Catching Up...

So, It's been a while... Here's a photo update:
One BIG thing I'm leaving out is our trip to Costa Rica for our 1 year anniversary. It was amazing!! Those pics are on facebook...

Mother's day at the Wade's home. Grandma Reba with baby Lauren.

Sweet adorable-ness

Lauren and Hannah

Peep-A-Boo!!!

Swinging

Swinging with Uncle J

Uncle J taken a ride on Mr. Frog

Playing Chase!

Happy Mother's day, Courtney!

My first (and only) summer dress I made this summer.

Aunt Tricia and Reba

Kisses!

Cousins, Eric and Emily

Top Golf with my sister, Tricia, and Jonas. Jonas is teaching her to keep her head down.

Baby shower at our house for the Anderson's - Brooks and Sadie!

The expecting parents!!

Guessing Sadie's belly size.

Cute diaper cake and punch I made.

Baby Charlee's Decor

What is summer without a couple weddings! Here's the beautiful Victoria Robb-Powers.

Enjoying the reception in Austin.

Sweet Hannah waiting for my 25th b-day to begin at Benihana.

My amazing friend, Andrea

Silly-ness with Hannah.

Lauren Bear.

My dad and step-mom, JoAnn.

I'm 25!!! Whoa.

Downtown Fireworks for the 4th of July! We have an awesome view from our neighborhood!

Random assortment of people we had over for the 4th.

The ladies :)

The dudes.

Quick summer trip to the Arboretum. This is the garden we got married in ONE year ago.

At Texas de Brazil for Jonathan's 26th b-day celebration

My sweet husband. He is the best!

Family picture.

Friend's pic. Andrea, Cliff Adrian, Nixie, and us.

A month FULL of birthdays!! Lauren's 1st b-day party!

The awesome party decor. (Lady bug theme).

Happy Bear!

Baby Ella showed up to party!

Lauren's 1 year old SMASH cake! This turned not-so-good in about 2 minutes.

The boys devouring the smash cake spoils.

Throughout the summer, I worked with my home group leader's 3 girls to create summer dresses for them. They picked the patterns and fabric out and we all sewed them together. Lots of fun!! Here's a picture of all their dresses....

2 Years :)

Today marks my 2 year anniversary to be cancer free!!! I'm thankful and blessed.

We had planned to celebrate this morning with a 5 mile run; however, I've been sick lately and we stopped training for a while. We'll run another race soon. Enjoying a lazy morning with my husband was just as nice!

I have to be honest that this is bitter sweet. We don't really celebrate cancer, we celebrate God as Healer. It's not fun to think about having had this disease. In fact, it stresses me out and frustrates me. It is the dark rain cloud that hangs over my head, but thank the Lord it is not raining today. If you've had cancer, you know what I'm talking about. The saving hope is that God is stronger than cancer. He is this enormous umbrella of protection from that stupid rain cloud. He is good and faithful. This world is broken, but He is completely whole and perfect. I pray that He continues to heal me and protect me.

Thank you, Lord, for TWO YEARS!!!! This is a HUGE number in my remission. I am very thankful!

Big Milemarker!

Last weekend I successfully completed my first 5k since my first surgery two years ago in March. Jonathan had planned to run with me; however, he and some friends ended up going to Houston to watch the Bears win (the sweet 16) and lose (the elite eight) - still awesome though.

The run felt so good! A month ago I was breathing like a 60 y/o smoker trying to complete one mile and now I am running 3! I had only trained for 2 miles, so when I saw the BIG 2 mile marker at the race I really had to push myself. I remember telling myself, "You are healed!! You have two working legs that you are blessed to run with - NOW RUN!!" Remembering how God had healed me made me push even harder. I blew by that 2 mile sign and finished the race in 31.25 minutes.

May 1st I plan on blazing by another 2 mile marker and a 2 year milestone! I'm running in the White Rock 'N Roll 5 mile race in celebration of the 2 year anniversary of my cancer being in remission. I visited the doctor this week and he said that everything looked great. He explained that most reoccurring tumors happen within the first two years and that passing this 2 year mark is a HUGE milestone. 5 years is still the magic number, but I'm super SUPER excited about my 2 blessed years of life!

