First Christmas together!

Table Cloth that David's Mom gave us. Fancy setting, huh?
If you attended the wedding you'll recognize these bells. We used them to decorate the tree too!
Our first little fake tree!


Well, this is the progression of our first Christmas tree! Our wedding anniversary is Jan. 3 so this is our very first Christmas as a married couple. We've already started talking about our separate families traditions and how to properly decorate the tree, etc. Now it's time for us to come up with our own traditions! Any ideas??

Something Old Something New

First things first, despite the following pictures, David and I did NOT recently give birth to any babies! However, our friends Nathaniel and Courtney gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl, Ragan Delaney on Thursday. We have had so much fun welcoming her into the world.

As you may have noticed the title is "Something old, something new." We also got an old "new couch" which we are very excited about.(it's the larger one on the right) This couch was a couch that had been loved on for years by the family that employs me and this weekend it made it into our family. Prior to our new couch David and I were cuddling on a little love seat and our poor friends were scrounging around for seating. So, now, we can have more friends over at once and they can actually sit comfortably!










This is the new baby Ragan! David is so sweet. At one point during her brief stay at our apartment David glanced over and half excited, half concerned, said, "Oh, she's moving her feet." It seemed to concern him a little but she was just wiggling in her sleep. It was cute. David will be a great Dad one day. Doesn't he look like a natural?

our state fair is a great state fair....

Anybody recognize the "State Fair" musical reference? Well, it's difficult for me to call it "our" state fair because I don't quite feel like I can call Texas my state yet, none the less, it is a great fair. The pictures really tell the story itself. In total I consumed 1/2 funnel cake, 1 corny dog, 1 fried cookie dough ball, 1 fried butter ball, a few pieces of a fried moon pie and various other free samples around the park. I don't even get to spend a few days in a cocoon and emerge as a beautiful butterfly to show for it! We also listened to music and watched some grown men dressed up like pirates jump from ridiculous heights into 10 feet of water. All in all it was an entertaining day!




Pictured left to right: Fried cookie dough, fried moon pie, and fried butter. Fried cookie dough remains my favorite although the butter was good despite the way it sounds. They poured honey and cinnamon and sugar on it so you can't go wrong.


Interesting featured food (those prices are not dollars, they're tickets)

Our friends Nathan and Amanda joined us!

Fletcher's corny dogs get raves from the locals. We all ate one. (yes, we took in more fried food than one should in one weekend)



This is Big Tex here waving good bye until next year.

David's Latest painting

David has finished yet another great painting! This one is a gift for some dear friends who are expecting their first baby. I believe he is going to create another to go along with it, but this is his latest! Isn't he talented? It's so cute and the mom-to-be loves it!

Just a reminder to anyone tuning in on the blog, David and I do NOT have children! I happily watch these two kiddos and their older sister for my "job." They're so cute, and I like to feature them here so their mom can see the pictures too! All that said, we traveled to the Dallas Arboretum this week. This is my second year to see the Fall Pumpkin Festival. It's mainly for the kids. There is a little hay maze and tons of pumpkins. There was another great exhibit on display too. I forgot to take pictures! It was basically a display of homes from various children's literature. There was a pirate ship from Treasure Island, Hansel and Gretel's house, Alice and Wonderland House, and others. It was very creative and lots of fun. So, yippee for Fall. The weather is slightly cooler here in Dallas, we even have the windows open this morning!






Jane took these two pictures, the pumpkins, and me!

This is Sarah striking one of her "model" poses! She's so funny!

David and his girlfriends

It's true, there are other women in the life of David, myself, his mother of course and then these 2 little admirers pictured here! I had the girls over again to take advantage of the pool before it gets too cold (yes, that does happen in Texas). David was entertaining them with a few minutes of cartoons while I prepared lunch. Aren't they cute?! Notice, Sarah (on the right) is happy to be there but cannot be pulled away from the show for a good photo op. Jane seems to really adore him and is probably thrilled! Anyway, these little dears get me often but the presence of David is their real treat!

Labor Day Camping

Great way to make s'mores when there is a fire ban.



Gorman Falls



Colorado River

Natural Springs


We headed down to Colorado Bend State Park for Labor Day weekend! It took us 5 hours to get there! We thought it was going to take 2-3. Imagine our surprise when we landed there around 11:30 pm! I forgot to take pictures of us setting up but it was fun, fun...it was raining and pitch black dark. We didn't have a clue as to where we were going! We just stumbled upon a site and took it! It turned out to be a great site. We met our neighbors and ended up having a Sunday morning devotion and the Lord's Supper with them. What a great trip! The park is really beautiful. We hope to get back and explore a few more trails and kayak the river when it's a little higher.

Texas Trivia and the like

I got this email and thought it was worth posting since the title of my blog is "Deep in the Heart of Texas."

