Seasons.

Perspective is such an interesting concept. It's so funny how life is so overwhelming at times, yet you look back at previous "overwhelming" moments, and they didn't seem so awful at all! Life is not awful for the Loopers right now, by any means, thankfully. BUSY would be a better word to describe this season in our lives...
 I'm a few weeks away from finishing my 1st year (18 more months and counting) in the Nursing program, and Roddy is in hot pursuit of a career as a Police Officer. We are both still working- me in the ER / baking some cakes here & there, and Rod at Old Navy, working for our landlord's construction company and doing D-Now's sporadically. Between the school, work, family, church functions and our crazy dog....Somehow, we make it work.
 I have always said that we never really had a "honeymoon phase" in our marriage, simply because we had been dating for 4 years before we were even engaged- which is plenty long enough to surpass the "enfatuation" that comes with a new relationship. However, now that we've been married a bit over a year now, I can appreciate those first few months we had of JUST. BEING. MARRIED. I specifically remember a day shortly after returning from our honeymoon cruise where we stayed up super late (or early) taking our time to unpack our tiny, new apartment "home." School hadn't started yet, neither one of us had found jobs yet, and we had absolutely no responsibilities. SUCH SWEET TIMES! We finally went to bed around 2 or 3am, slept well into the next afternoon, and literally just watched cartoons and ate in bed for the rest of the day! I had no clue how special those days were until I look back wishing we could have some more days like that!
I know each day is special, and I will try to appreciate each day knowing that someday I will probably look back to now and wish I could be here again. Perspective... Seasons... Change... Isn't life funny?

Oh Dear...

Dear school, please give me a break. Dear work, why am I here so often? Dear dog, please stop pooping in my floor. Dear friends, bear with me. Dear food, cook yourself. Dear Mom, I can't wait to see you. Dear Dad, I really miss you. Dear excersize, we haven't met in awhile- but im afriad you'll have to wait. Dear brother, I love you more than you know. Dear unborn children, I wish I didn't have to wait so long to meet you. Dear head, please stop pounding. Dear husband, FIGURE IT OUT. Dear sleep, I seem to be losing you lately. Dear laundry, can't you wash yourselves? Dear time, I feel that I dont get enough of you. Dear God, give me the strength I need to be the woman you've called me to be - Proverbs 31.

Extreme Couponing!

This is my first week of  "extreme couponing".. success!... I think. I really have nothing to compare it to yet- but I'm going to keep trying!
Roddy and I spent over 2 hours in walmart, had probably close to 50 coupons, and spent about 30 minutes checking out just our buggy!
These are the items that I got for FREE:

Some of these items I actually MADE a few cents on! CRAZY!

These are all the non-food items:

All of this, PLUS TWO WEEKS worth of groceries, all for $200. ;)

I was also proud of my 2ft. long receipt! HA! The walmart lady hated me.

BEACH WEEK

Being involved in the church, Roddy and I got the opportunity to be "adult sponsors" for the FBC youth camp- convienently, the camp was in South Padre, TX! Roddy was asked to play in the band and help to lead the worship- which he was SO excited about. It started off a bit rocky as Roddy had a role to play and not knowing hardly anyone, I wasn't sure where I fit in! However, as the week continued we both loosened up and had a blast.
We left at 8pm on a Sunday and drove the 14 hours to our destination. Whoever said you could get a decent night's sleep on a charter bus was WRONG! It was a long drive to say to least. BUT, it was so refreshing to spend a week deep in the Word and in worship, and better yet- on the BEACH!
The Sr. High group (including Roddy and I) got to stay at the La Quinta right on the beach, which just happened to be the same hotel my family (and Roddy) stayed in last March. It was also the same beach that Roddy proposed at! I can't count how many times Roddy told his proposal story- to everyone- whether or not they had heard it before! We identifyed the room that we all stayed in, the place on the beach where it all went down, where we took our engagement pictures and even the hallway in the hotel where we called all of our friends! It was such a sweet time to remeniss! Such sweet memories!
Overall I believe there were 27 salvation decisions and many many more other decisions for the Lord! I was personally so convicted about how I tend to blend in- especially at work- when there is such a huge ministry opportunity with both the staff and all the patients that come through the ER on a daily basis! I've been praying about how I can be Jesus to the people I come in contact with. Roddy confirmed with me a few days after returning from camp that he knew he was called to ministry- which I had complete peace about! I'm so excited to see how the Lord uses him.

