3 years!

We celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss yesterday! It's hard to believe just how quickly time passes by...it feels like just yesterday that I was a love-sick 15 year old ;-)

(I know I'll probably be saying that when we celebrate 10, 20 & 50 years, too)

July 5, 2008 - one of my HAPPIEST days!

I have to say, last year brought us a whole lot of crazy!

Nothing we couldn't handle with the help of our Father, though.

I graduated from HSU.

We sold our first 'together' home and bought a new home in December that we hoped to grow into. Growing turned out to be more of a struggle than we could have imagined, unfortunately, and we're still praying for our family!

Then (in April?) we made the decision to make a move to Temple, TX.

Wow! Talk about CRAZY! We did some house-hunting and found yet another home.

3 houses in 3 years? Let's not keep that tradition alive, babe ;)

We closed on the sale of our house in Abilene, packed up the truck and headed east!

And here we are today...settled in our new home of Temple and adjusting to life away from everything we know. It's exciting! I know this is going to be great for us, and there isn't anyone else I'd rather be on this adventure with! Thank you for being YOU! I love you so much, and I'm looking forward to many, many more years of happiness with YOU!

our new, NEW home...

This summer, Rob and I will be married for THREE years, and we are making the move to our THIRD 'together' home. It seems slightly crazy, and maybe it is, but this is our life. Wouldn't have it any other way. I knew when I married a coach that nothing would be permanent, and we are about to embark on our first move for the love of the game. There's something very exciting about a new adventure, in a new town, with new people. We'll really be clinging to each other as we won't have our families right there with us. They will be there in spirit and probably will be visiting often, but I won't be able to just go to my parents' house when Rob's working late into the night. We'll find our "new normal," and I know my friends will carry me through football season! They always do.

So our first house: "The Jackson House" is how we refer to it now. I bought this sweet little house at the age of 19 and lived in it alone for over a year until Rob and I married. I LOVED that house. Just an adorable 2 bed, 1 bath, tiny home. But I was so PROUD of it. We have a lot of great memories in this home. It was the first home I lived in away from my parents, Rob proposed to me in the kitchen of this house, and we lived there for the first 2 & a half years of our married lives. I'll always think of it fondly, and I just know we'll drive our kids by this house in the future and say, "this was your parents' first home!" And they'll probably act like they don't care, while my eyes will be filling up with tears as I think of all the happy times and love held inside those walls.

Last fall, we decided we needed a little more space, so we started house hunting. Nothing serious, as we didn't NEED to move...we just WANTED to. We figured we'd be starting a family any day (still praying without ceasing for that) and we wanted to be able to have friends and family over comfortably. One evening, I was searching through realtor.com like I did most nights, and I stumbled across this beauty. I knew from the minute I saw the pictures online that it was THE ONE. Big kitchen, check. No carpet in living areas: check. Garage: check. It had everything we wanted. My mom and I went and saw it the next day, and I was sold. It was during football season when I found this home, so Rob didn't even see it before we put our offer in. He knew that if I loved it, he would to. And he did. It was officially ours in December of 2010.

And that about brings us up to the present day. I can't even remember when it was now, but Rob came home one day and said we needed to talk about moving to Temple. I, of course, said, "WHAT???!!! WE CAN'T MOVE, WE JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!" Little did we know, that's what pretty much every. single. person would say when we told them. Except for our coaching family because, after all, we seem to thrive on the crazy! Anyway, after much discussion, we decided that we thought it would be a great opportunity for BOTH of us. Rob put the call in to Coach Spradlin, we took a day-trip to Temple, and it was pretty much official after that!

Moving, we were.

We REALLY lucked out with the sale of our new/current home. Some good friends of ours decided that this home was also perfect for them, and it will be their's soon. I can't even tell you what a blessing that is to me. I love knowing that it's going to a great family that will be able to give it the love that we haven't really had the chance to give it. It also provided me with the reassurance I needed to let me KNOW we were making the right decision.

So, we decided to take a leap of faith and buy again in Temple. Our first round of house hunting was downright depressing. We looked at about 20 homes, and I didn't even LIKE a single one of them, much less love. I began questioning everything...because I'm dramatic like that. We went back for round two, and it was MUCH happier. We just weren't looking at the right homes the first time!

So, without further adieu - here is our new, NEW home...

These pictures are either off realtor.com or the iPhone, so sorry they're not great, but it gives you an idea of the inside of our home :)

The entry way...

My favorite part...the OPEN kitchen and living. The living room carpet it coming up and being replaced with the same tile that's in the kitchen/dining.

I love the kitchen, and if you know me at all, you know that I NEED a good kitchen ;)

The master bath. Double vanities, his and hers closets? Heaven.

Jacuzzi tub? Double heaven.

That's all the pictures I've got for now, but I promise you more when we move!

If you've stuck with me for this entire post, I commend you. Really. I didn't mean for this to get so long, but a home is a pretty special thing, and I just couldn't shorten my feelings. This is a scrapbook of our lives, and I don' want to forget a thing about this season of our lives!

I can see clearly now...

...with contacts GONE!

I had Lasik surgery yesterday afternoon, and I am already SO glad I did it! The actual surgery wasn't painful at all...it was just uncomfortable really. The procedure took about 20 minutes, and I was on my way! My mom chauffeured and took care of me during the day, then Rob was on duty for the night. They were both wonderful nurses!

