My Friend Rachel

It’s been sooo long since I last posted, I’m not even sure where to start. Life has been crazy busy—but I am not complaining. Busy is always better than bored in my book. So, I have some good news and bad news…and doesn’t everyone want to start off with bad news? So here goes. At the end of March, my friend Rachel found a mass on her jaw. It was the strangest thing because (turns out) it had been there for over a year and it didn’t cause her any pain. After several weeks of tests, the doctors decided to go ahead and do surgery to try to remove it. After about 8 hours in surgery, they could only remove 90% of it because it was entangled with her facial nerves, which, if cut, could leave her face paralyzed. We made a quick Friday day trip to see Rach and she looked amazing!!!!! We could not stop talking about how great she looked after surgery. What a trooper!

                            

So fast forward a few weeks after several trips to doctors in Abilene and Houston, Rachel got the results that the mass on her jaw was a malignant tumor. The type of cancer she has is a very long complicated word, but we like to refer to it as weird cheek cancer. The doctors at MD Anderson decided that the best plan of action was to do another surgery to remove the remaining tumor, followed by 8 weeks of radiation in Houston. Now, here is where the whole plan gets a little tricky. Rachel and her fiancé Wayne were planning to get married at the beginning of August…which would prove to be a little bit tricky in the middle of radiation treatment. So, why put off a good thing, right? Waynechel decided to move the wedding up to June 3^rd…About 3 weeks after she got the treatment plan. Those few weeks were CrAzy—complete with frantic planning, crying, adjusting, phone calls and mass emails (both wedding & cancer related).

You see, having a 23-year-old friend with cancer is a tricky, tricky thing. Obviously, no one would choose this path for themselves or someone they love, so it is a hard pill to swallow. Cancer is just a heavy word that leaves a pretty nasty taste in your mouth (no pun intended). These last few weeks/months haven’t been easy for Rachel, Wayne or their families, but I honestly can’t think of a person with a stronger drive and support system to face something like this. I am SO thankful that Rachel has Wayne to stand by her side (as her husband, no less!) through all of the weeks of horrible-ness to come. It is just another testament to God’s perfect timing. We are all confident that Rachel is going to pull through this battle cancer-free, and it will just add to the powerful testimony she will be able to share with people one day.

So, the wedding I mentioned earlier… it was pretty much the best weekend ever. Rachel and Wayne’s wedding was on Sunday, June 3^rd, and that blog post is definitely on its way.

Please keep Rachel in your prayers over the next few weeks as she will be living in Abilene and Houston, undergoing radiation, and trying to soak up time as a newlywed with her sweet new husband (husband!!!!).  

Bryan & Jill Officially Become Brill

Last weekend, my friends and I headed out to Waxahachie for the highly anticipated wedding of our friends Bryan and Jill. Bryan and I became friends during our senior year of college, and I met Jill when she moved to Abilene last year. It has been so fun to be able to see them transition from dating to being engaged to now being newlyweds! We had such a fun weekend celebrating our sweet friends!

Of course we took a picture in our sunglasses in honor of the groom!

Congratulations little lovebirds! So happy for you guys!

March Madness

I can not believe how quickly March flew by! Can I get an amen?!

March has been a busy month, full of lots of birthdays and weddings! But my excitement really started on February 29th when I found myself riding home in THIS!

Yep, I got a new car. Isn't she beautiful?! I felt like I was breaking about 100 rules driving her off the lot. Am I really old enough to buy a new car?! Anyway, she is a 2012 Jetta SEL which basically just means she is smarter than I am. Awesome. I love her! Ashley has appropriately named her Katniss, which I fully support.

I started off the month of March by celebrating the birthday of one of my favorite people, Miss Emily Caldwell!

Such an occasion definitely called for the Happy Birthday banner :)

I also spent a lot of time in Fort Worth helping my cousin plan her wedding! She was married on March 18th, but unfortunately, I did not take any pictures! I did, however, manage to get a picture with my favorite little 2-year-old!

