Things You Should Know About My Weekend

1. I knew ahead of time that it was going to be awesome because Grant's parents were coming to town! We hadn't seen them since Christmas so this was a long overdue visit. They arrived late Thursday night (they drove from New Orleans) and we pretty much went straight to bed as soon as they got here safely.

2. Friday I had to work so Grant's mom visited a friend that lives in town while Grant and his dad played golf.

3. I worked till 6:30 and met them for dinner at Yardhouse. If you live in the Houston area, YOU NEED TO GO TO YARDHOUSE. It's probably one of our top 5 favorite restaurants. There is a creamy tomato bisque that makes me all emotional.

4. Saturday we went to a baby shower for my cousin Katie and I got to see Grace, Scarlett, and Juliet. They were in matching purple twirly dresses and it was a bit too much for me to handle. (If you're new to Jen the Newlywed, you can see photos of Grace, Scarlett, and Juliet in the sidebar to your right). There was strawberry cake there and I was just thrilled about that.

5. After the shower, Grant's mom and I went to the outlet mall in Cypress. This was her first time there and we had an excellent time. We shopped while the boys played golf for the second time.

6. Something happened while we were there that I will now refer to as "The Shoe Incident of 2011". I'm slightly embarassed and also slightly proud to say that I came home with FIVE pairs of shoes yesterday. FIVE. Please pray for me. I couldn't stop myself.

7. Grant's mom got a jacket in Chico's that was normally $60.00 for FIVE DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE EVER-LOVING CENTS.

8. I LOVE THE OUTLET MALL.

9. We were so exhausted from all the successful shopping that we just came home, ordered pizza, and watched a movie with the boys. We watched "Life As We Know It" with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Super cute movie.

10. Yesterday morning when I woke up I realized that I was losing my voice. Not sure why...I wasn't shouting/singing/sick/congested or anything but my voice was going. This normally wouldn't bother me too much except for the fact that I knew I was singing a MAJOR song on Sunday morning at church that requires me to have my voice "full-throttle" if you will. I went on vocal rest for Saturday night and prayed that when I woke up Sunday morning it would all be alright.

11. When I woke up this morning, it wasn't alright.

12. I prayed in the shower that God would give me just enough voice to make it through my song.

13. The first run-through of the song did not go so well.

14. Something happened around 9:00 (30 minutes before the service) and, although still quite raspy, I could hit all my notes and with just enough power!

15. Jesus is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.

16. I love to sing.

17. After church, we took Grant's parents to the Cadillac Bar for brunch and JEN PUT DOWN SOME FOOD. The amount of food at their brunch is overwhelming and wonderful and I can refuse nothing. I want it all, thank you very much.

18. I love Diet Coke.

19. After that, we had to give hugs and kisses and say goodbye :( We know that Mom & Dad have to get home safe and get on the road early, but we sure love having them here. They are such a blessing!

20. I drove to the hospital to hold my new little friends, twin boys Marco and Massimo. My friend Laura just had her baby boys on Friday afternoon. She now has THREE little boys!! They are so so precious and they look just alike. I loved snuggling with them and visiting with Laura and Sergio. Such beautiful baby boys... what a gift!

21. After that I took my friend Liz her birthday present and some coffee from Starbucks. We sat in her living room and chatted about our weekends while sipping coffee and playing with her baby girl, Lily. It was such a nice afternoon :)

22. Then I came home and began my Sunday evening date with the couch, a blanket, and the remote. ME LOVE IT.

23. Had a long, fun talk with my BFF Lindsee this evening. She is all kinds of wonderful.

24. I'm laying in bed, blogging to you people and I am ever so comfy.

25. THAT IS MORE THAN ANY OF YOU PLANNED ON READING AND I APOLOGIZE. I'm gonna go stare at my FIVE new pairs of shoes now.

Mercy.

I Just Started Typing and This is What Came Out

I have a heck of alot going on right now and I love it.

Kids' Choir started again last night at church! Oh my goodness... we had SO many kids... I was overwhelmed and excited and tired when it was all over. One little one ran to me and hugged me and said "Mrs. Judy, I missed you sooooooooooo much!". She called me Judy all year last year. Fine by me ;)

I'm also singing with the "big choir" for the big Christmas program in December. We've already started rehearsals and y'all I am having so much fun. I've always known I was a nerd but it was confirmed to me again when I got home from rehearsal on Saturday and Grant asked me if I had fun... my response was "YES! I had SO MUCH FUN! I LOVE to SIGHTREAD!!". Grant just stared at me and said "Wow, babe....". The big choir taps into a musical part of me that has been buried for a long time but I am just having a ball! I'm always up for spending the day singing Christmas music!

Although, I had a very embarassing situation on Saturday during rehearsal that involves a horrifying experience that took place when I unexpectedly had to change clothes in the same room as 9 women who were 65 and older. It is a bit "blog inappropriate" but let's just say that these women probably have now labeled me the hussy of the choir. I told Grant about it and he had another classic Grant response. "Nice, babe...."

Work is going well. For awhile there it was going not so well.. but things are on the upswing and I'm very happy. We have alot going on and I am busier than I've ever been but all in a good way.

Also on the horizon is the fall television season. For those of you that have been reading my blog since the early days, you know that television in our household is practically an event. However, this summer we have had nothing to watch except for "Bachelor Pad" and we all know that that is quality television. Elizabeth is a wack-a-doo. Straight up crazy. But I am greatly looking forward to the return of The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Community, Ellen, Oprah and How I Met Your Mother. This is going to be a good year for my shows, I can just feel it!!

I am also currently watching "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta" and that just makes me laugh so hard I can hardly stand it. I love Southern women. We just have a different way of saying things. "I can't believe I just found my dress, y'all. This is a big moment". Cracks me up.

God is good. He's been showing off lately. Our sweet Olivia Claire, our niece who is just over 2 months old, was hospitalized this weekend with Viral Meningitis. Poor baby girl.... thankfully the Lord has healed her and our prayers were answered. She left the hospital on Monday night and we are so thankful.

Alright this blog doesn't seem to have a direction or a purpose so I'm just gonna cut it off here. This was not one of my bests, y'all. Not one of my bests.

I leave you today with this nugget of ever-important wisdom from Jerry Seinfeld:

"Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end".

Chew on that. Memorize it. Hide it in your heart.