chasing.

Laughter and Hot Dates

Explanation from bottom left and then around.

Serious picture? yeah right. I had the cheesy smile going on so this is me trying to shake it. Wouldn't you know that Ernest snapped the camera at that moment...

Ernest loves these big glasses. (He will enjoy me telling you this) When we were first married he wanted me to buy him some glasses exactly like this. He said they were manly glasses. And after all now he was a man. We laughed because we no longer have the man glasses. What does that mean exactly?

After dinner and a quick trip to the mall we stopped off at the park. We carried our cooler with bubbly juice and strawberries out to the water. It was fun. We sat and listened to the lions roaring at the zoo. It was a very surreal sweet moment.

Last but not least...

On our way back to the car we decided to stop at the park and play. We took turns in the swing and then decided we needed to go down the slide. This is the highlight of the evening. I have not laughed so hard in years. Ernest went first and it was a good thing because he got stuck. Yes, you heard me right, he got stuck. I happened to be right behind him with my handy dandy camera. I will treasure this photo always.

What a great night.

Romance on the Porch

Look what I got today. The man loves me. These were on my front porch with an invitation for a hot date tonight. Of course I said yes! Now I have to figure out what to wear...fun.

Marriage :: Eleven

11 years of loving each other. It is good.

Year 1 :: fresh. Late night grocery trips. eating dinner on the floor in front of the fireplace. working. school. 1014 C. Cocoa the baby dog. love. candlelight dinners. airplanes landing outside our window. finding out we were pregnant. (how did that happen?) lots of laughing.

Year 2 :: purchased our first home. surrendered to ministry. moved to BBC. Carly was born. sweet pink moments. dinner around the table. big bellies and massages. first snow. growth. sunflowers. finding out that we were pregnant. (how did that happen..again?)

Year 3 :: moving out of married housing. Prospect. Baby blue. no sleep. drama and friendships. vacation bible school. internship. paper routes. lemonade.

Year 4 :: first ministry job. back yard sunflowers. garden. grilling out nightly. lightning bugs. picnics in the grass. laundry. date nights. smiles.

Year 5 :: school. work. kids. ministry. diapers. bottles. the time out chair. jesus being thirsty. friends.

Year 6 :: hard. hurt. growth. big love. learning what love means. larry boy and barbie hair. houston. mosquitoes. astros. galveston. dates. rebuilding. honest.

Year 7 :: finally graduation time. second ministry job. abilene. kids in school. lunch dates. writing. worship. paper in trees. love. security.

Year 8 :: baseball. valentines day dinner. family time. canterbury trails. new friends. biblestudy by candlelight. growing every day.

Year 9 :: mission trips. students. family. love. birthing dreams. more new friends. possum kingdom. laughter.

Year 10 :: new house. pto. church. movement. intercession. cruise. europe. black dress. celebration. kids. life.

Year 11 :: change. faith. time. dream. late night talks. new car. christmas lights. photography. camp. loving. coffee. blockbuster online. books.

July 13th we celebrated 11 years of marriage. craziness!

Downtown Date Night

A great new restaurant opened up in downtown. Tonight was the night for us to go in and try it out. I loved it. The beehive is "known" as one of the best places to get steaks. It has been featured in Southern Living magazine. The original one is in Albany, Texas. I am so glad that we now have one here in Abilene. I love having dinner downtown.


For Caleb's pleasure reading...

Tonight we were pleasured to move beyond the "ugly" table to the ugly room. Yes, you read that correctly. There was a whole room that was basically shut off from the rest of the restaurant. Where do you think it was positioned? Next door to the kitchen. We got a good laugh out of this.

Ugly table...ugly room...oh well...

Spontaneus?

It was a fun evening!

We went to see the movie Catch and Release with Jennifer Gardner. I liked it but that was the extent of my feelings. There were a few awkward moments here and there. I am all about a good chick flick. I had really high hopes for this one but...

We were walking out of the theater discussing our slight disappointment..."We should have seen 'Pursuit of Happiness'"..."Yes we should have"...

In that moment we decided to skip Olive Garden and see another movie. We purchased 2 tickets to Pursuit of Happiness and quickly got in the concession line. It felt great! I think that is the most spontaneous thing we have done in a while. I know it is very sad. What can I say we have two kids. We shared a coke, hot dog, and nachos for dinner. No it is not Olive Garden but it was so much fun.

By the way we loved the Pursuit of Happiness. Great Victory! It totally takes hold of your emotions and brings you in.

Great date night!

Debra

date night

Saturday night was so much fun. It seems like it has been a while since our last date. We went to eat at Fugi. It is no Nakato but it is good food and fun entertainment. The chef even popped shrimp into some of the guests mouths. He asked me if I wanted this done...NO thank you...! That is just not for me. Seriously, I am surprised that Ernest didn't go for it. We left there completely stuffed.

We decided that we would drop by the mall to do some Christmas shopping. We ended up staying there until 10pm. We didn't purchase much just some stocking stuffers and presents from my mom to my kids. She gave me the money to buy them gifts from her since we are not going to make it home for Christmas. The kids will love what we picked out. Carly got 2 things from limited too (her fav. store). She was so thrilled to see the boxes under the tree. Colton got some great finds at game stop. Santa is bringing him a PS2. I still cannot believe that Santa is doing that!

We didn't make our usual stop at Starbucks on the way home. We were still too full from dinner. After we got home we wrapped presents for what seemed like an eternity. (Ernest's mom and grandma sent their gifts home with us after thanksgiving.) We still have yet to buy anything and under our tree is full. There really is no need for more.

Lots of rambling to say this...I am so thankful for my sweet husband. He romances me to this day. To be with him brings joy to my heart. I am love with that man.