Pumpkins, Football & Halloween

*Warning- LONG post, but has photos*

This weekend was a blast. We had so much fun from pumpkin picking, to Aggie football, to trick or treating with my niece and nephew- such a wonderful weekend!!

Friday:

After school I hurried home so we could go to the pumpkin patch. You don't understand. I have been begging Justin to go with me to the pumpkin patch to no avail. But Friday I texted him during work and said "Can we go to the pumpkin patch after school" as my last attempt to get him there before Halloween. His response, "sure" I was shocked so when school was out and the "fall" parties were over I hurried home. Daniel was here so the three of us headed to the pumpkin patch down by our house. Sadly, there was a pitiful selection of pumpkins so we got a baby pumpkin and took some pictures before going to HEB to get a real pumpkin. : ) After pumpkins came the catch. I knew there had to be something since Justin had been so sweet not only about going to the pumpkin patch but also taking pictures with me. The catch: the boys were going to the deer lease to hunt. I was okay with that though. I had some cute new photos of J and me, two pumpkins and needed to catch up on DVR anyways. : ) We went and ate dinner real quick at Koppe Bridge (amazing burger place) before they were off to hunt. Of course, they shot nothing and arrived back home around 9ish. We hung out awhile before going to bed. Another early morning game was going to be here soon...

Saturday:

We got up around 6:30 on Saturday morning and headed to campus to tailgate before the game at 2:30. A little ridiculous if you ask me....really 6:30 for a 2:30 game!! These boys really love their tailgate. We got there and ate some food and all hung out together until the game. They had an extra ticket so Justin and I both got to go. It was such a good game to go too. Its funny because I never go to games yet I always seem to wind up at the Tech vs. A&M game. (which is the first Aggie game I ever went too) The Aggies held their own and pulled out a win! We stayed the whole game and the weather was PERFECT. I wasn't sweating at all and I didn't need my sweatshirt until the very end. After the game, we went back to the tailgate and watched the Rangers beat the Giants in the World Series before loading up the tailgate and heading home. We didn't get home until around 10:30! Such a long day- but it was totally worth it.

Sunday:

We slept in before getting up and getting busy. I made a list of everything I needed to get done and got pretty much all of it done. Laundry, Grocery Store, Cook, Clean, Etc. After checking off each thing on my list, the trick or treaters arrived. Shortly after our first few trick or treaters we had some familiar faces at the door. Ella & Grayson or should I say...Little Po Beep and Prince Caspian. We ended up going over to their neighborhood and trick or treating with them. They were so cute. Thanks Taylor & Eric for letting us be a part of your Halloween fun! When we got back to their house we skyped with Cambrey (my SIL) who lives in Virginia and got to see my other two nephews Halloween costumes- adorable!! Then we skyped with my MIL and FIL so they could see Ella & Graysons costumes. I had never skyped before it is really cool. I am in the process of getting it on my computer now. : ) There is an on going joke in our family about my love of candy. Justin gets upset with me if I go someplace strictly to buy candy- I have been known to do this before- so last night I stole Ella's candy bag when we got back to the house and do you know what she did!?! She took her candy bag and hid it from me!! Hahaha! We laughed about it for quite some time. She eventually brought it back to me but she had to decide what she would give me. Aren't they so cute?? My hubby is pretty cute as well : )

Favorite City

Today on the 30 Day Challenge is Day 22. I can't believe I have kept up and am almost finished!! Crazy! Todays topic is your favorite city. This is a very difficult one for me. I am not a very big traveler. (I would LOVE to be, but I'm not). I married a man who has no desire to go overseas and has already been everywhere else!

I love the city I grew up in. It was nicknamed "the bubble." It is a suburb of Houston. I would not want to live there right now seeing as I am a young married woman with no children but I feel like it was a wonderful place to raise a family. I would love to eventually move back to a suburb of Houston.

I also love Destin, Flordia. Growing up we went two times a year. Once during Spring Break, normally with my cousins. Both our families would pack up and drive the 10 hours to Destin. And again during the summer time. I always loved getting there and going out to the beach and laying out and playing in the water. Obviously, as I grew up the things I enjoyed doing changed...ie- building sandcastles to laying out with tanning oil. : ) I have so many memories of Elissa & I at Destin. "Burnt or Dead" - Elissa is a red head and would get burned really bad- one year she got 2nd degree burns and so we laughed about some video online where a cartoon says, "burnt or dead?" and said it was lissa...or the time we were out in the ocean together and suddenly Elissa starts screaming and running towards the beach and a jelly fish had stung her- it was totally not funny but imagining us running like crazy kids acting like we had been bitten by a shark or something makes me laugh today. To make things even better, later that day Emily (Elissas little sister, my other cousin) is in the water with me again because Elissa refused to get back in (rightfully so, I wouldn't have been anywhere near the water after that) and we are playing around jumping waves, etc and Emily starts screaming...she too has gotten stung by a jellyfish. Apparently, I attract jellyfish.

