideas for treatment for my patients.

Plus I get to hang out with my good friend Meagan!

I will return to Midland tomorrow, have a great weekend everyone!

OK Slow Down Summer!

2010-06-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

So I know that its only June and I am still working and therefore have no real summer anymore, but everything is going so fast! I really can't believe mine and Robert's anniversary has already passed and that we are getting ready for the 4th of July... wow. And with this fast paced summer has come so many things!

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. This is my Dad and my hero.
Obviously we went swimming for father's day, had a cookout, all the good stuff! And we even went to go see Toy Story 3 (in Digital 3D). "J" just loved the 3D glasses... he wore them the rest of the day which was probably not a good thing...

Second, let me just add that I hate 3D movies b/c they make me feel all weird like I've just ridden a rollercoaster or something... but I kept the glasses on the whole time and dealt with my headache afterwards...

Third, my summertime list is being marked off as we speak! Here are some items already completed:
-Have a fantastic time with our youth at Teen Camp
-Watch as God dramatically changes someone's life
-Take more pictures: let me just say that I have loaded my camera with pictures and that there is no way they are all going to make it on here...but I have done this!

Fourth, work is really crazy right now, but I still love love love my job! Getting to work with kids is fun (and even more reminder of why we don't have kids right now), but besides work being crazy...my calendar is going crazy. Starting this weekend I will be out of town every weekend until the 2nd weekend in August (which happens to be Rock the Desert, so really I'll be busy then too). I have conferences to go to, trips with the family, a trip with Robert, trips with the teens, and a trip to see some friends. Wow. It will be fun although I may have to make a rule that I travel nowhere for several weeks afterwards!

And Lastly, our house has mold in it. [sad face] but luckily its contained to a small segment behind our shower and in our closet...and luckily we found what was causing the mold... a huge crack in the grout of our shower. If you have a tiled shower be sure that you regrout or reseal the grout every year to avoid cracks...apparently the people before us never got that memo...bummer. But its starting to get under control so hopefully I won't have to lose my nerve.

Thats it for right now. I can't wait tomorrow to announce the fun games we are playing with our youth this summer. Yes there are videos. Yes you will have fun watching them. Yes you should be excited :)

Camp Transparent [post 4]

2010-06-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well this is the last of the camp posts, but I hope you enjoyed the pictures...we had a great time and I know the teens can't wait till next year! These pictures capture the rest of the fun that we had while at Camp Transparent:

Time for some worship!

Ok so Robert is imitating this other youth pastor named Jimmy who has a beard just like this...
well maybe not just like this b/c this is seaweed from the lake... eww

The girls and the lake
complete with water trampoline, rock climbing wall, zip line, row boats, the blob, and lots of nasty seaweed

The Gathering Teens!

I can't wait to show you the fun we have planned for the youth group this summer... Just wait for the videos :)
Have a great weekend and Happy Father's day to all the dad's out there!

Camp Transparent [post 3]

2010-06-16T20:09:00.001-07:00

More fun from camp! Every night they had activities for us to participate in before lights out and pretty much every night I watched some of the group play dodgeball...

What can we say, her leg was hurting...

The Dork glasses! They were quite fun to have around...

I know this picture is fuzzy, but its still good!

This is Robert showing off his dodgeball skills (yes he is good)...that white blurb is his ball that I believe got someone out

Time for water games!

So we had some fun watching Dodgeball and goofing off... love it! Still more to come!

So this video was taken of one of our dear teens... he had no idea I was filming him... this was his response while we were watching the dodgeball match from the balcony...I think he's funny :) and sorry its sideways, I can't get the picture to rotate.

Camp Transparent [post 2]

2010-06-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Theme for Youth camp was Transparent... based upon the scripture Ephesians 2:10... that we should reflect God's Glory and have no veils covering up who we really are as Christians... it was awesome!

The first day (Monday) after arriving from our 6 hour drive was to take pictures and familiarize ourselves with the place. We found a very fun/interesting playground there and the girls (and guys who do not like to be photographed as easily) sure did enjoy it:

The roller slide... it was fast and an accident waiting to happen... luckily we had no injuries here

I think they had fun :) More to come!

Road to camp Post 1

2010-06-14T18:32:00.001-07:00

So last week before we left for camp, two of the girls (who happen to be sisters) decided that it would be fun if our church group had shirts for camp... this is what the girls looked like:

The back

The Front

The boys version was blue (of course) and we used fabric paint to draw extra little pictures on the back. We all wore our shirts on Monday so we would have them as we arrived at camp. It was fun to look alike (and alot easier to keep up with everyone!).

