Celebrate Good Times - Come On!

Is it already Thursday?! My how the week has flown... I guess it is just an after-effect of our whirlwind weekend back 'home' in DFW. We went up originally to see my mom for Mother's Day, but we ended up cramming a lot of {fun} stuff in the weekend as well.

We drove up late on Friday and hung out with my mom a bit, then took her and my dad to an early Mother's Day breakfast at this great place just down the road from their house. It was a simple and very nice morning with my mom, I just wish I could spend more time there. It always feels like we are in and out {except for the holidays, where we stay put and don't leave the house for days!}. I couldn't sleep that morning so I went for a walk to the lake at about 7am to let Tess free for a bit and snap some photos. I have way too many to post, so I will spare you all and just post this one of some great red roses growing in my parent's flowerbed.

It wasn't long until we were off to stop #2 - My grandma's house for a secret event. Yes, secret. My sis, Mandy, got all of us girls over there for a surprise get-together to ask us all to be her bridesmaids/maid of honor/flower girl, etc. It was a really nice party and I cannot believe she pulled it off without us finding out! I haven't seen my sis since she got engaged back in February so it was good to hang out and talk 'weddings' with her. I am excited to say that she and Brian are getting married next spring -- end of April, I think -- in east Texas, at a beautiful location. Mandy will be a stunning bride and I am honored to be with her on the big day!

On to stop #3, our final destination! Saturday evening we gathered with friends old and new to celebrate Cliff and Rachel's engagement. It was a wonderful party at Rachel's parents' house, with yummy Mexican food, tasty sangria, and chocolate-covered strawberries - yum! It was great to see a lot of the people we love and don't get to see too often, and chat about all the festivities that are sure to come during the next 4 months. I was also happy to meet the rest of Rachel's bridesmaids and start planning her bachelorette party :) This is a great group of gals and we are going to rock the socks off of Austin/the Texas hill country.

Whitney, Amanda, Rach, Brit, Mary, Me (missing - Elizabeth)

Saturday was also very special for another reason - RACHEL'S BIRTHDAY! Well, technically, her bday was Sunday, but since everyone was busy with Mother's Day, we celebrated after the engagement party with a surprise cupcake-and-presents party at Rachel's house and a night out at Pete's Piano Bar!

Pete's was an absolute hoot. We had so much fun singing and dancing, and we even got Rach up on the stage. I haven't seen that girl laugh so much - ever! She was such a good sport too...better than I would have been :) The best part was {of course} the school fight song showdown. Surprisingly {and I know many of you will be shocked}, the battle was not between A&M and UT, it was TEXAS TECH and Arkansas battling it out for their song to reign supreme. We put our guns up so much my arm hurt, but it was awesome to hear our fight song played over and over and over again. Troy even threw down a few big ones {$4 I think}. The pot got up to a few hundred bucks before it was all said and done! The Aggies had a few bucks in the mix, as well as Baylor, but there was absolutely no representation from UT and that made my night {and much to Cliff's disappointment}. We really had too much fun and I cannot wait to do it all again.

I seriously wish we were back in DFW sometimes, but that day will come :) Until then, we enjoy getting together with family and friends to celebrate some really special moments. I have a feeling this is just the first of many, many weekends of chaotic bliss...


We headed home early on Sunday morning, ready to be back home. Just as we were winding through some back roads, approaching a stop sign, I noticed the most peculiar thing - a peacock, sittin' on a fence post. I guess it is not so much peculiar as it was surprising, so what did I do? I took advantage of that gorgeous blue-and-green guy by snapping some photos of him like a paparazzo. Seriously...I changed lenses...three times... :) Troy made me! I love these pics though:

This weekend is a home-base one, but we are kinda busy nonetheless - date night Friday, a BBQ Saturday, and Martinpalooza (summer party at Whitney's house) Saturday night - complete with all the yummy goodness we have come to expect from this seemingly annual event. We also have Sarah and Matt's engagement party on Sunday, which we are so looking forward to! Have a great rest of the week!!