Love After All, Matters the Most.

I'm having one of those days, I'm missing my husband  a lot. I came across a song that we played in our wedding, Captivate Us by Watermark, one of my all time favorites. So I decided to revisit all of our music. Well, not a good idea when you're already missing your husband a lot. This opened the flood gates today.

There are days when I can get down about the job market for teachers right now, I don't know what my future holds for the next four months regarding the job situation. But I was talking to one of my best girlfriends on the phone this week and she really put things into perspective for me. She said that I may not have a job and she may not love her job but we have something that a lot of people don't have, our true love, husbands that love us more than anything. This is something that I have often thought about. I remember when all I cared about was finding the one, I wanted to be in love and married more than anything. More than finding a job that I enjoyed, more than having friends, this is literally all I thought about.

I am so blessed by this man that I get to call my husband, the love of my life, the future father of my children, the one that I have waited my entire life for. Like the song, love after all, does matter the most.  He has brought so much joy into my life. I did not know it was possible to be this happy and in love.

I remember when David and I were dating, I was on this incredible high all the time. My girlfriend, Ashlee, would probably tell you the same thing. She laughed at me all the time because I was just silly in love. I always wondered, how do you know when you find the one? Well, ten days after David and I started talking, I knew. He. Was. It. He was different. He was what I had always pictured and hoped for my future. I'm not going to go on about all of his amazing qualities because that would take forever. I will just say he had the makings of the perfect man, husband and father. I fell head over heels for him. I'm still head over heels for him and I know that feeling will just grow stronger as our lives together grow longer.

I can't worry about what I don't have right now. I know I am grateful for what I do have. My husband, my love. He is all that I need...and of course our loving Lord in Heaven, who made all of my dreams come true. It is Him who I truly thank for all of my blessings. He led my life to David and I know by remaining faithful that He will lead my life where it needs to go, He will show me the way.

I must say that the women that have husbands over seas are stronger women than I could ever be. But I might be surprised if I was ever put in that situation. I at least get to see David on the weekends and I am so thankful for that.

My love, that matters the most......

I love you, David Jeffrey Clark.

Easter Weekend

This weekend for Easter, David and I went to Granbury to my in-laws. Chris, Merry and the kids were there along with a whole lotta family that came over on Saturday. It was a FUN weekend!

I went early on Friday because Merry, my SIL, and I planned on shopping downtown together. We. Were. Excited. about that! We never get to go do fun stuff by ourselves so it was a treat! We shopped for two hours and it flew by! We went to one of my favorite, probably my very favorite store, Almost Heaven. We found this amazing painting...

The picture quality doesn't do the painting justice. It seriously is beautiful. It is a hand painted oil painting, another reason why I love it so much. The lady told me that since they are all hand painted, there aren't any that are exactly alike. So, I consider it a one of a kind, kind of. It's fairly large, about 24x30 inches. 

So, Merry and I were just obsessed with it and it would match my house perfectly so we thought this would be a perfect birthday present from David. I had the lady hold it until the next day so I had some time to sleep on it. I still loved it, so I brought David back on Saturday and he pretty much knew we were getting it before he even saw it. I have such an amazing husband!! Happy Early Birthday to me!!

There was a reserved spot for it in my house. Since we've moved, I have tried so many different combinations of decor and nothing works in this spot. It was definitely meant to be. It's also so hard to find art work that you just love and that also doesn't look cheap. This wasn't cheap, but it was definitely a good deal for what it is! 

We found jewelry that we both loved so we bought the same jewelry and she found a beautiful spring/summer dress. Needless to say, we had a blast! Wish we were closer so we could be work out/shopping buddies all the time! That could also make shopping dangerous! 

I feel so blessed to have such an awesome sister-in-law. I love spending time with Merry because we love the same things. We are so much alike and never run out of things to talk about. She truly is an amazing sister and I feel so blessed that we get along so well. I can't wait for the 4 of us, plus the kids, to take trips together!

Friday night, the 9 of us took my in-laws new boat to eat at this restaurant next to the marina on Lake Granbury. It was beautiful and so much fun! Saturday tons of family came over and we had Easter lunch and played and visited. It was a great time! 

Chris, Merry, David and I took the boat out and the men water skied, they are really good and I had never seen David ski. He did amazing! I attempted skiing, I had only skied once in 7th grade and I didn't love it. I have been successful at wake-boarding, once, and really loved it and was up for a long time. So I tried, 10-15 times. Probably about 5 of the times I wasn't even close to getting up. I got up completely for at least a second about 3 times. I was so close!!! I was also worn out so I gave up until we can go back and try again. A super fun time!

We went to late service and then to Spring Creek for lunch. Here are some Easter pictures before church.

Our sweet Annie and Cason! They were so much fun this weekend!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend with family too! Have a great week! I'm being productive this week, so that means no blogging until after our Amarillo trip next weekend! 

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

I love Earth Day! It reminds me of my father. Growing up it was always a huge deal to him and I think that is something to always remember, that he is an advocate for protecting our environment. He is a professor for those of you that don't know and he teaches all the "sciencey" stuff, so it is very important to him..not to mention he is uber smart about all that science jazz! I remember he was always given earth day t-shirts and sometimes I ended up wearing them or my mom would wear them, 5 sizes too big! The funny things we remember from our childhood! So this post is in honor of my father, who has always loved Earth Day and this day will always remind me of the wonderful things that my dad enjoys, protecting our environment. Thanks for caring so much dad, we need more people like you in this world! I love you! 

