Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today was an AMAZING day for a couple of reasons. Weather-wise....it was perfect. I mean, absolutely perfect. The past few Saturdays I've been taking a class at the gym, but the weather was so great that I just had to trade that class in for a run. I even found some new trails that *almost* reminded me of some in Colorado. I loved it.

But, more importantly....
Today is my Dad's 51st birthday! I am so blessed to have a wonderful dad who loves me through and through. There are times when we drive each other crazy...but I think it's because we are so much alike. We both have curly hair, "Shuler calves", quick wits, smart mouths, a love of history, and sooo much more.
So, to celebrate this occasion, we went to Gateway church (they even sang my all-time favorite Hillsong United song--"Where the Love Lasts Forever"). We then ate at P.F. Chang's. It was yummy! I also made him a special cake from scratch--what a great daughter I am...haha

Here's a picture of my Dad and me...
....and here's one of him with my mom. I love my parents!!!

water, water everywhere

My friend, Claire, and I are planning to do a detox after Easter. Last night, we decided to ease into the whole thing by immediately cutting out soft drinks. Claire likes the regular stuff and I am absolutely addicted to diet drinks. It's sad how much aspartame I drink everyday. So, today marked the first day of our "Mission H2O". I drank a whole Nalgene full of water today at school and one when I got home. Yea!!! This is a small victory, but it's kind of a big deal when your students ask where your diet soda is. Like I said...I was addicted to the point that my typically oblivious 8th graders noticed the absence of an aluminum can on my desk.

I am so excited to do this with Claire. She is one of my favorite new friends and I am glad we have each other to keep accountable.

So... here's a tribute to 3 of my 4 Nalgene bottles that are now my best friends....

maiden voyage into the blogosphere...

Well, here I am. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while that was a little more quiet and discreet than Myspace. My hope is to use this space to just share a little bit of my life...the deep stuff, and the fun, silly stuff (: I'm not sure how to officially 'start' a blog. I suppose I could start out with something profound. Or, I could try to find some cute pictures to post. But not tonight.

Here is where I'm at in a nutshell. God has blessed me tremendously even though I don't deserve it. His faithfulness continues to amaze me. I have a wonderful family, incredible friends, a job that I enjoy (most of the time), a great church, and even a new house . Life is good....and not because of this 'stuff'. It's because after being a believer for most of my life, I have finally realized how incredibly broken I am. He is showing me that the more that we seek Him, the more He pulls back the layers of our hearts to expose what's really there. And a lot of the time, it's not very pretty. But..."He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry, and filled with unfailing love." (psalm 145:8) These past two years have been full of the highest highs and the lowest-lows. But through it all, Jesus has shown me time and time again that he is more than enough. My prayer is that this new-found contentment will never turn into complacency. I never want to lose my hunger for the things of God, for His Word, and for His truth. And I never want to stop being thankful for my life and God's goodness.

On a lighter note, I talked to one of my bestest friends Rebekah tonight all the way from Australia. She is new bride of less than two weeks and I'm so grateful for her friendship. Rebekah is an amazing friend who always laughs at my jokes, encourages me when I need it most, and Jared (her new husband) is very lucky to have her. Here is a picture of Mindy, Trait, Rebekah, and me from a couple of years ago at the Brady Goat Festival. Yes, you read that correctly. A festival celebrating goats. Oh, Texas....