Rookie's Cubby!

This is PERFECT for when we're not home, one baby gate and he's good to go!

Dining Room

This is another room I love, with my new table! :)

I love the bar and the coffee corner ;)

Bathroom

This is probably one of my favorite rooms in the house!! There are a few things our landlord is planning to do (new vanity), but I still love it!

The bathtub is my FAVORITE!

I need a daily reminder in front of the mirror that HE made me beautiful!

Master Bedroom

On to the second room in the house, the Master Bedroom. As of now, there is only one closet in the whole house (hall closet), so we are closetless in our bedroom! However, that is one of the things on the remodeling list- soon to come!

Fondue Partay/Spontaneous Cake Decorating

I hosted a fondue party for the girls that I scribe with, and had so much fun! Every one brought something yummy and with only 6 girls we could have fed an army! (Nothing healthy, ofcourse).

OUR FOOD!


These girls are SO sweet- I'm so thankful I work with them!

Me, Kasi & Melissa

Brittany & Brandy

Melanie & Melissa

 

After we were stuffed full of all the chocolate we could handle, we spontaneously decided to make/decorate a cake for one of the nurses that were leaving the ER. At 9:30pm, we headed to Walmart to get supplies and got to baking!





Brittany & Brandy getting out the fondant



Brandy was being a bit too generous with the upper body...





Kasi mixing the purple fondue



The finished product!

She loved her cake, and we finally got home around 1am!

Rangers :)

Ok, so you know I've been cooped up in Wichita Falls TOO LONG when I get excited about going to see the Rangers play- but it was fun! We've become good friends with a couple that has a lot in common with us, and a mutual church friend gave all four of us their season pass to sit in the Lexus Club Deck! It was quite fun. I think we all got a little too much sun, but then again, it is summer time in Texas!

Zach and Brandy

Our View from the Lexus Club!

Me and my Love!

T-Shirt Surgery

I began a project today, and finished it in only a few hours! We have plans to go to a Ranger's game and I couldn't go without a shirt! HOWEVER, all Academy had was a men's small...which was still way too big! So I decided to do some T-Shirt Surgery and turn it into a tank top!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

AND, I had a sleeve left over, which I made into a shirt for Rookie! How AWESOME is this?? :

FBC!

We were so blessed to get plugged into a church almost immediately after moving, and fell in love with FBC! The church itself is MASSIVE, and the worship experience is absolutely amazing, yet they have "LIFE groups" which are small, so that you can still meet people in the same stage of life with you.
Roddy made friends with the contemporary worship leader, who is only in his late 20's (married only one week before us). Shortly after he was invited to join the praise band- which he was SO excited about. I know God definitely has a place for him leading worship somewhere and I'm excited to see where it takes us!
It is so funny, after a few Sundays of Roddy playing with the band, I noticed that Roddy was the only one wearing jeans and cowboy boots. At Chambers Creek, he would be right at home, but in this "modern" church he looked a bit out of place! The rest of the crowd was decked out in v-necks, cardigans and converse! We had a good laugh, then went shopping. He fits in quite nicely now! :)
Anyway, we have met some really great friends through the band and have a ridiculous amount of things in common! He has been playing for about 2 months now, enjoying each Sunday more than the last! I am so thankful that he is getting to do what he LOVES and I pray that the Lord provides a way for him to continue!

This is Roddy on stage with the band, the pictures are bad quality because we actually took them on TV! FBC replays the videos of the service on Saturday nights :)

Roddy upclose in his new outfit!