Here is a link to EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

 "Make every day Earth Day and help protect health and the environment throughout the year."

And here is a great picture of my dad and mom at their 60th birthday!

And here is a link to my dad's website...he's also an author if you didn't already know that.

http://www.richardtrout.com/

Check it out! He makes sure to always help the environment in his young adult adventure series!

This book is one of my favorites!!

And there's FIVE more where this came from and one that's coming out soon!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

The Infamous Post Card

So I'm not sure if everyone is aware of my post card struggles. It's pretty humerous now, but at the time I was in tears and mad all at the same time. Sooo, for David and I's thank you cards for our wedding/shower gifts, I created a post card. It was my mom's idea because it is really cheap, like 28 cents! That totally beats normal postage, right.

I created the post card on mpix and they offered the option of which direction you want your postcard so naturally I thought either one would be okay and worth 28 cent postage. Our picture was up and down so that is the one I chose. I created them, love them, so cute! Recieved them in the mail and they came with envelopes, I was quite confused on that because it's a post card. Duh.

Filled out Every. Single. Address. and took them to the post office and they said, "These aren't machinable because of the direction the address is going," on my up and down post card. I said, "but, I was given the option to go either direction, why would I be given the option if it's not a machinable direction?" Hence the envelopes I recieved in the mail with the post cards (light bulb, but like a month later).

So for some, I paid 80-something cent postage for one stinkin' post card because the direction of the post card and address was not machinable! That's more than normal postage. I was in tears talking to my mom on the phone because of my frustration. I was trying to save money and now having to pay more than normal. My mother was a saint and calmed me down with the words, "Send them all to me, I will place them in envelopes, address them and mail them." Wow. Can we say seriously amazing mother! I love her so much and am so grateful for her!

They were already WAY late, and this ordeal made them even more late. I'm pretty sure people thought we were extremely ungrateful. So if you're reading this and you were a generous and loving soul and gave David and I a gift, trust me, we are more than grateful for you and your kindness. There was just a bit of glitch in the thank you card process.

So here it is! Drum roll.......

Pretty cute, right?! So lesson learned on post card sending, I will ALWAYS remember how to create and send my future post cards for as long as I live. So, everyone be ready for our Christmas 2011 post card debut, the correct way. I will be so proud of that, I already know it. 

I'm pretty sure some of you will be getting one of these beauties in the mail this week or next week, it's the last batch....four months later, six months for the shower guests. YIKES! Another lesson learned, no matter how busy you are, always send thank you's right away! 

I think some were lost in the mail, if you did not recieve one and want one, please let me know. I'm not being vain, but some have actually told me they did not recieve theirs and still wanted one. So I'm just sayin'. You can respond to the blog or email me at keelytrout@yahoo.com.

I hope everyone else learned a lesson about post card sending as well! Have a blessed Easter weekend with your friends and family! This is a time to celebrate our Lord in Heaven as is everyday!

Romans 1:4-5 

And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Philippians 3:10-12 
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (NIV)

1 Peter 1:3 
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... (NIV)

It's Been Awhile...

So, I've been a bad blogger lately. It's been over a month! I'll try to make up for it, we have lots going on in the next few weeks that will be blog worthy. 

We finally finished the console table revamp and we're pretty proud of it! 

Here was the before picture if you've forgotten...It looks completely different.

David also refinished the matching side table in our living room. It looked just like the before picture

of the console table. I found  the hardware at hobby lobby, it's a green/brown crystal knob.

The picture quality isn't that wonderful because it's from my iPhone. 

Other than that, we've just been busy busy. David is still out of town for work and I'm seriously over it. He better get his hiney home soon! Like he can really control that. We've been married for four months now and he's been home for about two weeks consecutively out of the four months :( I'm still schoolin' it. I have 3 more classes for each class of this semester left and I. Am. Ready. It just seems when you get to the end of the semester you're done trying. So I feel like Thomas the Train, I can do it, I can do it! 

Then onto bigger and better things, a may mini and two more summer classes! Yesss! Ha ha. But the great news is, I will graduate in August and then I'm seriously done with school FOREVER! I have no desire to continue my education any further. Every once in a while I get the bug because I've always had this thought in the back of my head since I was little that I would love to be a college professor. I think because of my dad. But then I realize, that's just a thought. No real dreams there. I think I just loved being a college student and love to be on college campuses. I'm not sure what it is, but I love college! We actually reminisce quite often, probably more than normal people. Ha! 

We are pretty excited for this weekend and the next! We will see the Clark's this weekend for Easter and the Cooper's the next for Micah's first birthday and Emma Kate's 1st ever ballet recital. The chance to watch my little niece, that loves to be center of attention, dance in her tutu in front of a crowd will be to- die-for! Actually, both of my nieces, Annie and EK love attention. What is it with girls?

I don't have any pics to share from Spring Break with Kris, the kids and my parents because I was a horrible picture taker :( I will be sure to take some these next two weeks! Have a blessed day!