thankful thursday

today was such a great day, and

i have so much to be thankful for:

[1] bryce came to town!!! 

just for a quick 2 hour visit, but it was so great to have him here!  

[2] orange, red, and yellow bell peppers.

yummmmm!! 

i've become addicted to breakfast burritos, and i'm pretty sure it's because of the addictive substances the central market produce experts are putting in the peppers.

[3] DVR.

it's going to save me from having to wake up at 4 AM for the royal wedding festivities,

as well as prevent me from taking a "sick day" to watch all the commentary and highlights.

[4] big bang theory.

this show makes me laugh till my abs are aching every time.

without a doubt, sheldon is high-stinking-larious. and i've got a crush.

[bryce, try not to be too jealous.]

[5] my chronological one-year bible.

it's sooo neat because you get to read the good book in the order everything took place, no matter where the story was placed in the bible.

lovin' it! :)

what are you thankful for on this beautiful thursday?

embrace the eles.

can we all just agree that baby elephants are about as cute as they come?

baby ele was playing with the sand.

who has time to eat lunch when you've got sand to play with?!

mama and baby.

we made a trip to the houston zoo to see the baby eles.

my first trip was all about the baby giraffe, 

and this trip was all about the baby ele.

and this time i got to spend it with my baby.

[insert the o no she didn't comments here.]

{ignore our squinty eyes....it was suuuuuper sunny.}

embrace it yall. :)

embrace your inner diva

somedays, 

you just need to bust out the ginormous diva-licious sunglasses.

[[embrace your inner diva yall!]]

chapel day sing alongs

each wednesday of my elementary school career we went to chapel.

it wasn't always my favorite day.

mainly because we had to wear our ties and our jumpers

and we had to go to P.E. in our chapel clothes

[because i always forgot to bring extra PE clothes...].

but some chapel days were the best days.

each week, a different grade rotated who was in charge of chapel.

and when my class was in charge, we dominated.

we had the best skits, the best memory verse,

we would always pick the best songs

{the ones with lots of hand motions and rhyming and repetive choruses...you know the ones}.

michael w. smith's "Awesome God" always made the cut because it fit all of the criteria listed above.

ever since the 6th grade,

whenever i heard this song, i would change thes station and get frustrated and annoyed at the DJ for playing a song that was [so old] and [outdated].

this morning, it came on the radio and i heard this song and almost lost it.

[i know, i'm emotional. don't act so surprised.]

it's crazy what a difference actually listening to lyrics can make.

how can a song about the awesome power of a forever God be old and outdated?

nope, he can't.

the hair, clothing, stage design may be stuck in 1983,

but our God is awesome forever.

[on a totally unrelated note...]

i'm selling a coach purse. practically still a new born, only a month old.

[madison leather large sofia, black and brass, hot pink lining]

$300 or best offer.

if you (or any of your friends, co-workers, neighbors, mother-in laws) are interested,

email me:

thegraceeface[at]gmail[dot]com

you know you want to! :)

tangible memories

i'm not a big souvenir buying girl,

no shot glasses, tea towels, ceramic destination trinkets for me.

[i'm not a fan of things for the sake of having things]

i'm a photo-memory girl.

i'll take a million and a half photos on any given laundry day, family vaca, at dinner with my girlfriends,

you name it and i'm snapping a photo.

i have a terrible memory,

and i have a terrible fear that i will forget the beautiful, fun filled, joyous moments i get to share with my loved ones.

i treasure gifts i receive.

[things filled with sentiment and memories]

it's the perfect combination of a memory.

i was lucky enough to share the same shoe size as my super styling nana.

when my nana passed away,

i was given her shoe collection.

[can i get a holla!?]

each and every spring,

when i bust out my brown leather michael kors strappy slingback sandals, 

i'm reminded how lucky i was am to have this woman in my life.

[life made lovely]

gold floppy hats

mallory and i spent our sunday afternoon antiquing in the heights.

we found lots of salt and pepper shakers, 

quite a few old scotch bottles,

a super cute cocker spaniel puppy,

and hats. lots and lots of hats.

everyone needs a giant, gold floppy hat to compliment your ginormous, glittery margarita glass.

duh. it's a given.

the definition of meant to be.

there's a slight chance i may have lice now,

but i'd like to see you pass up the chance to try on a hat like that.

[good luck with that]

another splendid sunday for the win,

how about you??

a lesson in common sense

[question]

when parking in a public lot downtown, do you:

[A] put your debit card in the parking card machine,

get an official receipt, 

and then place the officially printed receipt on the hood of your car.

