Back in the USA

After being back for almost a week, I'm finally getting a chance to post on here! A 10 day vacation requires at least a week of housework catch up (i.e. loads and loads and loads of laundry!) and we've also had a pretty busy week around here anyways. We had a wonderful time in Mexico! The hotel was AMAZING (we stayed at the Hilton- which I would HIGHLY recommend), the weather was gorgeous, and most importantly my sister was the most beautiful bride EVER. We did a lot of swimming/chillin by the pool, eating delicious Mexican food, and well... just relaxing. Here are a few pics:

{The most wonderful pictures are the ones from the wedding, but Ashley wants us to wait to post those pics until after their Nashville reception on June 6.}

Carterman did great on the entire trip, but it obviously helped that he had 20 adoring fans giving him ridiculous amounts of attention 24/7! We had 4 plane rides total (2 down to Mexico and 2 back to TN) and supposedly every flight was sold out, but on 3 of the planes the person who was supposed to sit in the seat next to us didn't show up! How amazing is that?! Total, 100% God thing. Having the extra seat for Carter made the flights much more bearable. In spite of all my germ prevention techniques, the little man did get sick on the night of the rehearsal dinner. By the time we got back to the hotel and took his temperature he was running about 102.7, which is by far the highest fever he's ever had. Turns out it must have been a virus he picked up, but thankfully it was pretty short lived and he was back to himself within a few days. Thank the Lord!

I'll wrap this up, but here's one short funny story from the trip...

I brought in this picture as an example of how I wanted my hair for the wedding:

The lady doing my hair (who didn't speak much English) looked at the picture, then back at me, then back at the picture and finally said, "This You??" I laughed and said, "No, it's not me. It's Carrie Underwood, definitely not me." She then took the picture to the lady doing my mom's hair and said "This her??" I assured them again that it wasn't me in the picture. Ha! Totally made my day though :)

I'll be back soon with a few recipes I've made this week... adios!

Wish Us Luck...

Tomorrow we are headed here:

For a MUCH needed vacation.. oh, and my sister's WEDDING too! We've never taken a trip with husbands, fiances, boyfriends, and a baby ... so wish us luck! I'm still a little nervous about two flights back-to-back with Carter, but hoping that with 7 other adoring family members on board he will be quite content. We'd still appreciate your prayers, though. For safety, health, and as little stress as possible.

Not sure if I'll be able to post down there, but I'll be back in a couple weeks with pics and lots of updates!

Follow Up To My Previous Post....

Esther, Idol, and Other Randomness

I recently started Beth Moore's Bible Study on Esther. I've never really done a Bible Study by myself, but I'm really enjoying it! I had somehow forgotten nearly everything I'd learned in Sunday School, church, etc. about Esther ... so it is like discovering a whole new story... and let me tell you, it is fascinating. I just finished week one and everytime I dive in I want to keep reading and reading... but I have to pace myself to make sure I'm really digesting all there is to learn. Check it out if you haven't already! I'll post some of my favorite quotes/thoughts shortly.

Next, you may or may not know that I am a HUGE American Idol fan. I am slightly embarrassed about how many Idol concerts I've actually paid money to attend. But it's my guilty pleasure... and you know you have one too... so don't judge. That said, this season is pathetic. Really pathetic. So pathetic that I usually fast forward through most of the episodes. However, last night Lee won my vote... probably because he reminded me of this guy:And anybody who does that is a winner in my book. Way to go, Lee.

The Flood

Yesterday it started raining. And raining and raining and raining. And it is still raining here.

Today I re-read that story of the flood in Genesis... just to be sure that God did actually say He would never flood the earth again. Because from the looks of it in Nashville, I was starting to get worried.

Nashville is under water and in a state of emergency. It's terrible. People who have lived here for 50+ years have never seen anything like it. Thousands of homes are destroyed. People are stranded. Highways and roads that we drive on every single day have 6+ feet of standing water on them. Schools are cancelled. And now the town next to us {Franklin, TN} has a curfew because of the critical situation. It's heartbreaking to watch.

We live just South of Nashville and have experienced TONS of rain and tornado warnings, but we are safe. No flooding on our street. We still have power, water, TV/internet and food... just a little stir-craziness from a very active one year old!

Thank you, Lord. We are truly blessed.

13 days...13 days...13 days...

In 13 days, I will be here:

Los Cabos, Mexico

Be jealous :)