We're Back!

We just got back yesterday from an almost two week vacation. We went to San Antonio for the 4th of July to celebrate with our families. Then on the 6th, we left with Evan's family to go on a cruise to Alaska. We got back from the cruise on the 13th, spent a few more days in San Antonio, and then came back to Houston. We brought back my sister Lisa with us and she will be staying with us for a little over two weeks. We are keeping her while my parents are going to Alaska for a belated anniversary celebration. We have a lot of fun activities planned for while she is here including going to an Astros game, hopefully going to a Dynamo game, lots of cooking and baking, maybe some sewing, practicing driving (she just got her driver's permit), and going shopping. Her is a picture from when she graduated high school back at the beginning of June.



We are really proud of her and excited that she is here in Houston with us for the next two weeks!

Cousin's Reunion 2008

This past weekend I attended the Espy Cousin's Reunion with my sweet mother-in-law Judy and sister-in-law Page. My niece and nephew Elizabeth and James also went with us. Evan's mom's side of the family gets together every year for what they call the Cousin's Reunion. Originally it started out when Judy was a teenager when her mother and all of her first cousins and their kids (the girls) would get together during the summer in West Texas. It has carried on for over 40 years now and is a family tradition that has grown to include all of the children and grandchildren of Judy and her cousins. I started attending the reunions once Evan and I were engaged. I come from a big family so I enjoy getting to meet and continually learn about this very loving extended family of mine.

While men are welcome, and some regularly attend, they are always outnumbered by the female members of the family. Evan, Dave (Page's husband), and John (my father-in-law) all stayed in San Antonio and hung out this time but they usually attend when it is our group's turn to host the reunion. We hosted in 2005 and should be up again in 2010. This year it was in beautiful Fredericksburg, TX and the attendance was great! While not everyone stayed for the entire weekend, there were about 60 or so people that made it to the reunion over the weekend. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

James amused himself with the air-conditioner in our hotel room for about 20 minutes.



Susie (left) and Elizabeth (right) played with Elizabeth's Littlest Pet Shop toys. Susie and Elizabeth are second cousins but Susie is Evan and Page's first cousin once removed. This was a huge step for Elizabeth who has been VERY shy in the past :)



From left: Elizabeth, Page, Judy, James, and me in our coordinated outfits that Judy made for us. Aren't we cute?!?!



Marietta is the last "original" Espy cousin that still attends the reunion. We had a surprise birthday celebration for here because she celebrates her 94th birthday this week.



These are all of the women from Judy's generation that attended the reunion this year (minus one or two that had left before Saturday night). They have all been so welcoming of me and I look forward to seeing them each year.

Me and Caroline

Here is a picture of me and Caroline from last week that Kim sent me....I love it! Kim, thank you for the pictures. You can also see my new glasses and haircut in the picture.

Lunch Date

Today I got to eat lunch with my best friend Kim and her sweet daughter Caroline. Caroline is only four weeks old! Check them out at their blog, One Moore Day. I have been wanting to go over and take them lunch for a while now but they have had so many people loving on them lately that I didn't want to overwhelm them with another visitor. It was such a pleasant surprise last night when Kim and I both realized that it would work for me to come over today. I had so much fun seeing them both and getting to catch up with Kim. I am really excited about getting to hang out with them both more in the future since I am not working.

Greater Things Are Yet to Come...

