New Year, old year...

‘May the LORD bless you and protect you. 

May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. 

May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’ 

(Numbers 6:24-26 NLT)

May you draw closer to God in 2015...be thankful that He has blessed you in years past...never forget what you've come through...

Here's a recap of my December 2014!

Seeing the Christmas lights in my sweet little town. 

Made reindeer cupcakes with my sisters and nieces! 

Helped our church youth group and an awesome organization wrap presents for local children for Christmas!

Drank lots of coffee at our local coffee shop (recently re-opened in a an awesome new building!) The Bull Shack is awesome and they have a great back story!! To learn more about them click here. Or visit their FB page! 

Decorated my little house for Christmas to celebrate our savior's birth!

Took a "pre-shopping" nap...because that's necessary! 

Went to see The Nutcracker at the Houston Ballet!

Made some homemade presents! 

Decorated Christmas cookies for Santa Claus! #Texas

Watched A Christmas Story! My husband IS Ralphie! #familytraditions

Had some wonderful quality time with my man!!!

AND had a wonderful family Christmases with both my side of the family and with his! I love family time! Oh and we managed to smoke an amazing turkey for Christmas dinner!

This year has been great! Looking forward to what God has in store for 2015!!

Happy Birthday!!

My mother is a wonderful woman, and yesterday we celebrated her birthday. I am so blessed to have her in my life. I am so very thankful that she made the sacrifice on a daily basis to homeschool each of her children, she continues to share God's love to her family, friends and even strangers, and to be a beautiful example of a woman who honors God. 

Thank you momma for being so awesome! Happy Birthday Karen Coburn!! I love you Mom!! 

This was when we was younger, mom always loves to take photos in the bluebonnets. 

This was taken after a super fun day planting potted plants with my momma. 

Father's Day 2014

Today I ponder the effect my father has had on my life...my father always pointed me to look to my Heavenly Father for guidance... 

My dad has always been awesome. When I was young he read me great books with such fun expressiveness, he hugged me often, and always made me feel loved. He made many sacrifices over the years to be able to provide for his six children while mom stayed home to homeschool us. I'm very grateful that he provided my mom with the opportunity to homeschool. 

Now that I'm an adult, he still makes me feel loved, he's taught me how to manage finances, to plan for the future, to show honor and respect for those who deserve it, to work hard and to always show those you love just how much you care.

I love that he still tells me "I have confidence in you."

I believe my dad embodies this verse:

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

And...

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; (Psalm 103:13 NIV)

Thank you dad for showing me a small glimpse of our Heavenly Father's compassion. 

This is me and my daddy at the family's long standing vacation location walking arm in arm...lots of wonderful memories have been made in that small town in Texas. :)

Twilight {and wine}

Yesterday Krystina and I watched the Twilight movie. We've been hearing about the movie and books from most all the other women in our lives and decided it was time that we also knew what all the fuss is about! :) (most girls I know just absolutely LOVE Edward Cullen - the main actor...and vampire)
We sat down with our wine and began the movie for our viewing pleasure!
It's really a pretty good movie...different and interesting. We both enjoyed it and already want to watch it again! A little wine and a good movie with my sister was a blast!! :)

I think the wine made me a little chatty because after the movie we were up for another hour or so just talking and talking...I love having the chance to stay the night with my sister, to relax, enjoy a glass of wine and spend time with her!


Now....we both want to read the books!!....need to find the time to do so.....
I'm off to work now...

Happy {belated} Father's Day Daddy

Hey Daddy! :)
I know I wished you Happy Father's Day on Sunday...
but I wanted to do more.

Today I thought about you while
walking across the A&M campus...
later I thought about your
anniversary with mom...
I thought about your parents...
and mom's parents...

I was reminded...
That you put four years of hard work in on the
same campus I have walked the last two years...
That you still love mom just as much if not more
than you did the day you two were married...
and that ya'll both had great parents...just like me.
I have wonderful parents.

Dad you are a fantastic father!!
I love you and I just want to say thank you...
for all you do for our family, you are amazing!!

I love your smiles!

Not only are you a daddy...but you're now Pop's too!!

...and a great Pop's at that!

Our family...we would not be where we are now without you Dad - Thank you!

finally...

So...I have fallen a little behind on my blog...and I need to catch up! :)

My summer classes here at Texas A&M Univ started up on the first of June. I'm taking my last two communication courses and all I have left to earn is my internship credit. I have found two very interesting internships that I am applying for this weekend. My classes are Communication & Pop Culture where we discuss the trends of pop culture over the last century and how they came to be "popular" in our culture as well as how these trends can change so quickly. The second class is American Oratory where we read many different speeches that have been crucial in the history of America and analyze them according to Aristotle, Burke and what we think of them in their historical/rhetorical context. Sounds pretty cool...but sometimes it can be a bit much! :)

The first weekend in June I went home for the weekend and spent time with lots of family! My youngest brother David was confirmed into the Catholic church and almost all of the family was there to participate in his very exciting day! Other family/friends that came included Amanda Fite and Sarah Cutler - two fantastically exciting & fun ppl!
That same weekend Joshua left to begin his new job with the construction company named WRL that builds schools.

