What I'm Loving

Do yall have a pinterest account? If not, you should because it's amazing! It's kind of dangerous because it can be addicting at times when other things need to be done (cough, studying!)... Anyway, here are some things that I found on pinterest lately that I am loving!

Sometimes I wish I had picked a profession where you get to look cute everyday!

I love this office space! It's so cozy and inviting.

I'm not sure I would wear this head band, but I love this girl's long locks! I cut a lot of hair off a month ago and I'm already wishing my long hair was back... I do this everytime I get my hair cut.

I think that if I woke up every morning and had this quote on my mind, my thoughts would be more positive. I'm going to write it down and attach it to my bathroom mirror!

Look at these cute mini pumpkins! I really want to do this later on this month. Such a creative idea!

Shout out to my husband, Trevor, because today is his 22nd birthday! I can't believe he is that old. It's really not old but like I said in Cara's birthday post, 22 is just such a grown up age to me.  I remember being so excited when he turned 20 because that was the age we got married. I can't believe that 2 years has passed.  I hope your birthday is wonderful, Trevor! I can't wait to spoil you a little when you get home from drill tomorrow :). Love you lots!

Hope yall are having a great Saturday!

-Anna

It's Somebody's Birthday!

Today is a very special day for a very sweet friend of mine.  Cara is 22 years old!  22 sounds so grown up to me... and Cara is very much categorized into a grown-up to me.  She is a married, done with school and working woman - and most recently, a mama to a beautiful baby girl!  Cara and I have been friends since my family moved to Leander when we were 4 years old, meaning our friendship is on it's 18th year - so crazy!  We grew up going to each others birthday parties and now that we are older and don't really have parties, I want to make sure Cara feels extra special on this day.


Here are a few things I LOVE about Cara:

•   Cara is loyal.  She will stick to your side and be your friend no matter what.  She is a great, dependable and loving best friend!
• She is gorgeous. No, really.  She is so so beautiful on the outside. Her hair and makeup always look amazing, even with a 4 month old! But what makes her even more beautiful is her heart.  She is true and genuine and a friend to all!
• She is honest.  I can ask Cara questions about anything and she will tell me what she thinks with all honesty without being harsh. I love that about her!
• She's a family girl.  Cara has her family on her top priority list and she would do anything for her family.  She is a great wife, daughter, sister, cousin, etc...
• She still watches Disney channel and enjoys it :)
• She is a brand new mommy and her devotion to Erin is amazing! Everything she does and chooses in her life revolves around her love for Erin. I hope I am the amazing, cute and young mom that she is one day.
• Cara and I cheered together in elementary school, middle school and high school.  Cara was the Captain of our high school team and I was the Co-Captain our senior year and we had the best time!  I think our personalities work really well together.  We balance each other out and I think that's one reason why I love her so much!
• Cara loves the Lord.  Her life is devoted to following Him and His will for her life. 

I am so thankful for such a wonderful friend! No matter how much we see each other or talk on the phone, when we get to actually see each other and spend time doing fun things, it's like we were never apart! What more could you ask for in a friendship?  Love you, Cara, and I hope your birthday was as sweet as you are!

805 Spring Brook Lane

Today my parents are moving out of their house of 14 years! They are getting to build their dream house in Georgetown, and I could not be happier for them to be able to do that. BUT, the part where we say goodbye to the home that holds so many memories is very hard.  I still remember the day that we moved into the red brick, two-story house in the middle of the cul-de-sac.  Emily and I were picked up from school that spring and I remember coming inside and eating a snack with Emily in the kitchen.  I was in awe of how big it was (compared to the little bitty rent house we lived in previously) and how amazing the backyard was.  We had a bar area in the kitchen, and Hunter was so little when we moved in that he could walk underneath it and hold his arms above his head, barely skimming the bar counter.  It's crazy to think how much growth has occurred in this house! Some of my favorite memories of being in our home are:

• Christmas mornings, coming down the stairs in our p.j.'s and opening gifts, always having a big breakfast together at the kitchen table.
• Our little black schnauzer, Drew
• sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags (especially Kristina)
•  learning how to cook in the kitchen and making pancakes with Hunter on Saturday mornings
• SO many birthday parties and slumber parties with lots of loud little girls who stayed up way too late
• receiving my favorite Christmas gift ever when I was 13- a little black kitten named Noelle
• surprising Emily with a brand new car for Christmas one year
• high school days when there were always friends over doing something
• my junior year of high school we had 3 or 4 days of "ice days" from school- I read the book "Dear John" cover to cover and we made smores by the fire every night
• being named homecoming queen and prom queen
• making football t-shirts, homecoming mums and another football season stuff with Cara
• coming home after Trevor proposed and telling my family all about it
• spending my last summer as a Thompson in the house with my family
• sleeping in my bed the night before our wedding and soaking it all in

I will always have such fond memories of this house and the people and things that went in and out.  The family that is moving in is a young couple with a baby girl.  When I think about how their family will grow and thrive during their time at the house, I know that will grow to love that home just as much as we did. They will get to have first day of school pictures on the porch, bring home new babies, and have fun memories of birthdays and Christmas.  It makes me hope that one day Trevor and I will have a home that I have loved as much as this house.

