Ta Ta's for Halloween

 We went to a Halloween party this past weekend. 

I found our costume on Pinterest. . . We went as cleavage! It was very simple to re-create and cheap too! Under our white shirts were "punching balloons." On top of that, we wore red tank tops and rolled one side of them to make it look like a bra strap.

Our ta ta's were a hit! However, the effect just wasn't the same if we were apart. 

This was my favorite costume of the night. She was the 2nd half fairy. 

:)

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! We had a blast handing out candy for the first time. My friend who used to live in our neighborhood had told me they didn't have many trick-or-treaters last year, so when we bought 4 huge bags of candy, we thought we'd have some extras to snack on. However, there were several kids who stopped by, and Matt starting handing out bags of gummy worms I had leftover from school. Guess we'll be better prepared next year.

Adventures at the Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago, we decided to make the best of a beautiful fall day and took Mattison and my niece Kaelin to the pumpkin patch. They had a great time, and so did we. 

When we got home, we set up the tent in our living room so the girls could "camp out." They got to eat their snacks they'd been begging for all day, but I won't say what it was in case my sister is reading. ;)

Steph, we would NEVER give Kaelin Nerds and gum before bed!

Ha-Lar-i-ous!!

Oh death, where is your sting?

This one's kind of deep...beware....

This question couldn't be more appropriate for the kind of year I've had. I'll explain why in a bit. Although 2011 has been a year of many blessings for me, I have unfortunately lost two of the most influential men in my life. 

My stepfather passed away in February from a series of strokes, and my godfather passed away unexpectedly at the end of September. I am using this post as a way to express my roller coaster of emotions I have experienced in the past few months.

Prior to my stepdad's death I was exploring and deepening my relationship with Christ. Matt and I had started attending church regularly, and praying was a part of my daily life. However, my faith was truly tested with the abrupt passing of Jon. I didn't have the opportunity to see/talk to him before he became unconscious, and it had been a while since I had talked to him personally. I was immediately overcome with feelings of regret and sadness for not having talked to him as often as I could have. Neither of us were phone talkers and with our hectic schedules, we didn't get the opportunity to have dinner as often as we'd tried. I remember the last time we talked was on Valentine's Day. I had called him to thank him for the sweet card, and of course our conversation didn't last long. Fortunately I told him I loved him.

Following the funeral, I became very angry with God and couldn't make sense of why he had taken Jon so fast without any warning. I didn't understand. I found myself pulling away from church and prayer altogether. I can't even explain why it happened that way, but it did. I guess I was playing the 

blame game. The one thing I was sure of, was that Jon loved me, and I am confident he knew I loved him like a father. What a lucky girl to have had 2 awesome ones?!!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Jon. It was on my wedding day just before he and my daddy walked me down the aisle.

Don't worry, there is a good ending to this post. Just be patient with me. 

On Wednesday, September 28th, I got a call from my dad. I was at work turning on the lamps in my classroom, when he told me the sad news. My godfather, "Papaw Ray" as I referred to him, had passed away from intestinal complications. He had gone in for surgery on the 23rd and was expected to make a full recovery. However, things made an unexpected turn for the worst, and he lost an unfortunate battle for his life. I immediately lost it, and Matt rushed to get me from work. We packed up our things and headed down to Hot Springs to be with everybody. 

Papaw and his wife Mary were two amazing influences on my entire life. My dad was a single parent, and they were our refuge during difficult times. We spent several weekends over there and every holiday. Mary passed away 3 years ago this month, and I can't even express how tough that was. She was like a mother to me, and Papaw was just as special!! 

With everything in such a rush during the preparations for Papaw's services, I felt extremely numb. I was beginning to feel angry again and questioning why God was taking all of my "rocks." 

It wasn't until the funeral that I had my first reality check. The preacher had read a verse from the bible that stuck with me. I recognized it from one of my favorite songs at church:

"The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true. Death has lost the battle! Where is its victory? Where is its sting?"