This is a must read for all born & bred Texans, used-to-be Texans, adopted Texans or wanna-be Texans,




JUST TEXAS
Pep , Texas 79353, ` Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise , Texas 76073 Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987 Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530

LOVE THE SUN
Sun City , Texas 78628 Sunrise , Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270 Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray , Texas 79086 Sunny Side , Texas 77423

WANT SOMETHIN' TA EAT?
Bacon, 76301 Noodle,79536
Oatmeal, 78605 Turkey, 79261
Trout, 75789 Sugar Land, 77479
Salty, 76567 Rice, 75155
Pearland, 77581 Orange, 77630
TOP THAT OFF WITH...
Sweetwater, 79556
WHY TRAVEL ALL OVER THE PLACE, WE GOT EM ALL RIGHT HERE IN TEXAS!
Detroit, Texas 75436 Cleveland, Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512 Denver City, Texas 79323
Klondike, Texas 75448 Nevada, Texas 75173
Memphis, Texas 79245 Miami, Texas 79059
Boston, Texas 75570 Santa Fe, Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861 Reno, Texas 75462
Pasadena, Texas 77506 Columbus, Texas 78934
FEEL LIKE TRAVELING OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY?
Athens, Texas 75751 Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613 Egypt, Texas 77436
Ireland, Texas 76538 Italy, Texas 76538
Turkey, Texas 79261 London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682 Paris, Texas 75460
Palestine, Texas 75801
NO NEED TO GO TO WASHINGTON D.C.
Whitehouse , Texas 75791
WE EVEN HAVE A CITY NAMED AFTER OUR PLANET!
Earth , Texas 79031
WE HAVE ANOTHER NAMED AFTER OUR GREAT STATE
Texas City , Texas 77590
EXHAUSTED?
Energy , Texas 76452

COLD???
Blanket , Texas 76432
Winters, Texas

READ ABOUT HISTORY
Santa Anna , Texas Goliad , Texas
Alamo , Texas Gun Barrel City , Texas
Robert Lee, Texas

OFFICE SUPPLIES
Staples, Texas 78670
GO TO OUTER SPACE
Venus , Texas 76084 Mars , Texas 79062
THE STATE LINE
Texline , Texas 79087

FOR THE KIDDOS
Kermit , Texas 79745 Elmo , Texas 75118
Nemo , Texas 76070 Tarzan , Texas 79783
Winnie , Texas 77665 Sylvester , Texas 79560

OTHER CITY NAMES TO MAKE YOU SMILE ;-)
Frognot, Texas 75424 Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Hogeye, Texas 75423 Cactus, Texas 79013
Notrees, Texas 79759 Best, Texas 76932
Veribest, Texas 76886 Kickapoo, Texas 75763
Dime Box, Texas 77853 Old Dime Box, Texas 77853
Telephone, Texas 75488 Telegraph, Texas 76883
Whiteface, Texas 79379 Twitty, Texas 79079

LAST BUT LEAST ... the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas 75662

MORE FAVORITES;
Cut n Shoot, Texas Gun Barrell City, Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,
Muleshoe, Texas
Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...

If someone at Lowe's offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas ;
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas ;
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;
If Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas ;
If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas ;
If you install security lights on your house and garage, & leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;
If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;
If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas ..

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .
1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles
3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.
5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Unfortunately it was destroyed by Hurricane Ike 2008!
6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston.
7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America .
8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .
11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ," but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island
13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43” in 24 hours between Friendswood and Alvin in July of 1979...
14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.
15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.
18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia and Austin ..
19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).
20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.
21. The name “ Texas ” comes from the Hasini Indian word ‘’tejas” meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females)
23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas :
(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.
Y'all git all that?

4 year old fun

Jane and Sarah came to my apartment today. So much fun can be had with a hole puncher and some scissors. I realize I have not shown the girls in a while. They are 4 now! In the first pictures on my blog they are only 2! Big sister Emma is not here today, but she is 7!

That is the new stadium behind me, Paul McCartney is there somewhere!

This is David getting ready to throw the first pitch!

What are the odds? David's pool cleaning company scheduled their company outing baseball game on the same night as the Paul McCartney concert next door at the new Texas Stadium for the Cowboys!!! I knew there was a concert coming up and I even thought about trying to buy tickets and then I completely forgot. Never mind that I might not have been able to afford them anyway. The principal of the matter is that I was at the Ranger's game and Sir Paul was right next door. I feel confident that it is the closest to my Beatles idol that I will ever get! Despite my dismay, and the fact that the Rangers lost, it was a good game and we had fun.

Summer fun in Texas

David's parent's place

Well, this will wrap up the official catch up posts for now. A few weeks ago we visited David's parents who live in Kerrville, Texas in the hill country. Kerrville is not far from San Antonio so David and I enjoyed seeing his family and traveling down to San Antonio. We visited 3 of the missions, including the Alamo that are in San Antonio. We ate all kinds of Mexican food and spent the afternoon on the river walk! Otherwise, we had a relaxing time with his folks! This trip basically marks the end of our summer and we are gearing up for classes to start next week!

David has at least 2 more years to finish up his masters in theology. I plan to graduate next summer with a masters in counseling. Pray for us as the semester starts! It's going to be a busy one for us. David will be tackling both Hebrew and Greek and I'll be doing classes and an internship. Stay tuned, I'm really going to try to keep up on this thing!