...lately...

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks! The last 2 week(ends) have been busy.  Weekend before last was my big VBS training weekend.  We had dinner on Friday night for the VBS Directors and then a training seminar for all teachers on Saturday morning.  I'm super pumped about our western ranch theme! Here are some pics from the dinner and training set up:

Dinner tables

cute cute cute decor!

 decoration ideas for VBS rooms

 A week ago Sunday, I had 2 showers to go to! Whew, exhausting! These pics are from a blessings shower where we encouraged 3 soon to be moms! It was so neat to share scripture with them and tell them how excited we are for them to be moms! They had a time to share specific prayer requests and then we prayed for each of them.  It was a really special time.  Here are the 3 moms, 3 girls I love! Jess, Kaela & Teresa (standing in order of their due dates).

me with the mommies!

with my sweet sweet friend, Abby!

This past weekend 7 girls and I headed out for a girls weekend at a lake house.  It was amazing! We chatted, relaxed, ate, watched movies, played games, enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was awesome! For lunch on Friday Rebecca and I made a favorite of ours and it was hit.  Who couldn't love Cornbread Salad? Mmmmm, delish!

We also made jewelry, here are our goods! It was super fun designing and helping each other come up with these pieces!

Sweet Abby was making us frozen hot chocolate and the food processor spewed all over her, we had to have a good laugh about it!

Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that it is BEAUtiful there?  This is the view from their back porch! Ahhhh, I could sit out there ALL day!

The Sprinkles

I know this is dark, but this is some of the girls eating lunch by the lake, amazing, I know!

better view of their lovely faces

The view of the back of the house (taken standing by the lake)

 We took girly pics in all sorts of combinations by the lake! LOVE IT! This is my sweet friend, Teresa who is having a baby girl in August!

same pic with lovely Abby

So, now you know what I've been up to! Things have been busy, but in a good way!

I've got a few more exciting events coming up, so stay tuned, I'm sure more pictures posts are to come...I seem to be on a role.  I'm not even sure I would know what to post if I didn't have pictures to guide me!

Have a great week!

...shopping day...

Yesterday I had an amazing opportunity.  All female graduates and the wives of male graduates from SWBTS are provided with a new outfit, head to toe for graduation and any interview/ church visits you might be going on after graduation.  You have to apply for the "Dressed for Service" program.  Twelve women were selected from the Houston campus.  Yesterday was my shopping day.  Yes, you are allowed to laugh and think this is strange.  Laugh all you want, I'm the one that ended up with a nice new dress, cardigan, shoes, purse and jewelry.  Here are my duds:

Anne Klein dress, I know, you can't see it very well, but it's a nice tailored black pleated sheath dress with a cap sleeve.  It also has a criss cross interest across the chest.  It's really basic, but has some nice interest in it. Oh, and yeah, I look way better in the dress than this hottie.

The cardigan below is Shu Shu brand and was impossible to find online, so you get a ghetto picture of it that I just took in my apartment.  It's SUPER cute and has ruched/gathered sleeves! It looks great over the dress, but I will also get a lot of wear out of it with more casual looks! Oh, and the dress looks great with or without the cardigan, making it more versatile as well.

Since my outfit was a nice basic black, you best believe I needed a pop color shoe.  It was soooo funny when I started pulling all yellow or red heels to try on, one of the ladies from the seminary that was shopping with us said, "Kasey, are you just kidding around or are you really going to try those shoes on." Haha, those of you that know me are not surprised that I needed a bright shoe.  I ended up with a nice, stylish, but also simple red patent heel.  They are Gianni Bini's.

We took a break from so much shopping for a delish meal at Cheesecake Factory! It was amazing!  I got the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes...mmmm

Then our table ordered the red velvet/cheesecake layered cake - y'all, seriously, this cake is A-MAZ-ING!

While we were at lunch, we perused Premier Designs Jewelry catalogs and each got to pick out 3 items.  I got an amazing necklace with a removeable pendant that can also be worn as a pin, my third piece was a set of matching earrings.  This picture is just of the necklace and the earrings.  No, I did not get the bracelet that is pictured.

This is the pendant/pin.  I'm realy excited about these unique pieces!

After lunch we headed to Macy's and each picked out purses.  This is my amazing purse.  The only thing I don't like about it is that it is Jessica Simpson...I'm forcing myself to look past that.

Ok, I'm sorry most of these pics aren't professional quality, but if you knew how long it took me to find these pics on the internet, you would understand why I settled.

Anywho, all in all it was a great day!  I'm really excited about everything I got!

...PRECIOUS...

Just try and tell me that you don't just want to eat this little thing up! I mean, seriously, STOP IT! She's A-DOR-A-BLE! I knew you would agree.  Dang, I love this girl! Yup, this is my niece, Macie McKaren Collier!

This is my parent's & I watching the Lady Bears fight the good fight at the Final Four in San Antonio against UConn.  We might not have won, but it was still fun to be there!

...a fun, but exhausting, weekend...