Still more pictures coming this week! For now its time to finish watching the Bachelorette :)

We are back home!

2010-06-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yes I say that and I'm sure some of you didn't even know that we left town... except for the lack of posting for 1.5 weeks should have been a sign... Anyways... we have been at Youth Camp near Waxahachie, TX at the Lakeview Conference Center. Awesome camp ground! I have a ton of pictures and videos from this experience so I will be using the whole week to share the stories. We left Monday and returned Friday late, but we have also had a very busy weekend so I apologize for just now informing you of my absence.

And on top of being gone I once again came down with some sort of sickness... last Friday I got a fever and spent the whole afternoon in bed and taking Advil (luckily I don't work on Friday afternoons, but it did delay getting things together for camp). I also spent all of Saturday in bed except for a very miserable trip to the store for camp supplies as well as Sunday morning in bed due to feeling awful! I was very nervous about having to get things together for camp and also concerned that I wasn't going to get better before having to make the 6 hour drive with our teenagers into the hot and humid weather... But thanks to my extra stash of antibiotics I was able to be put at ease... well sort of. I'm mostly over this sickness now although I caught a small head cold while at camp and still have the sniffles.

But more on the excitement from camp this week! For now I'm going to read all the blogs I missed while we were gone!

3 Year Anniversary

2010-06-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

It all began 8 years ago when I, a Junior in high school, asked a sophomore named Robert to the Prom.
Then we travel to 2005 when Robert asked for my hand in marriage in our favorite park in College Station... and I said yes.
One and a half years later, on June 2, 2007, we were married. And our lives have been ever more blessed since!

This is what I found on our kitchen counter this morning... he knows the way to my heart is through M&Ms :)

And of course a flashback to the day in celebration today... our wedding day.

Robert, I don't know how I could have made it to where I am today without your love and your motivation. You are the head of our household and the winner of my heart. You have pushed me to pursue my dreams and I hope that I can help you pursue yours. Thank you for wanting to grow old with me... and for showing me how to have fun in life and in the Lord. I love you. You are the greatest husband ever.
With all my love,
Your wife

I'm Spoiled

2010-05-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

So once again my coworkers are awesome! I brought my lunch today (trying to be good before Memorial Day) but 2 of my coworkers had to get their lunch... and they each brought me a beverage to pep up the afternoon... Diet coke from Rosas's (yum) and a light Mocha Frapp with Caramel from Strabucks (another yum)! Thanks guys! I should be good to go till 6!

What is everyone doing for the weekend?

Lunchtime dilemma

2010-05-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

So let me start this out by saying that I love my coworkers... they are awesome... but never again will I succumb to my silence on this issue...

Well we had to turn our computers off at lunch today which ruined my plans of helping a new coworker get his paperwork in order for his license... SOO a few of my coworkers decided to go to lunch. One guy really wanted to go eat Chinese. There is a place in Odessa called ChinaMex... probably the only place on Earth that you can get fried rice and spanish rice/ egg rolls and quesadillas... and they actually taste good! In fact, this restaurant is so good that it is hard to get in and out in a normal lunch period. But never-the-less we decided Chinese was the winner and ChinaMex bound we were...

Until...we got in the car and realized we were short on time. So instead we went to Chinese Cuisine... a buffet.

I don't like Chinese buffets.

And I can't tell you why either... there is just something about them that makes me want to gag. BUT because I love my coworkers and that they were craving Chinese... I kept my mouth shut and tried not to think about the buffet part as I filled my plate with sushi, rice, egg rolls, and chicken stuff with noodles (I mean who really knows what is was called). It was good, but I was very muchly looking forward to ChineMex... oh well...next time.

Although... Chinese Cuisine did make up for the buffet gagging feeling by offering soft serve ice cream. And yes I did bypass the little tiny microscopic cups they had and I used a regular sized styrofoam drinking glass instead...and I filled it all swirly with mixed chocolate and vanilla... mmmm. Ice cream always does make the world better right?!

Have a great week!

