Song for the day

I lift my eyes up to the mountains

Where does my help come from??

My help comes from YOU!!

Maker of heaven, creator of the earth.

Oh how I need You Lord

You are my only hope

You’re my only prayer

So I will wait for You

To come and rescue me

Come and give me life!

Wedding Weekend

Amanda flew in on Thursday night to go with us to Carly's wedding in Ozark, Arkansas. Since we've all been back in the states, this is our third time to get to see each other, which is pretty amazing considering where we all live.

We spent the night eating and catching up on lives....which is pretty much what we did all weekend, ha! Daniel and I had such great conversation with Amanda, and loved hearing all that is going on with her in the great state of Georgia. And yes, we ate the whole weekend!!!

Friday i got up and ran 6 miles...and felt really good, and loved my pace!!

We were on the road by noon, right after a stop to...

Amanda got hooked on Braum's last time she was in Oklahoma, and we were happy to indulge too!

Group pic....

McDonald's iced coffee stop....

All dressed up for the rehearsal dinner!

love this girl!

This is who catered our dinner, and WOW it was the most delish thing ever. like ever ever.

i love this pig!

He fed me well....

Wait, hold on, i need to wipe my drool........ i seriously cannot say how delicious this pig was. best thing ever. Kind of sealed the deal on any lingering questions i had about if i could ever be a vegetarian.....not if pigs like this are still available! ha!

Cute cookies!

Boomer!

Reunited!!!!!

People had a chance to stand up and say something about Kirk and Carly....tears people tears!!! These two are obviously meant to be together and will compliment each other so well. It was fun to see everyone's pure excitement for each of them and have only the most positive words to say! Truly a very special couple!

Wedding Day!!

Let's just say Daniel had some free time while i was getting ready.....

You know i love the curls!!

Carly and Kirk got married at the same church her grandparents were married at....so special!

My date!

We love being on THIS side of the wedding planning, ha! It's much easier to just show up, ha!

After a really sweet service, we headed to the party to eat and celebrate!

Kirk is a huge hunter!

love this group pic!

love my girls!

love my man!

The happy couple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Manly men!

Loved our time with Amanda this weekend, it was refreshing and a great encouragement!

Drive home rockin' the pearls, ha!

This weekend was so much fun and such a time of refreshment for me. Now, i need to go run another 60 miles to makes up for it, ha!

love

laura

Weekend Preview

I'm cutting out early this afternoon to go pick up.......

(at Carly's Birthday May 2008)

.....Amanda!!!!

We lived overseas together a couple years ago. Our other friend, Carly, who lived with us overseas is getting married this weekend. Amanda is flying in from Georgia, then tomorrow we're driving to Arkansas for the wedding. Amanda and i were biking buddies and would bike about 15 miles a day together.

July 2009 (after riding about 20 miles that day!)

Our sweet Carly is getting married!!! I love this girl. We were roommates, friends, and accountability partners overseas. We've done life together and i'm so excited to see her marry Kirk. There will def be tons of wedding photos to share!

Camping May 2009

Vaca in the Philippines January 2009

I actually got pretty emotional just writing this. Us girls have been thru a good chunk of stuff together, the good, bad, and ugly. We lived in community together and became family. I'm blessed for the time i was able to have with them and thankful that we are still a part of each other's lives. love them!

Valentines 2009

I'm so excited to catch up and soak in some good quality friend time this weekend!!!

love

laura

Home

After a very long 8 hour car ride, i was home......

The drive back was pretty brutal. I was sore from my run and driving for hours in construction didn't make it easier. But this made it so worth it...

Daniel surprised me with this sign and balloons. I love balloons, they make me so happy.

Also, you know best friend Amy lives in Hawaii. Her husband, Jeremy, just got ordained at their church and i was able to watch it online. I love ordinations, they are so special and such an important part of ones ministry. I totally felt like i was there and it was amazing to be able to 'see' Amy. I miss her!!!

Not much else is going on, working this week and then a wedding in Arkansas this weekend (more later.)

Happy Tuesday!!

love

laura

Houston Weekend

Last night I didn't sleep too well. But in the grand scheme of things, my lack of sleep doesn't rank too high.

I slept in Ethan's room and listened to him cough all night, he was SO congested. And he also sleeps with this toy that plays music, and he kept rolling over on it and making it play through out the night. Lovely. But again, with Ethan feeling so sick, i let it slide.

Ethan did get up during the night and let me rock him for a bit. Melted my heart right there.

I realllllllly didn't want to run this morning. I had a long convo with myself before getting out of bed that had me convinced that running wasn't that important...haha!The very thought of running 10 miles made me want to quit before even starting. But off i went.....Sarah showed me the loop she runs in her neighborhood. The temp wasn't as warm as i thought it would be but the 94% humidity? i.felt.that! I don't know the last time i sweat that much, i was drenched!!!

So I ended up running 9.5 miles. I wanted 10, but was totally happy with what i got. What is weird, is that when i stop running i'm never out of breath. i can pretty much carry a whole convo right away. But my legs felt like LEAD the last few miles. I'm thinking maybe because i hadn't done a long run in a while my legs were just tired?