Destin may not be the best beach in America or the best city but the memories I have there make it my favorite city.

Picture of Myself

Today at Katies 30 Day Challenge is a picture of yourself. I just looked through old facebook photos and had myself a good little laugh. I found a rather amusing picture of me too good to pass up...

This is from my sophomore year living in the sorority house. Everyone always tells me I look like a "who", a gnome, and a monkey. (if you really know me...this face is "me"- this is my personality)

And then to prove I can clean up...two of my favorite bridal portraits.

Have a wonderful Monday y'all! Weekend catch up tomorrow afternoon!!

Nicknames

Catching up on Katie's 30 Day Challenge

Oh my nicknames....because I have a very common name I was RARELY EVER called Lauren. I have had so many nicknames over the years....

The most common one is from my daddy and he still calls me this to this day and I wouldn't want it any other way... "Boobear" And he always calls me and leaves me messages that say, "Boobear Boobear spinning around spinning around" so boobear is my number 1 nickname and has been since birth.

My mom calls me gooey, and my sister calls me boob. (ya I know, don't ask). My whole life I was called "Hardy"- my maiden name and people still call me Hardy even though I am married. I am "Hardy" to pretty much everyone I know. Its weird to meet people who don't know me as Hardy.

I am also snackshack (Justin is the "lunch box"). But Top Two Nicknames are Boobear and Hardy.

Something I Miss

Catching up again at Katie's 30 Day Challenge...

What do I miss...there are a lot of things I miss like Saved By the Bell College Years, sleeping in on the weekends, having my own classroom (not a closet- but I do LOVE my job), having all my friends live across the street from me, being able to eat everything I wanted and not gaining weight, going on regular family vacations each year, mom doing my laundry, etc.

But people wise I miss my family that lives far away. I rarely get to see them and I love spending time with them so it is sad to me that they live so far away. It is crazy to think how much we could do together if we lived closer. I also miss my grandpa's. Both of my grandpa's have gone to a better place but I wish I had more time with them and listened closer to their stories.

Praise God

Got this email from my dad today...too good not to share. so true.


So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances
Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustrations get so out of hand
It’s then I am reminded I’ve never been forsaken
I’ve never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories, the Spirit rises up in me
It’s through the fire my weakness is made strong

And He never promised the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered victory without fighting but He said help would always come in time
Just remember when you’re standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again

I know within myself that I would surely perish
But if I trust the hand of God, He’ll shield the flames again

And He never promised the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to climb
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again
Just hold on, our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again

The Crabb Family- Gaither Homecoming- "Through the Fire"

My Best Friends Wedding

Saturday was the day Elissa & I have talked about our whole lives. Last summer was my wedding and last Saturday was hers. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and everything was sooo "Elissa." I got up Saturday and headed over to their house to be with her on her wedding day. Emily did my hair and we hung out until Elissa had to go get her hair done before heading to the church. I ran home, ate some lunch and headed to church to get ready for the big day. We did makeup, touched up my hair, put Elissa into her BEAUTIFUL wedding dress, held back a mirage of tears, took pictures, took some more pictures, ate some chicken nuggets, made lots of memories before getting in our places to walk down the aisle. As much as I cried on Friday night, I cried harder on Saturday during the ceremony. When Same saw Elissa and his eyes filled with tears- my immediate reaction was cry like a little girl. I tried to only sort of sniffle through the whole ceremony. They really need to come up with a way for tissues to be hidden in the flowers or something- I needed them!!

After the ceremony- there were more pictures before heading to Redstone Golf Club for the reception. It was amazing. The food was good, the ambiance perfect, everything went according to plan. We got there, got introduced, ate dinner, cut the cake and then it was speech time. EEK! I was one of her matrons of honor and was chosen to speak Saturday night instead of Friday night. I had three main points to my speech. I knew it was the only way I would be able to get through talking about my best friend was if I had it done to memorization. The three points about Elissa are her christian spirit, her loyalty and her sense of humor- all three important in a marriage. granted I got off track a little and cried a little but over all I stayed on track. Elissa & Sam are perfect together and I could not be more happy to see Elissa has found someone who makes her life complete and completes her.

Of course there can't be a family wedding without the "cousin photo." In our family on my Dad's side there are ONLY girls. I have 8 girl cousins. 7 of us at the wedding, the 8th just had her first born and couldn't travel with him. She was missed. We even took a picture with her spot open and her missing. We are in order from oldest to youngest. I should do a post one time and post the pictures of the 8 girls from over the years...it used to be a step ladder- now we are all the same height! haha! We have done this photo at almost all the wedding. Erin & Heathers wedding are the only two we didn't take it at. 6 down, 2 to go! : ) Had to add this one of my hunny & me after dinner. : )

Once Elissa gets her photos I'll post some of those. It was a wonderful wedding and a good time was had by all. Congratulations Elissa & Sam! I wish you a lifetime of happiness!! Love you!! I guess I'll share Elissa with Sam : )