How cute is HE?

Rookie's First Groom

Rookie had his first "big boy" grooming today! He was getting ridiculously shaggy:

The groomers at Petsmart said he was QUITE the handful, but by far the favorite of the day. They had to leave the face and tail longer than they usually would, because he wouldn't hold still! The lady told me it was a miracle they didn't trim one of his legs off! This is Rookie after his cut:

I hope it was worth it for $38.00!! Thats more than I pay for my hair for SURE!

To You, Mom!

This past Sunday was Mothers Day, one of my favorites honoring one of my FAVORITE persons! It was a bummer that Roddy had to work that weekend, but I had to drive down for atleast ONE night ;) We, along with my brother's girlfriend Carly took a day to shop the Grapevine Mills Mall. It just seems natural with it being one of our favorite places! I'm SO GLAD we did- we had a GREAT time.

Outlet Malls + "Just us Girls" = SUPER FUN DAY!

Mom is the best, and I'm reminded each day I get to call her up for a random funny story or get to drive all the way home just to spend the afternoon with her that I am SO BLESSED. How lucky am I to have a mother, roll model, travel agent and BEST FRIEND wrapped up into one beautiful package!

LOVE YOU, MOM.









How cute are we in our matching BEACH dresses??





"Somewhere I can paint!"

We spent the first 8 months of our marriage in a 500 sq ft, one bed room apartment on campus, but the more time passed, the smaller it got! I am so thankful we were able to officially move in on our wedding night on such short notice- (we were only engaged a little over 4 months) and it was exactly what we needed at the time!
The white(ish) walls drove me CRAZY and I couldn't wait until we were able to move somewhere I could PAINT! I was also struggling quite a bit not having something to "take care of" (no pets allowed on campus). Among these factors, I decided that a two bedroom would be nice so that Roddy could have a "man-cave" room and play his xbox as loud as he wanted.
We started looking and FINALLY found a really cute house only a few miles from campus. It needed a lot of work, but the landlord was willing to take $ off of our rent each month in exchange for work done on the house. YAY! It is a 1200sq ft, 2 bedroom house with lots of room for our little family of 3. (No freaking out, I'm referring to Rookie) We get to paint and make a lot of the decisions, which is a MAJOR plus!

We are currently in the process of painting, and it definitely serves a stress outlet.... pictures to come!

Living Room

Ok, so to make this easier, I'm just going to break down the pictures into separate rooms, starting with the Living Room!



From the hall way looking at the front door



We JUST finished painting, which surprisingly only took a few hours. We have definitely discovered there is a major difference in paint quality- you get what you  pay for!

Walmart Brand= $14.95 (VERY frustrating)

Kelly Moore Brand= $38.95 (WAY awesome)

I think the only thing left to do in the Living Room is to find curtains! The walls are a very light beige, and I have done solid white curtains in all the other rooms- kinda wanted something a little different in this room. I'm thinking a pattern of some kind that has a bit of the beige in it, and definitely long panels.



Our lovely free couch (thanks, babe.)





This is the only decor so far, my crosses!



View from the front door.

I'm getting quite frustrated trying to align these pictures! But, you get the idea. :)

Joining the Blogging World

I have officially joined the blogging community, thanks to my good friend Katie Beth! Being able to keep up with her family via blog is so nice, especially when life is as busy as it is.

We have been married for a little over 9 months now, and still can't believe that time is passing so quickly!

Roddy is finishing up his second semester of nursing school at MSU, and I my first. We are both full time students, working and balancing family life on top! Roddy is still working at Old Navy and I am still loving my job as a scribe in the ER.



He Looks so good in his uniform!



We just recently adopted a new member into the family in March- which REALLY calmed the "baby fever". He is a maltese and currently at 4 months, he only weighs 3 lbs, and shouldn't get much bigger! His name is "Rookie", considering my husbands love for baseball AND the fact that every child born into the Looper family has an "R" name. I figured this was a good compromise.