Yesterday (Wednesday) I volunteered at KSBJ's Share-a-thon (http://www.ksbj.org/sharathon/index.php) by answering phones and entering pledges to the system. It was a blast and I highly recommend it to anyone. I only wish I could have done again today. It was so encouraging to hear people's stories and how God was working in their lives. I was truly blessed by being there. Not to mention that the "theme" song for the pledge drive is the theme song for my life right now. The song is "God of This City" sung by Chris Tomlin. They played it yesterday during my volunteer shift and I just started bawling. I was just overwhelmed with the truth that God is the biggest most powerful force in the universe and He desires to use us to carry out His will, if we will only surrender to Him. I have truly been blessed recently by surrendering my plans to God by deciding not to teach next year. Not only did Evan ask me to do so, but God made it VERY clear to me that I was not to go back. I didn't understand it and I fought it for awhile. After I gave in (I decided I wasn't going to go back over Christmas break) it got harder before it got easier. What made it difficult was my pride. I had to get over myself and my plans. God was so faithful, and by the end of January, had really given me a peace about my decision and helped me enjoy the rest of the year. He encouraged me all semester by reminding me that greater things were in store for me. I was often frustrated not knowing what those things were, but He kept reminding me that he hadn't forgotten about me and that he had big plans for me. Honestly, He has not revealed all He has in store for me yet but so far He has kept His promise to me and I know He will continue to do so. I know there will also be bumps in the road along the way but that it is all to draw me closer to Him and that if I can focus on the big picture, greater things are surely to come. Check out the cool video on The Wallace's  blog that is set to the Chris Tomlin song.

Tidbits from earlier this week

Monday I got my new glasses! I was nervous when I went to pick them up because I kind of picked them out when my eyes were dilated and I couldn't really see. Not only that, but I obviously didn't have my contacts in (because of my eyes being dilated) and so I wouldn't have been able to see very well even if my eyes were not dilated. If you wear glasses I am sure you can relate to this issue when it comes to picking out new glasses. There really is no way around it because they can't temporarily change all of the glasses in the store to have your perscription in them so you can actually see yourself in the mirror when you put them on. The easiest way around it is to wear your contacts but I didn't have this option. This was only complicated further by the fact that I am giving up on wearing my contacts all together. I have VERY dry eyes and I cannot wear my contacts comfortably for more than a couple of hours. Therefore, I really wanted to make sure I picked the right glasses because I was going to be wearing them all the time. It turns out that I really like them and am kind of impressed seeing as I couldn't see when I selected them. The only problem was that they were too tight when I first got them. I didn't have time to go get them adjusted this week because of being so busy so I tried doing it myself. Now they are not only too loose but they are crooked. I will post pictures next week after I get them adjusted by the pros.

Tuesday I got my haircut. I am getting used to it. I like it but it is just a little different than what I expected. The only part I am not sure about is the back (it is cut pretty short) but Evan has been reassuring me that it looks great :) Thanks babe!

Tuesday we also had our small group Bible study. Claire and Roy hosted it for the first time and it was great! The food was wonderful (Claire if you are reading this....I need to get the recipe from you for the chicken and the Hawaiian sweet potatoes) and we had a lot of fun. I think we all are looking forward to meeting at their house again sometime soon.

Happy 23rd Birthday Eric!

My brother Eric's birthday was on Friday and my parents and sister came in town to celebrate. It was a lot of fun! Saturday afternoon we went to St. Arnold's Brewery (http://www.saintarnold.com/) for their tour and beer tasting. Evan and I have been numerous times with friends and have even taken my in-laws but we had not yet taken my family. One of the first times Evan and I went we knew we would eventually have to take my Dad and brother because they would get a big kick out of it. We picked up lunch at Antone's (http://www.antoneshouston.com/menu.htm) which is one of our favorite sandwich shops and met my family there. Here is a picture of us all tasting their different beers and their excellent, but really sweet, root-beer. 

(From front left to back left: Evan, Kim (my brother's fiancee), and Eric (my brother). From back right to front right: Dad, Mom, and Lisa (my sister))

That night, we went to Murder by Chocolate for dinner down in Kemah. It is a comedy/murder mystery that takes place in a dinner theatre atmosphere. None of us had ever been but Eric and Kim have been wanting to go for some time now and we figured it would be a good time if we all went. It was A LOT of fun! Going as a big group is definitely what made it. All the roles were assigned at random by the emcee of the show and I thought he did an excellent job with the casting. You didn't have to memorize any lines but it was still a lot of reading and "acting" in-front of complete strangers. My Dad, brother, and sister all had major roles in the play and they all did a great job! Here are some pictures:



Dad as Mo Jo the Medicine Man



Dad rehearsing his lines as Mo Jo the Medicine Man



Mo Jo the Medicine Man is shot by another character!



Eric, the birthday boy, as Sting Key the rock star



Lisa as Ivonna Tip, the head waitress describing a clue she found.