-or-

[B] give $20 cash (for a $10 lot) to the ginormous, unofficial looking man who walks up to your car and tells you the parking machine doesn't work on the weekends.

result of choice A:

result of choice B:

[if you picked B, you're a sucker too.] 

when i was growing up,

my mom always told me that i was too trusting of people.

well today she more than earned the right to say "i told you so."

i'm sure the ginormous, unofficial looking man needed the $20 more than i did.

thankful thursday

[confession]

i've been having quite a few mini-meltdowns lately.

nothing major of course.

[i'm a tad dramatic]

just whiney moments here and there.

 i'm afraid it's becoming a trend.

{i'm not a big fan of these kinds of trends.}

i think it's because i miss my family.

yup. i'm gonna blame them for this one.

i'm super excited for the chance to use

[thankful thursday]

to think about the good things and snap out of my whiney funk.

[1]  i'm so thankful for iced, non-fat, hazelnut lattes from starbucks.

yes i know. they are overpriced and full of empty calories.

and i fully enjoy every tasty, caffeinated, calorie-filled gulp sip.

[2]  i'm so thankful for the shane & shane "everything is different" cd.

i think i listened to this CD a bazillion times last year, over and over and over again.

it's jam packed full of truth and promise and encouragement.

all of their cds are amazing,

but listening to these songs reminds me of all of the ways God provided for me last year,

and i never want to forget those wonderful blessings.

[3]  i'm so thankful for sweet friends who indulge me enough to listen to overdramatized, silly, immature stories.

on those days you feel like punching a wall,

you gotta have a lady in your life that will have your back.

 watch out world,

we're fiesty.

my first astros loss

houston very rarely experiences cool breezes, low humidity, and 70 degree temperatures,

so when a beautiful day decides to make an appearance, 

you've gotta take full advantage of it.

 

bryce and i spent our beautiful evening at the astros game.

even though it was kind of a bummer being down 5-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game,

i enjoyed every minute of it.

[i love me some sunshine]

yup. 

those are life-size, dancing hot sauce packets.

{we keep it classy here in h-town.}


{embrace the camera ya'll!}

the cure for a monday

this morning i woke up with that monday feeling,

the one where you wake up and [whine, groan] say "mannnnnn....".

that was me for most of the rainy, dreary morning.

then when i got to work,

i opened a box with a super fun surprise in it:

yup. that's a stress ball with paperclip hair.

it's pretty hard to whine and groan when your stress ball has paperclip hair.

it was a lovely monday after all.

snook, tx

each april, the town of snook, texas hosts chilifest.

this year, we decided to join in on the fun experience.

i love people watching, and this was a perfect place to get my observation on.

oooooo boy.

 luckily, we snapped a few photos before the wind started blowing the dirt and grass around.

 ben and angela braved the day with us.

survival of the fittest.

everyone had dirt everywhere,

it took three showers to get back to my normal skin color.

my white shirt was completely ruined and in now in the trash,

bryce's sunburn is more red than a tomato.

it was definitely an experience.

isn't that what life's all about?

man i love adventures.

family love

sometimes i forget how much i miss my family.

i mean i miss them all the time.

but when i make a trip home to dallas,

and i walk in the front door of my house,

and i breathe in the smell of my family,

and see my {crazy, attention-crazed} sweet puppy,

it makes me realize i miss them even more than i can describe.

yup. we look gooooood.

families just know the right way to love.

it's pretty stinking great.

thank you southwest airlines.

embrace it yall. : )

simply smile

"Everytime you smile at someone, 

it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

{Mother Teresa}

cheesey i know.
but a good for a tuesday.

monday morning coffee time.

 

have you seen the super fun city-pride mugs starbucks is making now?

i picked this one up this weekend while in austin

[in case that wasn't obvious...]

 for my cousin's wedding.

 

 my sophomore year of high school, my high school choir traveled to washington DC.

in one [of manyyyy] local starbucks, i picked up a mug that had illustrated monuments all around it for my sweet history lovin' granny.

even now, when the cold weather starts rolling back in,

she gives me a call to say she's pulled out my mug.

[i love when things are more than just things.]

 

a cup [or 2] of coffee in my

new super fly coffee mug 

makes my {monday morning lovely}. 

 

 

shirley temples

i love road trips, 

especially when they take us through the beautiful hill country of texas,

especially when there are sonics to stop at along the way.

 

ya, i'm a little eccentric at times.

what can i say??

cute boys make me crazzzzy! ; )

dr. pepper.

a classy drink for a classy guy.

: ) 

cherry sprite,

or, for those more sophisticated individuals,

a shirley temple.

what is your favorite happy hour indulgence?