Today is Hollis’ 25th birthday! I still remember the first time I talked to Hollis and he was so excited to be getting his driving permit at the age of 15. He told me that one day he would have to take me for a drive in the Honda Civic. Ten years later, he is still taking me for a drive in his Honda Civic.
I could not ask for a more loving and supportive husband and I am so proud of the things he has accomplished. I have been blessed to see him grow in so many ways and could not be happier with the way our life is headed. We are sometimes thrown obstacles that we have to get though, but Hollis has always been there to make me realize that we can get through anything together. Thanks for all that you do and all that you are. You are now 1/4 of a century old! I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you! I love you!
Wow, has it already been almost a month since we last updated? The time has really flown by yet again. Well, we have been busy. The week after our anniversary trip to New Orleans we went back North to Ft. Worth for Adam and Logan’s Wedding. It was great to see the old college crew together again, and even weirder to realize that our group of four roommates are now married.
Surely the highlight of the trip (besides seeing our good friend Adam marry his lovely bride) was to see Chris and Angela’s new house. The long wait must have been tough for them, but I bet it’s all worth it now. The wait has paid off with a very very impressive house…you guys should be proud. I’ve already heard from Chris, that Angela has been busy fixing the place up, even since we’ve been there. All I could say to Chris on the trip was “Good Luck”. I’m sure you all remember how moving in to a house with Jessica took a toll on me.
The next weekend, Justin, Katie, Heidi, Jessica and I hit the road towards the south instead of north. All the way down to Corpus Christi for a relaxing weekend hanging out by the pool in Jessica’s back yard. We had dinner and drinks with her parents, we got to take the dogs to the beach (See pics here), we ate dinner at the best Mexican food restaurant in the world…Kiko’s, and we spent the evening at a Cory Morrow concert at Brewster Street under the harbor bridge. It was great to see some of our closest Portland friends at the concert…ya’ll keep in touch. It’s not until I go back home that I remember how much I miss the constant salty air breeze. I don’t know where we’ll end up in the long run, but we’ll definitely have to consider somewhere near the beach eventually. Am I too old to take up kiteboarding?
Jeff C, Justin, Katie, Jessica, and I celebrated Katie’s birthday last week at the Movie Tavern watching “The Hangover” (Happy Birthday Katie!) Then last weekend, the girls drove to San Antonio for Heidi’s first annual bachelorette party, leaving Justin and I in Houston. Well, we’re obviously not the type to spend the weekend doing nothing, we made a last minute trip back to New Orleans for some hell-raising… at least as well as Justin and I can do it… Well fine, it was mostly poker in the casino, but we had a great time. Who knows how the bachelorette party ended up, but judging by the voice mails and text messages I received at 3 or 4 in the morning, they might have had almost as good of a time as we had. Does anyone know how to upload a voicemail to a blog?
And here we are… caught back up to this weekend. It’s been so hectic lately that I haven’t even really had time to sit down and think about it all. Jessica and I talk often about how blessed we are to be able to do the things we’ve done since we’ve been married (and even before). To look around at friends getting married, buying houses, and some even getting pregnant is ridiculous. It seems like we’re all “living the good life” at the same time, honestly what could be better? I owe most of it to Jessica for being a great wife and putting up with me. She has made the small sacrifices that really make a difference in what we are able to do… including toughing out summer school for an extra couple weeks to pay for these trips, and I couldn’t be more happy that she’s willing to do that for us instead of spending it all at the mall on clothes or on a closet full of shoes.
I’m occasionally reminded of an answer that I gave to the girls to a game they played at one of Jessica’s wedding showers. The question was, “What is the thing you’re looking forward to the most about getting married?”. Of course my sarcastic answer was “Dual Incomes!”, completely overlooking the fact that I’ll be spending most of my free time with Jessica. But the money would be nothing without someone so fun to share it with. I struggle every day to find a better way to tell her that I appreciate it. We know that these are some of the best days of our lives and we couldn’t be more happy to share it all of you. Our friends, our family, and each other are all that really matter in this world, and ya’ll are what make our lives special. The work that we do on the weekdays, no matter how small or how lucrative it is, puts us one step closer to spending more priceless time with each other… whether it’s in Italy, Mexico, New Orleans, San Antonio or the Burnett’s kitchen table, those days mean the world to us. Appreciate these days in your lives too.
This next weekend will be time to spend with my family in town for a wedding, followed by a week of nothing (according to my calendar so far), which I’m sure will turn into something. Our next big trip is the cruise to Mexico around July 4th. Oh wow, it’s only a couple weeks away. Well, keep visiting and checking in on us, and we’ll keep you updated on our weekly work and weekend adventures. Also, let us know what’s going on in your lives as well. Life is more fun with people to share it with!
I’ll end this surprisingly sentimental post with a quote from a book that I finished reading last night…
“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly” -St. Francis de Sales