Also.....tried GU. Hated it. I put a small amount in and thought i was going to throw up. disgusting!!! eghhh!

Anyways....good run, tired legs.

Sarah took Ethan to the dr this morning and he has a bacterial infection in his ears, eyes, and now lungs. He is on breathing treatments and tons of meds. The funny thing is that you can see he's sick by just looking at him, but he acts and plays like he's completely fine.

Sarah does the Grocery Game...she's been doing it now for about 2 years. It's this site that tells you what coupons to use at what stores and you get amazing deals. I went to the store today with my list and Sarah helped me with the coupons. My original bill was $42, and i ended up paying $17. I totally felt like i had won something, ha!!! I have no desire to do all the work that is involved, but i love the savings and getting things free. I do a lot of shopping AT Sarah's house. She has drawers full of toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, cleaning supplies etc....sometimes i take things she tells me not to. I'm just trying to keep her from ending up on Hoarders.

(you might notice i wear this shirt a lot!!! i got it free from work and it's one of the most comfy shirts EVER!!)

Poor Sarah is exhausted!!! Taking care of a sick kiddo and teaching me how to grocery shop...all in a days work!

I told her to open her eyes wide here to look more awake. I think she just looks really excited to be spending time with her fave sister.

The boys are in bed and we're just sitting here....enjoying the silence.

I'll head home tomorrow and ease back into real life...working, cooking, cleaning, and schedules. Oh Spring Break......i wish you were a bit longer!

love
laura

WHAT a day!

Wow.

It's funny how you never know what will happen when there are kiddos around. I'm learning that my need to control and plan will quickly fly out the window whenever we start our ltitle family.

But first....totally forgot to tell you how Daniel sent me off. He hid these notes in my purse for me to open while I'm away.

I love notes and i love surprises!!!

This morning we got up at 7, which is sleeping in for me, so i'm feeling pretty good. After breakfast, we went to Grant's soccer class. It was mostly a lot of fun games and ways for them to learn how to follow directions and run after moving objects. The coach was great with the kids, and Grant had a fun time.

(these pics are bad, but i still want to share)

Ethan makes this face whenever we try to take his picture.

So........

Ethan hasn't been feeling well and had an ear infection right before i got here. Today he has a double ear infection and green gunk profusely pouring out of his eyes. He has a fever and is completely miserable. We're pretty sure he'll be going back to the pediatrician tomorrow. Hopefully he'll (me, ha!) be able to sleep through the night. It's funny how the day can feel pretty normal, then add a sick kiddo to the mix and everything changes and somehow the ltitle things like laundry don't seem as important anymore.

With Ethan not feeling well grocery shopping was interesting. It was while we were at the store that he started getting worse. We went to HEB (oh my word i love these!!!) and it was pretty brutal. We fed them quickly then put a movie on (which is a huge deal in the Landry household) and let the boys just sit and calm down.

I just read them their bedtime book and hopefully they'll sleep and feel better tomorrow.

Sarah made chickpea pasta for dinner and it was yummy!!! Whole wheat pasta, bell pepper, onions, chickpeas, almonds, and some spices. It was so good (i had my doubts at first).

Sarah and I are relaxing with wine and cake and hoping for better days tomorrow.....

I'm going to try and run 10 miles in the morning. Which will be interesting because a. i haven't had a long run in 2 weeks, and b. it's new and unfamiliar territory.....so we'll see what happens.

Hopefully my next post will be filled with healthy children and good news about running!!

love

laura



Spring Break

I left work early on Wednesday and headed to Dallas. I stayed the night with my parents to break up the long drive to Houston. I love spending time at my parents house, they really let me relax and take it easy...so i always feel like a guest and don't have to do much other than be comfortable. I get to be spoiled, and i like it, haha!

I woke up Thursday morning and did a short run before getting on the road. It was pretty warm and humid, so i was able to break out the shorts. My last several runs in Oklahoma the temp has been in the 30's, so 70's was quite a shock to the system! I haven't ran in humidity in so long, but i was thankful for the sweat!!

After a hilly 3 miles, i showered and got on the road to see Sarah, Mike, and the boys. We spent yesterday afternoon making White Almond wedding cake and playing around.

Grant and Ethan love to help!

Ethan's favorite place to be....

Love it!

Sarah made us rice and beans....

Sarah's a health nut, so she added cabbage, peppers, peas, carrots, quinoa, and millet.

It's interesting to be with the boys and get a real glimpse of what being a mom is like. There are moments when i'm like "oh my gosh when is naptime?!" But then there's a lot of times when the boys are so sweet and do the funniest things. And I love when they just let me hold them or read to them.

We spent a lot of time playing outside last night, running races and playing I Spy. It's so nice here (other than the humidity) and it is such a treat to be outside!

As i was getting ready for bed last night i found a sticker on my shirt, icing on my pants, and something sticky on my shirt. Something i'm sure that will feel normal in a few years.

Today we took Grant to his soccer class and have been doing some errands. I'll post today's pics later......i went a little crazy with the camera so i'll try to narrow it down, ha!

Happy Friday!!!!!!

love

laura