My boss was a judge in the Texas Wedding Guide Cake Competition this year, so I dragged my roommate Emily along with me to check out the best cakes in Dallas. It was SO much fun to see the elaborate cakes, not to mention, taste them all! I think Em and I could get used to eating wedding cake for dinner!

This is the cake that won. AMAZING!

During the weekend of my cousin's wedding, I also had 2 OTHER weddings for work. 3 weddings in 3 days. Crazy!! But my sweet mom came to town a day early to help me organize my room/life and do all my laundry. She is such an angel on this earth. We both took of work on Monday and spent the day being lazy and did a little shopping. Such a fun weekend!

One night, I met up with my bestie Amanda and her little sister Holly who was on Spring Break and came to Dal for a visit. It was so nice to catch up with my favorite sisters at one of my favorite Dallas places, Sfuzzi's!

One of the most exciting things that has happened recently was definitely the premiere The Hunger Games! A few weeks ago, Ashley and I bought our tickets for the midnight premiere and I have been SO excited. I was never on the Harry Potter or Twilight bandwagon, so this was the first big movie I have been excited about. It was SOOOOO GOOD! I absolutely loved it. Ash and I even got matching Hunger Games cups at the theater with about 140 13 year olds. Incredible.

And of course, what would March be without a little March Madness bracket challenge with the old man?! My dad and I always make brakets for the men's and women's NCAA tournaments and this year we actually bet on something. The men's bracket loser has to make a weekend trip to see the winner and the women's bracket loser has to purchase something for the winner with a $50! I was banking on winning both brackets, obvi, but now my chances are a little slim.

Come on KANSAS and MARYLAND!! :)

Sing Song 2012

I realize I am about a month and a half late on this post...BUT Caldy finally found her camera with all the Sing Song pictures, so I feel now is an appropriate time to write about my first experience at Sing Song as an alum.

Here's some quick background knowledge: Sing Song is totally a small private school Church of Christ thing. I know. Basically, groups of men, women or co-eds put on a 3 1/2 minute show dressed as something ridiculous, singing in 4-8 part harmony, and moving only their upper body. They usually practice for about 6 weeks, and it is the best and worst time of your life.

Because Sing Song is such a big deal when you are in school, it is one of the most anticipated events at ACU. Tons of alumni come back to watch the show, and it is so much fun to be able to see so many old friends. We had a great weekend of catching up with old friends and, of course, cheering on our favorite Siggies!

When I was in school, I was absolutely obsessed with Sing Song. Seriously. I would spend months with my friends brainstorming ideas and story lines, writing lyrics, painting props, sewing costumes, delivering props, staying up all night making the director's costume... whatever it took. It is so hard to explain how much I loved Sing Song, but it wasn't the actual performances I loved so much (don't get me wrong, those were great too!) It was the bonding experience that took place between my closest friends and between those I didn't know very well. Let me tell you, it is a humbling experience to lose when you perform a show you believe in 100%... and it happened to me twice.

Watching those girls this year was no different! Siggies were fireworks. They started out as little TNT dynamites and turned into little explosives while they were singing Firework by Katy Perry. Yes. They were AMAZING!! You could tell they put their heart and souls into their performance, and win or lose, they knew they did an incredible job. They ended up getting 2nd, but I don't even think that mattered to them, because, even though you hear it a bajillion times, it really isn't about winning. I was so so proud of all my little fireworks!!

(Watch the video HERE)

I'm already looking forward to Sing Song 2013!! I wasn't kidding when I said I was obsessed.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is a special day to me. Just a few years ago (you're welcome, Mom, for not saying how many) my sweet mom was born on this day. And, boy am I thankful she was.

My mom is great. Seriously great. She is the most loving, hard-working, supportive, loyal and honest person that I know. I want to be like her in so many ways. She has provided me with everything that I have ever needed. And when money couldn't buy it, she was a shoulder to cry on, or someone to laugh so hard you cry with.