Wow! I know Christians have known this for years, but I truly had a peace of mind hearing it. Matt even recognized it. If I hadn't been in church to learn this song, I wouldn't have made this connection. God truly was speaking to my heart! 

Following the service, we went back to "Ray and Mary's" (as I will always refer to it) to catch up and relive the memories of these two amazing people. With it being my father's birthday, we surprised him with a cake and sang happy birthday. It made my night to see him smile. I have no doubt Ray and Mary were singing with us. Sadly, it was our last birthday to be spent in that house. 

Since I just recently went through all of these pictures, I wanted to share some of my favorites:

Ray and Mary holding me 

LOVE this one!

He was always being silly.

My absolute favorite card game was Crazy Eights, and of course, Papaw got suckered into playing with me all of the time. He enjoyed every minute of it as you can tell. That's why I loved him!!
(I bought the game last Sunday and plan on teaching Mattison and my future kiddos.

This picture says it all!

Although my heart is still hurting and will continue to hurt from the loss of my loved ones, I am absolutely certain they are in heaven watching down on me. I know our lives here on earth are only temporary, and I will make certain my life here is spent worthwhile, so I can be with them again someday. I can't imagine that this will be the last time God tests my faith, but I can guarantee I'll never lose it again.

I can't forget my family, extended family, friends, coworkers, and countless others who have made an impact on my life. They've encouraged me along the way. Have I mentioned how truly blessed I am?!?
(I realize this sentence doesn't flow with the rest of the post, but I wanted to make sure everyone in my life knows how truly special you are to me!!) 

Calling the Hogs with the Steeles...too bad we lost that one

Matt and I had our first official party at the house a couple of weeks ago. Since most of our friends and family are Razorback fans, we decided to get together for the Hogs vs. Bama game. Unfortunately the game didn't go over as well as we'd hoped, but we had a BLAST catching up with everybody. 

Matt surprised me with a delicious birthday cake from Mickeys in Little Rock. He also gave me an iPad! Have I mentioned I have the most amazing husband?!?

One of my b-day presents from Dawn and Julie. LOVE it!

Matt set up our bedroom t.v. in the car so people could watch the game outside. 

Yeah, that's how we roll.:)

My bro. and Matt showing off their mad skills

One of my best buddies, Carly, came into town for the festivities. MISS her!! 

 Wish this picture captured our entire outfits because we were unplanned twinkies! Skinny jeans and all. We do it all of the time. We are so in sync (not to be confused with the boy band)

My bro's sweet girlfriend Kari and me 

Dawn, me, Lindsay, Julie, and Carly 

The newly engaged couple: Laura and Ryan

Arent' they cute??

I started to get a little sidetracked ;) during the game/festivities, so I started slacking on the picture taking. Here's part of the outside crew. Thank you Laura and Ryan for pretending to be interested in the game. 

My sis and her husband came after the game. They brought their youngest, Lane. My husband was teaching him how to use a large knife to cut the cake. 

Yum!!

Steph (my sis) and me

We were a little sweaty from our LONG game of Baggo. Fortunately we pulled off a win.

WPS

Matt and I went tailgating in Little Rock on Saturday to catch up with good friends. His childhood friend was in town from Texarkana, so we hung out with them most of the time.

Me and the hubs in our innocent white :)

We were going to take a pic of the boys, and they realized Mac was missing. Here's a shot of them getting his attention. I love candids!

Love this one too!

Matt and his childhood friend Taylor

Matt is coaxing him into smiling.

Chillaxin

The girls

This is a silver lab, who strolled by. I had to get a pick since I've never heard of/seen one before. 

He was precious.

At one point in the day, we ventured on over to Laura and Ryan's tailgating spot. Their spot is one of the best ones on the course in my opinion. Anyways, I was SUPER excited to visit with them because they recently got ENGAGED!! They have already set a day in June of next year, and I am honored to be a part of it all. The picture doesn't do it justice, but her ring is beautiful!

