update in pictures

so obviously I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog. (notice the husband had to fill in for my lack of presence... isn't he great!?!) however, I really really want that to change. So, here's to a new start. We all need those every once in awhile right!?

So here's my attempt to update all 10 of you who read this, and to document this past fall.

September:

Here are the promised pictures from April's wonderful World Race Dinner. She leaves in a just few short days. Would you pray for her? I love her dearly and I'm so excited about what the next 11 months hold for her. Check out her story and follow her on her journey to 11 countries in 11 months!

Yummy food made by April! 

Sorry for the poor quality pictures, it was super dark outside- 

but I loved that we dined by candlelight!

We had a wonderful time with out goofy friend, Eli. 

And it became the game of the night to take a good picture of our sweet friends the Fogles. 

As you can see, Ken had a hard time keeping his eye's open! 

We tried everything: counting, delayed flashes, bug eyes....

and finally a great one! Love you Fogles!

yummy dessert. the dinner was a success and April raised tons for her trip. 

The Lord provided in really cool ways!

 October:
(the month of weddings)

Will was a groomsmen for our good friends James and Angie Schumacher. 

ComChurch friends Josh and Merinda Marion got hitched!

Old ComGroupies Kristen and Andy/Carlos Guerra got married too! 

Sweet Kiva turned 1! I still can't believe how quickly she is growing up!

Amidst all the weddings, Megan and I snuck in some crafty time! We made ruffle wreaths to decorate our doors for the fall. 

our supplies...

it MAY or may not have been late when we decided to do this. 

our finished products!

 November:
This month seemed to whiz by. It was crazy! School really picked up for Will and I and it seemed like we had few spare moments. We were certainly grateful to celebrate our first Thanksgiving together and for the blessings that all the events and things we participated in brought us! 

took a trip to Houston for a painting excursion with Ash, Steph and Mimi for Shannon's birthday. I'll spare you the end result. :)

danced with Talitha at Masterpiece 2010 (isn't Jenn beautiful?)

empty bowls in downtown Bryan.

we threw a World Race Party for April complete with World Race game- thanks to husband. 

December:


December also seemed to fly by. I can't believe we are already almost to the end of the month! Will and I finished the semester- which was crazy, but made us even more thankful for a break!

Rhett and Krista got married! We love you guys!

 We spent Christmas with my parents in Orlando. Will drove the entire way- straight through. It was an experience to say the least.

Will felt pretty accomplished after the 18 hour drive. 

It was a fun trip to get out of town. Our days were filled with pjs, board games, snacking, sleeping in, movies and reading. We even took a day out of our busy schedule to visit Universal Studios- along with the rest of the United States (so my dad said.)


Even though we celebrated Christmas out of state, I just couldn't let this season pass without celebrating it at home- especially since this was our first Christmas together! 


So first things first- we had to get our tree! 

I think we got quite a few looks for this... 

really grateful for a sweet husband this Christmas!

thanks to all those who thought of us for Christmas cards! We loved receiving them!

W.O.W. that was long. and I'm pretty sure I left out tons of things in between. I have lots of thoughts and things I would like to share.... but I'll spare you for now. I'll just wrap up by saying: 

This past fall has been full- filled with friends, life, joy, growing, learning, discovering, new things! I want to just stop here to just soak it all in. I think too many times we rush ahead, plan ahead, run ahead of the moment and we simply... well... miss it. I don't want to move forward without looking back, appreciating all that has happened- so many relationships, so many new things, and revisiting older things. thanks for being apart of this past season- each in your own unique ways. Thanks for joining us on this journey. I'm really grateful... really. 

if you do one thing today...

please read this and PRAY.

and so it begins!

school that is. today was my first day back in class... even though its only been a few weeks since I stepped off campus for summer school. This day marks the LAST first day of school. ever. It's totally a weird feeling. I still don't know what to make of it.

Will started school last Wednesday and textbooks are officially in season... so this new season of life begins!

There are few things that I'm intentionally doing starting today. I want to document them to see how long they last. My hope is that this day marks a change in lifestyle vs. a fleeting new school year resolution. I'm super hopeful about how this affects my life, in several ways. And I plan to document them here, ideally. : )

Things that I'm starting today:

1. I'm becoming super disciplined about time in scripture and with the Lord. Quiet time, if you will. Lately, the Lord has given me a great hunger for his Word and I discovered I'm starving! Literally my soul is malnourished- no exaggeration. I find such life and satisfaction in scripture, why don't I spend more time there! I'm super grateful that the Lord has revealed this to me and given me a desire to spend time with him. This is probably one of the things I'm most excited about. I'm waking up way earlier than I would have ever imagined to guarantee time with Him. I found some really fun devotionals at Half Price Books recently and I'm planning as using those as supplements to digging into scripture. I'm currently doing a weekly study on "Living in Jesus" and a daily study on "Spiritual Gifts." Such good stuff.