Now that I've made myself cry while typing this, I will leave you with lyrics from Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me"
I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Survivor

Most everyone who I am close to knows my story.  They know how I was burned. They know where my scars are.  And they know that it doesn't bug me when people ask, "What happened to your arm?".  This month, August 2011, marks the 20th anniversary of when I was burned as a 19 month old.

It hadn't crossed my mind that this month was so significant until I ran into a little toddler at work a few weeks ago.  She was a teeny-tiny little black girl, with ponytails and the sweetest smile across her face.  Her mom stopped a friend and I in the hall as we were leaving work for the day.  She was looking for the Pediatric Unit so they could visit the Child Life Specialist that had worked with them when her daughter was a patient at UMC.  After she mentioned her daughter had been a patient, I took another quick glance at her, wondering what she had been sick with, and realized she had burns on her hands and legs.  Her legs were in pressure garments, so I knew that her burn accident must have been somewhat recent.  I quickly asked her mom if she was a burn survivor, and she replied that yes, she was in a kind of solemn way.  I told her that I was also a burn survivor, and told her how it had happened.  There was an instant connection to this mom and her daughter.  I knelt down to the little girl and gently touched the burns on her hands, asking "are these your burns?"  If I had to guess, she was barely two years old, so she didn't really "get it" at first.  I pointed to my burns, then back to hers, trying to get her to understand.  After doing this back and forth a few times, she reached out her hand to touch my arm, where my scars are most often noticed.  She stroked my burns, then looked up at me and smiled and I knew she understood the connection we had.  My heart was bursting at the seams as I was trying to hold in tears of hope, joy, and peace.  Peace that in my heart, I knew I was once that little girl with new scars - and now I am a grown woman, married, almost done with my nursing degree.  I looked at this little girl and saw potential, a courageous journey ahead, and it was like the Lord was telling me "I work ALL THINGS together for your good."  There is a very small number of especially great moments in my life.  Being proposed to and marrying my best friend are on the list at this point in my life.  But this moment I had with this little girl, who's name I don't even know, will never ever leave my heart.  I truly believe that the Lord used that angel to show me something that I needed to be reminded of.

The Lord really does work things out for our good.  I know it is hard when bad things happen and there is literally NOTHING you can come up with to try to convince yourself that it's going to be okay.  I know personally that my mom and dad both dealt with my accident very emotionally for a long time.  It was not easy- not easy financially, spiritually, or physically on any of us.  But now, 20 years down the road, we can see more of the story.  I can see the good that has come out of this "accident".  There has been glory brought to God through hurt, and I am so thankful to be a part of glorifying the Lord.  It is my purpose in life to bring Him glory!  Thank you, Lord, for a precious and simple reminder of your goodness in my life!

-Anna 

Our 1st Anniversary!

06.26.10

Trevor and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on Sunday! We both are in awe of how quick the past year has gone by.  I have so many sweet memories of the months leading up to our wedding day and all of the showers, celebrations and fun moments that came along. I remember wanting it all to go by fast so that the wedding would come, but the week of the wedding, all I wanted was for time to slow down so I could take in every minute! It went by so fast and it has really taught me to not hurry things along in life.  I had my absolute dream wedding and am so thankful for my wonderful parents who threw the big party! What a fun day and a great way to start our new life together :)

Earlier this month, I was trying to figure out something special we could do the weekend of our anniversary.  Trevor had drill for the Marines starting that Thursday, so of course our options were limited.  For a while I thought we wouldn't be able to see each other on our anniversary.  I decided it was too special of an occasion to pass by, so I started searching bed and breakfasts in Fredericksburg, since the town isn't too far away from San Antonio, where Trevor has drill.  I ended up finding a super cute AND affordable B&B and they had an open room for the night of our anniversary! I was so excited and we booked the room the next day. We ended up having a blast! Here are some pictures from the trip:

Trev surprised me with my first real pearls!

Eating our anniversary tier from the wedding cake - not bad for sitting in the freezer for a year!

Corner Cottage Bed and Breakfast, Fredericksburg, Texas

Overall, our first year was a great start to a long and happy marriage! It wasn't always rainbows and butterflies, but the Lord definitely led us through the times when it wasn't :)  We have learned so much about each other, life, and how better to serve each other and Christ.  I'm so thankful to have married my best friend and I can't wait to see what our life will look like in another year!