We left some time after kick off and listened to/watched the rest of the game elsewhere. Of course the game was a blowout, but it was a fun day hanging with friends we don't see very often.

9/11 Ten Years Later

I found this picture on Pinterest this morning, and my mind has been reflecting ever since. I thought back to where I was on that horrific day. I will never forget it. It was my senior year of high school, and I was in the auditorium for drama. Our teacher was always cracking jokes and was the first to tell us about the first plane crash. I was convinced it was part of an act and had difficulty soaking it all in. There was an eery silence when we all realized it was the truth, and during the rest of the day, we watched it all unfold on the news. I remember feeling terrified because there were so many unanswered questions at the time. During cheerleading, our coach was telling us to leave campus so we could fill up our cars with gas. I think it really put life into perspective for a lot of Americans and unified us as a nation.

Eight years later, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to New York City, and we made a visit to Ground Zero. As we walked the busy streets of NYC, we couldn't help but hear the hustle and bustle of the city; but when we entered the area of where the great tragedy took place, we didn't hear a thing. The only sound I remember were footsteps along the sidewalks. It reminded me of upset fans leaving the end of a Razorback football game that was lost (not near the upset of 9/11 I know, but the silence is definitely comparable).  My eyes immediately filled with tears, and my emotions were consumed with sadness as I noticed the hole in the ground. The feelings are indescribable.

I have been watching documentary after documentary on the National Geographic Channel today, and it is so difficult to grasp that it has already been 10 years. However, I get chills when I think about how far we have come and am extremely thankful to live in America. 

One Last Hurrah at the Lake!

I have to start this post off with the bad news first. Don't worry, better news comes in a second. For those of you who don't know, my dad bought a boat a few years ago, which has been his pride and joy every summer. He is constantly checking it for dents, cleaning it up, and even making us clean when we go out. Needless to say, he keeps it in great condition. 

Here comes the bad news.. Dad went to check his boat at the dock on Friday morning and noticed that someone had rammed, yes RAMMED into the back of it. There was a good chunk taken out of the back, and the motor was scraped up pretty bad. The jerks didn't have the nerve to leave a note, and unfortunately we're not sure who did it. Dad surprisingly handled it better than I thought. He had the "can't do anything about it now" attitude. 

However, good news is that it is drivable. So we were able to go out for one last hurrah on Saturday with the crew. We didn't get out on the lake as much as we have in the past, so we were eager to make one last trip out before summer officially comes to a close.

The Lovely Ladies

Waterbugs

Aunt Terri set it a goal for herself to swim across the lake, and I would say it was accomplished!

Matt and Chad playing with Drake

If you notice the yellow cup, the liquid in it was considered to be highly potent. They refer to it as *itch slap. After they downed a couple of cups, they sure were silly. One of these lovely ladies was my 5th grade teacher. Since she is still in the teaching profession . . . ??  I won't disclose her exact identity. 

:)

 Soon the Suave shampoo/conditioner was busted out, and people were swarming around them to have their hair "treated". No picture for this because I was so enthralled by the entertainment that I forgot about my camera. Funny stuff!

Uncle Larry and my dad were chowing down on some grub before hydrating themselves 

with some Miller and Coors. 

Mattison and her buddy Drake were exploring in the "jungle".

Mattison was also excited to have a "girl" to play with. She and Emma cleared out about a 100 yard path of weeds, which led to their secret hideout. If you need your garden weeded just give us a call. These girls enjoy doing this in their spare time! 

Some relaxation time after weeding the island, and Mattison getting a small rock lodged into her heel. Sweet girls! 

 We had a great time with everybody on the lake and look forward to doing it all over again next summer. I have to say I am extremely excited about fall approaching! In fact, I've already decorated the house. I started with a little bit at a time, and before I knew it, all of my things were out on display. 

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!