When I got home I was instructed to sleep for several hours (best Dr.'s orders ever!). My eyes hurt initially, but once I finally fell asleep, I was perfectly fine. I woke up that evening, and I COULD SEE! I was amazed that I was already able to see so well...through the awesome shields, of course. I really can't believe I'm posting this no make-up, sleepy picture of myself, but here goes nothin...

That's the position I assumed for the rest of the night while my WONDERFUL hubby took care of me! Drops every 2 hours and a Sonic vanilla coke...the man took great care of me.

He made me a yummy, healthy dinner...

And he even took a picture because he wanted me to post his meal on the blog...

Isn't he adorable?

I think so too.

Have you had Lasik or are you thinking about it?

I would HIGHLY recommend it! I know I'm only one day into it, but I was already 20/20 in both eyes at my check-up this morning, so I'm a believer! If you have any questions about it, feel free to email me :)

Remember when it was Valentine's Day...

Last weekend, my mom & her bestie decided to host a Valentine party for some of their favorite couples...AKA their kids & their spouses!

We were told to dress up & get ready for some fun! So that's exactly what we did.

KB & Nicole even came to celebrate :)

My sweet parents...you like my dad's tux/t-shirt combo? Classic!

We started with a little "cocktail hour"...

And an appetizer of chocolate covered strawberries...what Valentine party is complete without those? None, I tell you.

Mom & Lisa decorated everything so sweetly for us love-birds. Here's the "parents" table...

And the "kids" table...

The besties even doubled as our servers! Natalie was a server too, but she was way too busy socializing with her favorite Valentines for pictures!

We were only missing one couple...Austin & Connie. The night would have been perfect if they could have been there, but Galveston isn't exactly a quick weekend trip away from Abilene. Especially when you're in Med School...apparently they keep those MD's-in-training pretty busy!

The dinner was DELISH, but the company was even better! A BIG "thank you" to the Lisas for making us feel special & loved every day of the year! We are blessed beyond measure to have such wonderful parents!

<3<3<3<3<3

Rob & I don't really go all out for Valentine's Day anymore, so we kept things low key this year & just had an in-house date. I made my (our) favorite salad...

Spring lettuce mix, goat cheese, dried cranberries & candied pecans.

We also had homemade gluten free lasagna...

YUMMY!

Rob was sweet & brought me roses, we exchanged cards & topped the night off with a movie! It definitely wasn't extravagant or anything, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There's nothing I enjoy more than just simply spending time with the one I love!

i love you this much.

Last Tuesday (1-11-11!) was Rob's 26th birthday! It's pretty crazy to me that this is the 8th birthday of his that I've celebrated.

In honor of the big two-six, I thought I'd share 26 things that I adore about my hubs...

-He's kind to everyone he comes in contact with, even if they are rude or grumpy.

-He always has and always will only have eyes for me.

-He does his own laundry.

-He loves & trusts in our Savior.

-Every card I have ever received from him has had 'SWAK' written on the seal.

(Sealed With A Kiss)

-He is passionate about the career he has chosen. And he's good at it to boot!

-He lets me snuggle my cold feet to him when I get into bed at night.

-He's so patient.

-He often leaves little notes for me to wake up to.

-He supports me in all that I do.

-He's the best hugger I know.

-He eats whatever I put out on the table for him...good or bad. Makes me feel good.

-He makes me laugh on a daily basis.

-He (almost) never complains about taking pictures for/with me.

-He's awesome with kids.

-He's always willing to help me around the house.

-He's a manly man.

-He's a wonderful son/grandson to his mom/grandparents.

-He's intelligent.

-He's pretty much always game for whatever plan I've dreamed up.

-He rarely complains about ANYTHING.

-He never forgets my birthday or our anniversary.

-He's honest, trustworthy & selfless.

-He watches HGTV with me.

-He lets me "cry it out" on his shoulder whenever I need to.

And last but certainly not least...

-He's mine for life!!

How in the world did I get so lucky??

I love you, babe...always & forever!!

Ohh, the irony...

Here in (fairly) small town Texas, high school football rivalries are a BIG deal. I'm talking the stand in line all day for tickets, painting faces and/or bodies, countdown to kick-off ticking away on local channels and becoming nauseated because you're so nervous kind of BIG deal. The crosstown rivalry here in Abilene is a rich tradition, and just about the entire town looks forward to it all football season. This year's game has even more riding on it because the winner of tonight's game will be declared the district CHAMPION.

As I've said before, this crosstown rivalry is kind of a funny situation for me. You see, this was me just FOUR years ago...

...graduating from the land of the Eagles...AHS!

...getting to school at the crack of dawn with my bestie (Lexi) to get on the front row for pep rallies!

...cheering on those Eagles with my girls!

...wearing my blackout Cooper rivalry shirt.

"Hey Cooper! Next year bring your varsity..."

...and just bleeding black and gold in general.

And now, here I am....a Cougar Coach's wife (and that coach graduated from Cooper, by the way!)

...cheering on those COOGS with my former Eagles!

...decorating my door in the red and blue.

...having the time of my life with some of the best friends a girl could ask for!

...supporting my hubby every step of the way.

...road-tripping to all of the out-of-towners with Lexi.

...becoming nauseated with nerves as I write this post.

...decked out in red and blue attire!

...and BLEEDING RED AND BLUE!!!!

I have to defend myself a lot, mostly on Facebook, to my former classmates, but I just laugh at their silly remarks....and tell them to shut up. Because that's what mature adults like myself do. But I wouldn't trade any of this for the entire world because I love it, I love my coach, and I love those COOGS!!!

LET'S GO COOGS!!!!!!