Concerts and Gatherings

2010-05-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was full of busy stuff... but lots of fun and amazing stuff. Friday, Robert and I took our youth group to a free concert that Air 1 radio station was putting on... the bands were The Wrecking (I bought their shirt :), Satellites and Sirens, The Red Airplanes (they were awesome!), and Manic Drive. The teens loved it! And we had a large group go so that was extra fun... although the weather was quite scary with high (like really HIGH) winds, thunder, lightning, and rain. During the concert it got extremely hot so some of the girls and I went outside to breath and they posed for a shot pointing at the scary looking sky:

Afterwards we went to Whataburger for shakes and fries before taking everyone home.

Also, Friday night at midnight started our church's 24 hours of prayer...to prepare for the Global Day of Prayer which is today (Sunday)... so Robert and I spent alot of time on Saturday praying for our assigned times and then joined with some of the youth group to lift up one another in and their schools... yes I took a moment to peak and take a picture:

I love seeing God's power work in all people of all ages!
Next Robert and I spent the afternoon at my nephews birthday party ( I do have pictures ready!).
Sunday was officially the day of prayer and our church hosted the Permian Basin Day of Prayer Gathering which I just got home from... and I just love getting praise God and sing and pray and fellowship with believers! How awesome! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Looking to the Summer

2010-05-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

So I was reading my friend's blog and she mentioned summer goals and I thought...I need to do this! Why...because I like creating lists of things to look forward to and because its always good to have a goal in mind. So here is my list of Things I want to do this summer:

-Have a fantastic time with our youth at Teen Camp
-Watch as God dramatically changes someone's life
-Officially put everything in its place at our home
-Acquire fun new furniture pieces for the home
-Visit friends/family in Dallas
-Make something unique
-Take more pictures
-Have someone take pictures of Robert and I (3 year anniversary coming soon)
-Ride bikes with Robert
-Learn 5 new recipes that are easy, good, and healthier
-Eat at Red Robin (I love that place!)
-Start and finish another Frank Peretti novel
-Relearn my old favorite piano songs
-Watch at least 10 classic scary/horror movies with my mother
-Set aside $10 a week to go towards a new wardrobe when the fall comes
-Have more coffee dates with friends (who wants to come?)
-and learn 10 new phrases in Spanish to better communicate with my patients and friends at church

Think I can fit it all in? We'll see! What are your goals!

The Fowler Home

2010-05-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well they aren't the greatest pictures, but then again its always hard to capture rooms with a camera lens... anyhow this is a small walk through of our home. I didn't get pictures of the two guest rooms (well one is an office and the other is a blank room with no guest furniture yet, but the skeleton lives in there for now)... but they aren't fixed up yet anyway... so enjoy the walk through via pictures!

one of my favorite little spots...

guest bathroom

The hallway between the two guest rooms

What a blessing it is to own a home at last! I truly believe God has given us this house as a reward for all the years... hard years... we had to spend long distance from each other. I just hope we can continue to give back all the glory to Him for the ways he has provided. Be blessed friends and have a great week!

A time to RELAX

2010-05-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

So work has been pretty crazy lately with us changing around our offices and everything, plus moving into the house leaves no time for proper and sleep or relaxation.... but on Tuesday my body was fighting me....so I had to give in. I cancelled myself from attending the nightly prayer gathering at our church (which I love going to and was sad to miss), but I knew if I didn't find time to relax and sleep I would soon become ill... no good.

So I fixed up a hot bubble bath, grabbed some cheetos, my favorite book, and even some hot chocolate c/o my Keurig coffee maker (they make hot cocoa pods now!) and I spent 30 minutes just relaxing...

It worked wonders! I then went to sleep at 8:15 and had the most restful and reenergizing rest that I really did need.

Wednesday has been much happier since then! Be sure you all take time to relax, because in a world so busy and crazy we all need some "me" time.

Have a great Wednesday! I hope we can have some house pictures up this weekend!

A Mother's Love

2010-05-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have been MIA once again, but the move is going great and we are beginning to see the boxes disappear and our home emerge again. Pictures are coming soon once we can get a few decorative items in place.

But this blog is dedicated today to my mom...

I love how we always take fun trips together and reminisce of old songs the family would sing
I love how we LOVE scary movies and how they actually make us laugh
I love how I look so much like you
I love how you taught me so much about being a great woman and wife... and someday a mother
I love how you love me regardless of when we argue
I love how you sing and always fill my heart with music
and most importantly... I love how you love Jesus and have never lost your faith despite all the hardships that have come your way.

I can truly learn alot from you... thank you Mom.

Happy Mother's day to all the moms and especially the new moms out there!

Have a great week everyone!