baby brother

So this is my baby brother, Clay. I call him Clayboy. And Claybers.

Claybers is an artist. And I thought I would exhibit some of my favorite drawings of his. You may remember that he drew us a picture to use with our wedding invitations. He also drew me an awesome gorilla face that I am going to frame and I am STOKED.

That is all. Thanks for drawing things for me, Claybee.

Flashback

 Toothless, hanging out in front of Old Faithful, wearing a hat made out of towel fabric. Was that in style then?

 My brother, sporting an awesome train hat. And myself, wearing a Kelly's Kids dress. Bonus fact: I still sit with my toes like that. 

My brother, showing some skin in some sweet sweats. My sister, Baylor proud with an AWESOME hat. And me.

And this.

Friday Favorites

Well hello! Sorry it has been a while. This week has been crazy. Curve balls all over the place! After I mention my favorites for this week, I will share an update on the Jensen fam.

Favorite Christmas Idea: Stockings made from burlap

 (Both photos found at HGTV dot com)

Nick and I got married 2 weeks after Christmas, so this year will be our first Christmas as married people! Hooray!  I realize that Christmas is a few months away, but it's never too early to start thinking about decorations! I love this idea and could easily sew some for our new home. Plus Nick likes them too, which is always a plus. :)

Favorite Workout

Pinterest is so wonderful. This workout popped up on my feed, and Nick and I did it yesterday. Minus the 10 minute run, because I don't have running shoes with me here in Texas. So he rode the stationary bike and I walked on the tredmill in TOMS. ha.

(From 117lbs dot tumblr dot com)

This morning, both Nick and I were pretttty sore. Mind you, I haven't sufficiently worked out in quite a while, besides hiking in Yellowstone. Anyway, I am a fan. 

Favorite Free Sleeperstar/Jillian Edwards Concert

I am so so excited about this. If you have never heard of Jillian Edwards, please click on her name and check out her lovely music. She was a year behind me at Baylor, and would lead worship at UBC when dc*b was on tour. She is absolutely precious and I love her music. 

On September 9th, Sleeperstar is having a fan appreciation concert at House of Blues Dallas, and Jillian will be there. If you order tickets HERE before September 5th, you can get as many as you want for FREE. Holler!

And now, a short update: 

We were supposed to be in Missouri at this time, and moving to Providence on September 30th. However, the apartment we thought we would be living in became unavailable to us, and we found out 2 days before we needed to leave for Missouri. As you might already know, during this time of transition, we have been living with my grandparents in the DFW. Last week, my Papa fell and broke his femur near the hip. He had to have surgery and is now at a rehab hospital. He is doing GREAT. However, Nick and I felt very uneasy about leaving my grandparents during this time. We were still planning on moving, and then the apartment fell through. The lofts had another apartment available, but it would be over $200 more a month, which is not in our budget. So, we decided put a hold on a cheaper apartment with a move in date for the beginning of October and stay and help my grandparents for the next month.  We have been trusting in God's timing with those whole thing. His timing has definitely been a comfort over the past couple of days with news of the hurricane heading toward the Northeast.  Rhode Island is preparing for an emergency, and I am grateful we will not be moving in the middle of a tropical storm.

So, a summary: We will be in Texas for another month... God is good... Pray for my Papa and his recovery.

Back from camping!

Hello from Texas!

We are finally back and adjusted from our trip to Denver and Yellowstone. It was pretty amazing to experience cooler weather for a week and a half. I think I went into shock yesterday standing outside in the 106 degree heat.

We spent four days in Denver before meeting my dad and brothers and driving up to Wyoming. We got to explore the city, and toured both the US Mint and the capitol. Nick has started collecting coins and was thrilled to see the mint.

When my dad and brothers got to Denver, we helped Aaron set up his new, little apartment. It's quite quaint. He starts school on Monday. Eek.

Then, we headed up to Yellowstone. We hiked, fished, explored, and had plenty of roasted marshmallows. I am pretty sure we saw every single bison in the park. Plus a ton of elk, a few deer, and five or six bears. Black bears are my favorite, naturally.

Then, after driving back to Denver, leaving my brother there, and driving all day to Texas, we made it to DFW at one in the morning on my birthday. Good thing I got to sleep in a bit! Still having trouble admitting I'm 23.

Coming up:
- Dinner tonight with friends for my birthday! So excited.
- Hopefully moving to Prov in 10 days! We still need financial partners as we plant a college ministry. Click HERE for more info.

Independence Day weekend!

 Fourth of July has come and gone. Last year, we really didn't do much for this holiday, but we got pretty crazy this year. And by crazy, I mean we did more than just watching fireworks.

On Saturday, we headed to East Texas to spend time with my familia. But first, we stopped in Canton at First Monday. 

We did a lot of looking around, and I ended up getting a knitted headband and then a $1 frame. With a dandelion painting included. Oh boy.

By mid day we were ready to head to Grammy's house for some AC, food, and Dr Pepper.
My cousin helped me decorate Nick's birthday cake. He did a pretty spiffing job. Until he stuck the side of his face in it trying to get down out of the chair. It was pretty hilarious and quite impressive though.

This is another cousin. She is pretty awesome at making great faces for the camera. Or maybe just blinking at the flash. Either way, these pics make me laugh.

We went outside to visit the mules. I realize I shared this pic before, but I mean, come on, aren't her pigtails just precious?

These guys had a pretty good time together. Nick does an awesome Donald Duck voice, which Henry loves. 

After lunch, I took a nap on the couch, and then we headed to Plano, where we enjoyed delicious chicken and corn on the cob, grilled by my dad.

On Monday morning, we went to the Arlington parade with my aunt and uncle. It was pretty fun. Except for the creepy clowns and the unbelievable heat.

We got home from the parade and I ended up taking a 3 hour nap. The sun is not my friend.
 But then, I made cookies. Cookies with the best tasting dough. Ever. I just kept wanting to eat it. They were chocolate chip cake batter cookies, and I added sprinkles for fun. 

 The hubster was upset I used chocolate. Didn't stop him from eating plenty, though.

After some cookie baking and some patriotic grilling, we took a ride in my Papa's jeep and headed to watch some fireworks! My hair got a bit wind blown.

Since the Arlington fireworks were the night before, we decided to find a spot to watch the show after the Ranger's game. It worked out really well.

It was definitely a great way to spend the day. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

Voltaire, hair...

So I kind of went through a headband making fury. I guess I just got tired of my hair being boring... And I am definitely not paying the kind of money people expect for headbands and clips these days, when I can just do it myself. Are you serious? So I made my own.

 These two have been permanently glued to headbands. I really like the pink and yellow one... but rarely find myself wearing pink or yellow. O well. I need to brighten up my wardrobe anyway.

The one above is probably my favorite. I just made it the same way we made the bow ties for the wedding. And I slid the headband through the little loop, so I can use the headband for multiple looks! woot!

For this one, I made the flower and added it to a stretchy headband my sister already had. True confession: I swiped it from her room. But she never wears them so I was pretty confident she wouldn't notice.

 I made these two out of old t-shirts, with a five-strand braid. I love how they stretch.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I made a few more flowers, but I have not worn them yet because I am unsure of how I like them.

Happy fourth of July! We will be up bright and early to see the parade in downtown Arlington tomorrow. Excited to celebrate with the hubster! Speaking of the hubster, he has turned off the light and crawled into bed. So now I am just sitting in the dark. Welp, guess that's my cue.

But one last thing: Isn't my cousin absolutely adorable? I think so. If I didn't think pageant children and their mothers were so creepy, I'd say "sign her up!"