I seriously don't know how I survived last Fall without a camera! I'm so glad to be able to take pics of what's going on in my life! So, without further ado...here's a few pics from a wonderful weekend that was jam packed!

Friday night I watched my Baylor boys bring it!  Here I am with some fellow Baylor friends!

On Saturday I helped host a shower for a dear friend of mine.  Here are the hostesses with the mom-to-be, Jess Ray!

with my fellow sprinkle!

with the momma-to-be!!! LOVE HER!!!

Then Sunday afternoon my dad & I had tix to the Elite Eight game! It was super fun, even though the Bears lost!

You know, some of you could reward all of the photo posts with some comments...that would be a nice treat for me!

See you in April!

...Spring Break 2010...

Seriously, you don't deserve me!  That's right, this is another photo post, coming your way.  I assume that you love photo posts as much as I do, so I'll just assume you're thanking me as you sit in front of your computer.  So, without further ado, here are some kodak moments from my family get away to San Antonio last week:

The whole crew (minus me, I'm taking the pic) on the Riverwalk in SA.

All of us after we toured the Alamo, taking a break enjoying some snowcones.

Sidenote: shortly after this picture was taken, we crossed the street and were looking at the Ripley's Believe It or Not, trying to decide if we wanted to go in, how much it cost, etc, when all of a sudden my BIL says, "Where's Blake?"  All of a sudden we look around and he's nowhere to be found.  Scariest feeling of my life! We look up and down the street.  He's nowhere.  And the street is PACKED! I go back to the crosswalk, thinking maybe he hadn't made it across the street with us...and sure enough there he was, on the other side of the street with a lady that was helping him find his family.  I shouted out to my family, "I got him," and crossed the street to get one scared little 4 year old.  I think we were only looking for him for less than 30 seconds, but it was a horrific 30 seconds.  You had best believe that he was holding onto someone's hand THE ENTIRE rest of the trip!  Thank you Lord for protecting him for those few minutes that he was "lost."

Here's some of us that went on the Riverboat ride through downtown San Antonio.

Here we are at the entrance to Seaworld! It was the perfect day to enjoy some rides and shows!  Love spending time with these kiddos!

Us again before a show!

Shamu posing very nicely for us!

All 10 of us as we were about to leave Seaworld after a LONG, but fun, day!

It's always fun spending time with my fam.  A little crazy with so many of us, so many kids, so many opinions, so many schedules, but it's always worth it to make memories and more importantly, just get to get away and be together!

Next post: My visit to Reliant Stadium to see my Baylor Bears play in the Sweet Sixteen this Friday!!! Yippeee!!!! Sic 'em Bears!!!

...RODEO 2010...

I know, you are all loving me for my photo saturated posts lately.  Yeah, that's just the kind of amazing blogger that I am, keeps y'all coming back.  Actually, I'm just having to make up for last Fall when I didn't have a camera and therefore was lacking in photo documentation of my life.  Well, no more! I'm trying, I promise! So, without further ado, here are some fun pics from my 2010 Rodeo experience! If you're a Houstonian and don't make an annual trip to the Rodeo, well, you're missing out, and not getting a true Houston experience!  And if you ever need someone to go with, well, I'd be willing to do that, out of the goodness of my heart, just for you, just give me a call!

   Carnival Rides! Bumper cars!

Cliff, Teresa & Rebs on the Big Slide!

Not so healthy Rodeo food!

The 4 of us at the concert!

Cute cowgirls after a fun-filled night at the Rodeo!

...saying goodbye...

I told you a few weeks ago that my boss had officially announced her retirement.  This weekend we took time to recognize and thank her for her amazing 36 years of service as Minister of Preschool Education.

I can't begin to tell you how much I have learned from this amazing woman of God.  She taught me more than I probably even realize.  I am ever grateful to the Lord for blessing me through her friendship and mentorship over the past 5 years.  It is hard for me to think about coming to the office every day and walking past her office with the door closed and the lights off.  Noone to run an idea by, meet with, or brainstorm ideas with.  Needless to say, I will miss her.

We wanted to make this weekend special for her so on Friday night we had dinner with all of the Division Directors.  It was a really special time.  We gave her a picture of all of us and we signed the mat for her to remember us by.  We also had compiled a memory book for her that had pages from Preschool leaders, childcare workers and staff members.  She just about lost it when she saw what it was.  I hope it is a really special keepsake for her.  Then on Sunday evening we had a reception in her honor.  The culinary services director, Jan, and I were in charge of the reception.  It was really fun to get to plan some special elements to this as well.  We had a slideshow going on the big screens of pictures from preschool ministry over the past 36 years.  Here are some pics from the reception.  You can see red & white paper lanterns that we hung, the big screens with the slideshow going, and a table with a contemporary center piece.

close up of a center piece, yes, they were my creation, my momma taught me well

the drink table with a larger arrangement, sorry it's kinda dark

the receiving line, don't miss the giraffe in the background, Susan just recently got it to put in the Preschool lobby, we thought she'd enjoy seeing it at her reception!

me with some wonderful preschool peeps!

I'm grateful that they aren't moving too far away! It's not goodbye, it's see you later!