By the second week of June I had two tests! That's how 5 wk summer classes work! I did really well on both, a 90 on the first and an 84 in the second. I had really hoped for a better grade on the second but the oratory class is really difficult and the average was an 82...so I did do slightly better than the average! :)
Also, the second week of June, my brother Daniel managed to hurt his foot while playing with Marin (I'm not totally sure how it happened, but I know he's a hoot when he's picking on our niece!!) He was able to take a break from work for a couple of days and decided to visit two of his favorite band members and friends, Jesse and Talon, in the great city of Houston! These two have been on a quest recently - "a quest?" you may ask? Yes....it is called "Quest For a Million Hits." Daniel joined the boys in their quest by being a part of their most recent post on their YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/questforamillionhits. If you would like to view some of their endeavors...click here!

The second weekend of June, I invited Krystina and Marin to come spend the day with their siblings in College Station! Joshua came in to town from his new workplace in Godly, Texas (his temporary location). Elizabeth and Kyle came swimming with all of us at the pool here at our apartment and Marin had a blast throwing a ball back and forth with all of us and then chilling out in the sun while I (aunt K) was trying to lay out and get a tan! See the pic Krystina took of us?! ssoooo much fun!




















I love it when she talks to me! She is the cutest little one ever!!
:) I had a blast that weekend! While Krystina was taking engagement pictures of Elizabeth and Kyle...Joshua and I took Marin to her first movie in the theater!! We watched Pixar's newest movie UP! and I think that she enjoyed it...she was really quiet during the whole thing and I think she really enjoyed the M&M's I gave her through the 2nd half of the movie!!



NOW.....I'm finally getting to this week! :)
On Monday I babysat for my Mary Kay representative, Claudia...Let me know if you need anything from MK and I'll let her know, she's really great! She has two very cute little ones who were a delight to take care of! I realized that it's fun taking care of kids...but it's always really nice to leave them with their parents too!! hehehe...
On Tuesday I went to class, studied and then exercised with a friend.
Wednesday I went to my church Homegroup and we talked about "life verses". We decided that each person would memorize a verse this week.

My verses are Psalm 1:1-3
¹Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
²But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
³And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
I am going to delight in the law of the Lord this week!

Today, Thursday, I had a test in my first class - made an 88! And then we talked about Women's Suffrage in my second class. After class I came home, ate lunch and then went to visit my friend Ellen from school. She and I met at A&M Transfer Camp in 2007 and have been friends ever since. She is a married student and she and her husband, Bryan, welcomed the newest addition to their family last year!! She is now a beautiful little girl with the prettiest little smile I have ever seen! As well, they both graduated in May! I made a trip to see Ellen and her baby today because they will be leaving next week to start a new stage of their lives in Oregon with Bryan's family. I will miss you Ellen, but I know that you and your family will do wonderful up north!

Well...now that I have written a novel, I hope that I have not scared off all of my blog followers!
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read all of this!! :) LOVE YOU ALL!
I am now off to read more about women's suffrage and try to get some sleep...goodnight!

My life...over the last two weeks

Okay guys…so I’m new at this blog stuff…bear with me please :)

I’ve been on break from school for the last two weeks and I have had a blast at home! I slept in late, read a whole book – Angels and Demons, began another book – Come Thirsty, went wedding dress shopping for my sister, chilled by the Carter pool on Memorial Day with my best-ies Sarah & Lauren, had dinner with the family on the North Street porch, went on a long walk with my parents, made dinner for the family one night AND stayed the night with my sister and niece a couple of nights!!

The first weekend all the girls went shopping for Elizabeth’s wedding dress. The “girls” included Elizabeth, my Mom, Krystina, her daughter Marin, Amanda Redman, Kellie Kielman (mother-of-the-groom), Susan (mother of the mother-of-the-groom), Kayla (groom’s sister & a bridesmaid) and myself! Lots of girls = LOTS of fun!!
Here are a few pictures from my sister’s blog @ krystinaevans.blogspot.com






THEN…later in my break, I decided that I would cook dinner for the family! This is a pretty amazing feat for me because I have never been the “best cook,” and it frightens me some that I will totally screw up my endeavor. But I took on the task because I really wanted to prove that I could do it!

My dish of choice: Mexican Pot Pie (a recipe given to me by Elizabeth, who received it from a friend at work…who I have no idea where she got the recipe from! Hehehe…)

Ingredients: (mine was a double recipe – so that’s how I’ll give the directions…)
2 cans of Crescent Recipe Creations baking sheet
1 can of refried beans
1 package of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice (Spanish Style microwavable)
1 package of shredded cheese
AND your choice of meat, you may use any type of fajita meats, or chicken, in my case I used ground beef.

Now – take one can of the crescent rolls and lay it in the bottom of a cake baking pan, be sure that it touches the edges.
See photo:


Smooth out a layer of refried beans, and then add a layer of rice (after you have micro-waved it of course!  It only takes 90 seconds to do so…)
See photo:


Now add a layer of your meat and then a layer of cheese…
See photo:


Top it off with the second Crescent Roll baking sheet and put in the oven at a temp of 375 degrees & bake for just about 15 to 20 minutes!
I served dinner with a mixture of avocado mixed with picante sauce, extra rice, corn, chips & a bean dip mixture with cheese and picante sauce. For drinks we had tea with lemon slices…
Dinner is served!!!



This last weekend I spent a lot of time with Krystina & Marin, I have loved every minute of it. From moments where Marin would be squealing with delight as aunt “Kay-kay” played with her, to chatting with Krystina about her amazing creative ideas and even taking pictures of Krystina’s wonderful new creations for Marin’s 2nd b-day party.


Sooo....there's a little recap for ya'll!!
and I just want to say thank you family for a fun couple of weeks, I have really enjoyed the break…