2. I'm taking my waking temperature and recording it. If you don't know what that means or what its for: here.

3. I'm exercising every morning with the loverly Megan (see picture below) at the Rec! We are doing the 7:30 class Monday-Thursday and then Cycle & Body Blaster on Fridays in the afternoons. This is going to be a great way to kick start my mornings and be motivated for the rest of the day. Also, if I don't do this in the morning, it gets really difficult to fit it later into the rest of the day. This morning was a kick in the pants. You can ask Megan, I was probably the worst one in the class. This will change soon!

4. I'm taking my vitamins! Yes! Can you believe it!? My mom would be so proud. If you have to know, I'm taking Prenatal vitamins (no, we are not preggers) and a separate iron supplement.

The list may seem small and meager, but its a big deal for this one here. Obviously the regular school stuff starts today too. *Insert forced smile*

Just a quick update on all that you missed/I didn't blog about:

• my birthday was SO fun. we went to Austin for a night. Did the typical: Alamo Drafthouse, Sixth Street, live Jazz music, Chuy's with the beautiful Aunt Tammy, Botanical Gardens, and playing around in the park, with the camera.

• Will MADE me an awesome present. He is so cool. He got the idea and plans from this blog. Here is a picture of what it will look like:

It's called at puzzle bookcase because the middle pieces aren't connected. It makes it a very versatile piece. It can go flat against a wall, in a corner, or be pushed completely together if there isn't a lot a space. I will post pics when we get it painted and set up. Thanks husband!

• I got a job! Yup. While I was sitting around the apartment during my break, I got a little stir crazy. I'm now working as a personal assistant for a beautiful woman, Traci Smith. It was truly the Lord that made this happen. I'm really excited to be working with her and helping her reach her goals this year. Also, it's a great job that's super flexible while I'm in school.
• We went to camp. church camp that is. Remove all the images and ideas you have stored up in your brain about what church camp is. Get rid of kumbaya around the camp fire, a bunch of kiddos hyped up on sugar, crazy counselors & lots of drama. Say hello to awesome community, uninterrupted relational time, lots of porch swings, fun activities, worship, prayer, healing, remembering, dreaming, and more.

I have lots of thoughts and things I want to blog about. Hopefully this week I can catch this up with all the things I have going on in my head. I'm exploding with ideas, things I've read, stories I've been challenged by... life. I truly want this to be a place of growth, of development. (mostly for me, but for anybody else who decides to join me along for the ride) Soon I'll be sharing a few stories, thoughts on money and finances and some things the Lord has been stirring in me.

This blog is already waaaaay too long for me to get into all that.

But for the time being, check out the side bar to the right for some really neat stuff under Kingdom things.

update

Whelp. These past few weeks have been flying by and its about to get crazier.

This past weekend, Will's brother, Ben and his wife, Jordan came into town to visit family.

The weekend was filled with Ninfa's, pictures, multiple games of Settlers of course, good wine, breakfast at Cracker Barrel,

a photo shoot, and spending hours looking at funny Youtube videos. Ben's new favorite is double rainbow. If you like that, you have to hear the song! (even funnier!) I don't know how many times Ben and Will watched that! So sorry Jordan that you have to hear that over and over now!

This week I took some pictures for our friend, Jeff. He is graduating in about a week and needed some senior pictures. So we headed around campus and about melted in the 150 degree heat. It was really fun for me because when Jeff asked me, I was extremely nervous. like- way nervous! It has been a long time since I have played around with my camera and I was seriously doubting myself. During our time, I found myself really enjoying taking pictures and Jeff even made a comment like, "Why don't you do this more often?" I'm not sure. I gave a few bad excuses, and some legit ones... but that's not the point. I think what's been holding me back is the fact that I know soooooo many really great photogs and I just can't justify putting my pics up against them. But I think this has stifled the fun and pleasure I get from taking pictures. So, I decided that I want to be free to enjoy playing with my camera, even if I'm not really good at it. : ) Thanks Jeff for snapping me out of that mindset!

here are a few of my favorites so far:

Tomorrow I leave for Orlando, Florida to this place for the next 4 days for Ernst & Young's International Intern Conference.

Pretty much, its going to be a leadership retreat with some free time at Disney. And the best thing about it... I get paid to go! Sawweeet! I will surely miss my husband though!

Next week, I have two finals and then I will be D.O.N.E. with summer school! I'm so thankful for a break and ready to be able to tackle a list of things that I haven't been able to do since being in school. Will's work is steadily getting busier, so we are trying to use our time well before the "back to school" rush starts up. Until next time!

aubrey