The year is passing by quickly and in just 2 months Jonathan and I celebrate 1 year of marriage!!! We have a trip to Costa Rica planned to celebrate :)

Praise God, that there is much to celebrate! He Heals, He is Faithful, and He does exactly what He says He will. Amen!

Evolution of the Craft Room!

Some of you might know that I am crafty. I LOVE to sew! Anything from dresses, baby shoes, quilts, and clutches - there isn't much that I haven't attempted to create in my 10 years of sewing. It's my hobby and my de-stressing agent. I can and do sit alone for hours with my thoughts and my machine (and sometimes my iPod). It's one of my favorite things to do.

My sweet husband knows of my talents and gave me a room in our house just for my crafts. He makes me feel like the little ballerina that's kept in a treasured jewelry box. When you open the box, the ballerina spins round 'n round on her stage. I used to have a jewelry box like this when I was young. It's cool how God gives us images like these to show us His love.

So here is the evolution images of my new craft room!....

Jonathan helped me paint the room. I don't have the before pictures, but the ceiling used to be the same color as the walls and we painted it white.

With the ceiling painted white, here's what the wall looked like before.
I painted 3 of the walls a pretty lavendar color.

Lavender on the walls.

We painted the accent wall a med/dark purple. The white cabinets and desk came from IKEA and were put together months ago.

Accessories! Andrea and I took a trip to IKEA to buy everything else for the room. Thanks to her, my IKEA trip was a success!

Bright Yellow curtains to compliment the purple walls.

A Ribbon wall and take board (and Betty, my sewing model). See all the little bins! These are filled with sewing accessories - nice and organized!

Finally found a place for my milk glass from our wedding! My thread wall has been amazing, along with my little storage cups and magnetic strip.

The first product of my sewing room (and the best dress I've ever made)!

This was for my pastor's 17 y/o daughter for her winter formal.

Dorothy Sanzari

--Nanny & Papa dancing--

--Mom, me, and Nanny--

I wish I were posting pictures of my new craft room or the awesome dress I just made. However, today's post is dedicated to Dorothy Sanzari, my grandmother. Last night she suffered a massive heart attack and passed away this morning. She and my grandpa will be celebrating 60 years of marriage tomorrow, and this year was her 80th birthday.

Nanny wasn't Italian, but she could sure cook like one. My papa always said that good Italian cooking was a part of their marriage vows. Dorothy lived in southern Jersey where she and my grandpa, Marty, were actively involved in their retirement community. Nobody loved on Dorothy as much as Marty did. He constantly was adoring her, nagging her, and loving her. Together they had 3 kids and 5 grandkids.

Some of my favorite memories come from snowy days in NJ. Visiting Nanny was the only time we saw real snow that we could play in. This morning I woke up to a sheet of white snow covering our yard and house - it was a sweet reminder of her.

Macaroni salad. You don't even know what this is if you haven't tasted Dorothy's recipe.

When my grandparents lived in north Jersey, we would take trips to New York. My nanny would zip around like a true New Yorker, yelling parking and driving commands at my Papa. She would yell and yell at my Papa's crazy driving - it was so funny! He would just sit back in the driver's seat and sing Sinatra off-key.

Dorothy loved trips to Florida. She and Marty would take them every Spring. They were planning another trip this March.

I miss her. And my hearts breaks for my Papa. God is good and sovereign and I know that one day He will bring all things back to perfection. Oh, come quickly Lord!

Reflection...

Yesterday a news article was published in papers around the world about my paster, Matt Chandler, at The Village Church. News Story....

Chandler's story brings back some dark, but joyful moments in my life. I've been cancer free now for 20 months. One sweet morning came to mind that I documented in this blog post. It was right after I found out I was officially cancer free. Jonathan had just begun pursuing me and making his intent known. The text was from him and so was the rose (refer to blog). This post makes me smile, cry, and feel humbled. It's a sweet reflection of the calm after a horrible storm, and God's faithfulness through every moment.