When I was growing up, sometimes I would get a little depressed about not having any brothers or sisters. You know, every kid wants someone to play with, tell secrets with etc. Now, looking back, I am so glad I didn't! Because that meant my mom was mine. ALL mine. She played with me, listened to my secrets, pulled jokes on me, drove me crazy and became my very best friend.

I love so many things about my mom. I love the way she can fall asleep anywhere at anytime. I love how, even on her most stressful days, she can take time to talk to me on the phone. I love the way she loves my dad so many years later. I love how she takes spontaneous trips. I love how she takes leaps of faith and blindly follows the Lord's direction. I love the way she thinks I am hilarious. I love how great of a friend she is to her friends. I love how she has always been supportive of my dreams and goals (even when those included becoming a worldwide singing sensation). Most of all, I love the way she loves the Lord with her whole heart.

I LOVE YOU MOM! So thankful God gave us each other. Hope your birthday is the best one yet!

Movie Theater Marathon

You guys. I have been so excited to post about this.

Every year, my mom and I say we want to watch every movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscar's. Every year comes and goes, and we are lucky if we have seen one of the movies. Pathetic. This year, we decided it was they year! So, a few weekends ago, I went home for the weekend and my parents had the whole weekend planned.

We had an itinerary. Every minute by minute planned. 3 movies the first day in Lawton and Wichita Falls. 4 movies the second day in Oklahoma City and Lawton. Popcorn, pickles, candy, and lots of diet coke added to the mix made for one of the BEST weekends I have ever had. Here is the recap:

We started the weekend off with Ides of March on Pay Per View. I really liked it! I mean, I could have done without the cussing every other word, but I still enjoyed it.

Then, we packed up and headed to Wichita Falls to see Iron Lady. The movie wasn't my favorite in the world, but the story was super interesting and Meryl Streep was excellent.

When we got home, my dad and I stayed up and watched Moneyball. It was a little slow, but the movie, overall, was pretty good. I can get on board with any movie with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. (Also, it was so late, we forgot to take a picture)

The next morning, my mom and I woke up early and went to OKC to see Descendants. It was definitely my favorite movie of the weekend. It was very sweet, but funny and George Clooney was surprisingly great in it. I would definitely see it again.

The next movie was The Artist. The fact that my mom and I saw a silent movie was just hysterical. The movie was actually really good. Great, actually. I really enjoyed it and could easily follow the storyline. Definitely a good pick.

Even though this movie isn't nominated for an Oscar (although, they should really reconsider..) we squeezed in time to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. This is seriously one of my favorite Disney movies ever!! And it was even better in 3D. Loved it.

To end our movie marathon, we saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I LOVE TOM HANKS. And if someone could have told me he was in the move for about 53 seconds, I wouldn't have had to waste my time seeing it. Not my fav. By far.

THAT'S IT! 7 movies in 2 days. That has to be some kind of record. I can definitely cross movie theater marathon off my bucket list. And my dad even won me a little blue teddy bear from one of the claw machines. Such a perfect keepsake.

Now, I still have 3 movies to see to see all the Best Picture nominated movies! Stay tuned...

Obsessing

I spent most of my days on the computer. Looking at emails, websites, blogs etc. And inevitably, find things that are 1. WAY out of my price range 2. Something I could never pull off. I found this bangle from Kate Spade that I am seriously loving. If it was about $80 cheaper, it would be possession.

Something else I am loving? Law and Order SVU. Why has this show just entered my life? My roommate is obsessed with SVU, so whenever there is a late night marathon, it is on our tv. And I am not complaining one bit. In my next life, I will be Olivia Benson.

Last week, some of our sweet wedding planner friends sent us a special treat at work. If you haven't had Tiff's Treats, you HAVE to try them. They deliver warm cookies (and I mean straight from the oven warm) anywhere in Dallas. And they even have cold milk. What is better than that? It was such a special surprise, and I will definitely be using them in the future.

Hope all my obsessions make you as happy as they make me. Happy Wednesday!