Photo a Week Challenge

I have decided to join a photo a week challenge... again... This will be my 3rd year to attempt this & 3rd time is a charm right?!
The first weeks theme is celebration, and today is my mom in law's birthday! So went out to dinner & I took a pic of dessert :)

If you are also wanting to sharpen your photography skills, or just want a new reason to take pics, I encourage you to join our photo a week challenge!
Hopefully I will stick to it this time ;)

A Tribute to Sal's Pizza

This morning I found out that Sal's Pizza had a fire on Sunday!



They shouldn't be closed long, but the news made me think of everything this restaurant means to me :)
Hubby grew up eating at Sal's, he remembers being welcomed into the kitchen as a small child to pick out the ingredients for his own pizza.
Sal, the owner, moved to New York from Italy to start a pizza restaurant, and from there came to Texas. We are very happy this is where he chose to make his wonderful pizza!
Hubby introduced me to Sal's, and took me there on many dates before he was my Hubby. The night he proposed we went there afterward for dinner :) We also had our rehearsal dinner there, sharing our favorite pizza with our closest friends and family. Sal was there that night making sure everything was perfect for us the night before our wedding!
Since then we have gone many times, sometimes just us, sometimes sharing with friends. Good pizza and good people!
If you are in the area, I would definitely recommend the good pizza and good people at Sal's (after they open back up of course)! I know Hubby & I will be there reopening day!

*Sal's did not ask me to write this blog, I just really love that place & wanted to share with you!

Do you have any restaurant that you love? A place that holds great memories? Share with us :)

2012 Christmas Letter

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!!!

2012 has been the year for change in our home!

In May we went to Disney World! It was an amazing trip! We went with Jamie & Craig, & Jim & Cathy (my adopted parents J). We also went to Universal Studios to see Hogwarts! It was an experience we will never forget!

In June we bought our first home! 7131 Cloverglen Dr, Dallas, TX 75249 J It is taking a lot of work, but we are putting our own touches into everything! We have also had some amazing help! Thank you everyone who helped us move & helped us renovate!!! We love having our own home! But we miss seeing Conner & Elias everyday! They change so much from day to day that now when we see them we feel like they are different people! We would like to thank The Burns’ for the time ya’ll allowed us to live in your home! It was a blessing & we love ya’ll!

Then we changed churches. It was a very difficult decision, but we felt God calling us elsewhere. In June we started attending Waxahachie Bible Church. In August we attended our last youth service at Abundant, which was the most difficult part of leaving. We are really enjoying Waxahachie Bible! In the short time we have been there it already feels like home. We have met some great people & started attending a Sunday school class where everyone is like family.

Then Krystle became a Pet Granny! She started working for The Pet Granny as a pet sitter part time. It is a family owned & run business (Patrick’s Aunt’s) & they were getting busy so asked if she wanted to work with them. She is really enjoying it! She is also still creating for ScrappinArt, though not as much now that we have a home to put in order.

Patrick has been working at Promotional Arts for 8 ½ years! He is also continuing to grow his computer repair business in his free time.

I would like to leave you with a little Christmas nugget that came to me the other day. When we give gifts, we should do it out of love; not expecting a gift in return. When Jesus came to earth giving us the most precious gift, He knew we could never repay Him! But He did it anyway! And if you could not buy gifts this year, then lovingly accept the gifts others have gotten you, knowing they love you and wanted to give to you.

We love you! We hope you make this Christmas a wonderful time with friends, family, & love! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Patrick & Krystle

Another way of looking at Santa

I love Christmas! I love shopping for the perfect gifts for my loved ones, I love playing the Elf & handing out all the gifts from under the tree, I love watching their faces as they open the gifts (I don't usually open any of my gifts until everyone is finished because I get so caught up in their reactions). I also love Santa & Christmas trees & everything Christmassy! I have been disturbed lately by people condemning Santa because "He's not the reason for the season" that's not how I see it...
We are planning & hosting the biggest most important birthday party of the year! When you plan a child's birthday party, you might hire a clown, but that clown is not the reason for the celebration.
I have never seen Santa as the reason for Christmas, but he is just another of the many Christmas festivities we enjoy to celebrate Jesus' birth.
I just wanted to encourage you to choose a different way of looking at it & allow Christmas to be a time of celebrating!
Merry Christmas!!!

My Birthday

I had a great day today! I woke & Hubby was still in bed which is always nice. He worked from home today (Thanks Lacey!). Then I looked at my phone and the screen was full of FaceBook notifications telling me Happy Birthday :) I also got several emails from the weirdest places (like our home owners insurance) telling me Happy Birthday! Everywhere I turned I was being wished a happy birthday!
Hubby & I went to lunch together, and then I crafted most of the day while Hubby worked next to me :) What more could I ask for?!

I had amazing Thai food for dinner with friends & family, you know, since I'm part Thai ;)

I had a great time! Thank you all who came!!!

Then ice cream! Who needs cake?!

I also received the cutest videos ever!!! (Thank you Tiffany!)

Conner actually signed I love you! I've never seen him do it before, he has tried for a long time! I love him so much!

Elias is getting so big! And he said my name!!! (They call me Bo, it's my extra special name given to me by Conner) I cherish these videos :)

Lastly, we went to Chick Fila where Conner & Elias' dad is manager, & he gave me unsweet tea for my birthday (I wasn't hungry for anything else lol).

I had a great day filled with friends, family, and fun...and food lol!

Last Night's Dinner

Last night I did something that I do not recommend, I went to the grocery store with out any resemblance of a plan. I knew I wanted to make fish tacos for dinner, but all I had was fish & tortillas. So I went to get something, anything to make these fish tacos a reality.
Typically I will make Chipotle copy cat corn salsa to go with my fish tacos, but there was no fresh corn to be found :(
So I decided to make up my own Pineapple Salsa recipe:
1 fresh pineapple, peeled & chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 large fresh jalapeno, seeded & chopped
sm handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
Mix all ingredients & sit in fridge to mingle flavors.
For a recipe I made up walking around the produce aisle I thought it was pretty tasty :)
But what should I make to go with the tacos? I felt uninspired by the regular rice & beans option, & nothing inspires me more than a new recipe to try out! So I pulled my handy pocket sized internet (also used for texting & making phone calls ;) out of my purse & searched Mexican side dishes on Pinterest. I found a recipe for Jalapeno Corn Cakes with Avocado Relish, this sounded promising! I got all the ingredients for the corn cakes, but decided to make my own recipe for guacamole instead of the avocado relish.
Oh my goodness, am I ever thankful for the ability to search for new recipes standing in the grocery store aisle! Dinner was amazing! The corn cakes with a little cheese, sour cream, & guacamole on top were super tasty! At 5:30 PM I had no idea what we would have for dinner, but an inspiring trip to the grocery store brought out the best!
So am I the only person who looks up recipes standing in the grocery store? Because I have to admit this was not my first time doing so :)

Being Happy

I have anger issues. I've never been one to yell & throw a fit if someone upsets me, instead I would just become bitter towards them & build up unnecessary anger that I may never let go of. That is no way to live!
This past weekend, a mom I know was telling me about her experience of losing her 4 day old daughter. She told me that through the whole experience she prayed that she would not become bitter & hard. Her words impacted me. I am sometimes bitter & hard & I have never been through an experience like she has!
I am going to work on letting go of my bitterness, I know being angry at someone only hurts me! I need to be a grown up & be able to disagree with someone without it changing who I am, who God wants me to be.
God is constantly working on me! I want to let Him :)