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FIVE!!

I am such a bad blogger. Perfect example...this post is now 3 days late. Oh well!

This sweet, tiny, precious baby girl turned FIVE YEARS OLD on Tuesday. I remember this like it was yesterday though. That full head of dark hair and those smoky blue eyes that were so alert from the moment she escaped from my womb. She stole my heart without any effort and I have no desire to get it back!

Grace Elaine, you amaze me everyday with how smart, independent, funny, stubborn, impatient, loving & kind you are.

Your funny faces! 

Your quiet smile in the mornings make me want to just stay home all day snuggling with you! I mean, look at those big blue eyes!

I'm not ready for you to start school this year, but I know you are so excited and eager to start something new. And I am excited to watch you embark on the new adventure!



I love you so much it hurts and I cannot even remember my life before you were in it. I know that all the things that drive me most crazy about you (stubborn, independent, impatient) are all qualities that God gave you to help you succeed in life. I have no doubt He has something incredible planned for your and I can't wait to see what that is! I pray that you always want to sing "God songs" and continue to always enjoy going to church. I pray to be a better example of His love for you and try and teach you just how much He loves us!

I am so proud of you, baby girl and I'm glad God gave you to your daddy and me!!

The {Love} Story of Us!

Since it's February {the month of love} and Valentine's Day is right around the corner, I decided I would link up with From Mrs. to Mama and tell our love story!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Gene and I have been together since September of 2005.

2. How did you meet: {What's your "love" story?}

I started as a dispatcher at my hometown police department in February of 2005. One afternoon, a month or so after I started, I walked into the dispatch center and sat down across the room from an officer that had his feet propped on a desk, eating a Subway sandwich. He had gorgeous blue eyes and a smile that made me weak in the knees (and still does!). He looked at me and then continued talking to the other dispatchers in the room. He left not long after that and I didn't see him again for a couple of months. When I moved to the shift he was working for training, I would go downstairs all the time to try and see him. It rarely worked because he was rarely at the station. However, he started coming upstairs every day that he worked to eat his lunch in dispatch before starting his shift. He would gradually move closer to me and flirt and everybody knew something was up because he had never spent that much time in there! :) He eventually got my number from another dispatcher and called me the first time on a Wednesday night after I got home at 10. His shift ended at 1 am and we talked almost the whole time! Except when he was working something. Our first date was that following Saturday, at my apartment, where we watched The Longest Yard! I was absolutely smitten and after he left I told my roommate (and best friend, Steph) that if that man proposed to me right then I would say yes!! He's also 13 years older than me and I was surprised myself when I fell so hard for him! Gasp! Age is only a number and has never been an issue for either one of us.

{Four wheeling date with friends!}

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry?

We were married on December 14, 2006!

4. If you are married, where did you get married? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

Gene and I didn't have a wedding or a reception of any kind. We sort of got things out of order and I was pregnant when we married. Six months pregnant, actually. Honestly, not how I pictured things, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done it differently! So, we were in the middle of building our house and were both on our days off from work, when we went to the courthouse to get our marriage license. We were walking around Lowe's looking for bathroom fixtures, while I went down a list of Justices of the Peace, looking for one that was available. We were married in a little old house in Fayetteville, by an 82 year old man that looked just like Colonel Sanders! Red bow tie and everything. He was so sweet and absolutely precious. It was just Gene and I. I would love to renew our vows on our 10 year anniversary and actually have a ceremony.

{One of the happiest days of my life!! And I can't believe I'm posting this, with me looking so horrid!}

5. Do you have any nicknames that you call one another? Do share!

I always call him Babe and he calls me Woman (yes, yes he does, because he knows it drives me crazy!!), Babe or Mama.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

1. His dedication to our family. He works so hard, both in his career and at home, to provide and care for us. 2. His ability to make me laugh. He drives me more crazy than anybody sometimes, but it is impossible for me to stay mad at him, because he ALWAYS makes me smile and laugh. 3. His fathering. He loves his kids so deeply and would lay down his life for any of them. He's serious when it's necessary and goofy the rest of the time! 4. (Because I'm a rule breaker!) His arms. :) He works out religiously and stays in shape, which I find incredibly sexy!

 7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

My husband is faaaaaaar from a romantic. Seriously. I know I'm the only person that has ever seen his mushy, sensitive, lovey side because he is just not an emotional person. And I'm ok with that! So, on our one year anniversary of being together, he shows up from running errands while I'm getting ready for work. I keep walking past the bed and finally notice that there is a little gold gift bag lying there. I see a black box inside of it. He had bought me a diamond cross necklace for either my birthday or Valentine's Day, but the chain had broken, so I thought he had just bought me a new chain. I was hurrying to get ready, so I didn't open it. Well, until he finally asked me (after standing there staring at me for forever!) if I was going to open the box, I finally did! And was surprised by an engagement/wedding band set!! I was floored and so proud of what he picked out, because we had not even looked at anything! I tried them on, but they were too small. I don't wear jewelry. Ever. Especially rings, so he had no idea what size I needed! It was torture waiting to get them back after being sized! And....he never even really asked me either. He just stood there grinning the whole time. Stinker.

{One of my favorites of us! It shows his goofiness!}

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne and rose petals?

Ummmm...he's not really either. Remember? He's not a romantic. However, I have received flowers for various different things at work. Which is one of my favorite things ever! But normally, he just gets me something I've been wanting or talking about.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I guess I'm a little bit of both, but more the relaxing movie girl. I love going out to eat, but I also love staying in and snuggling on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? 

Go on our honeymoon. :) We never took one and have only been on one other trip together. Sad, I know. Finances don't normally permit trips!

 {Christmas 2010}

  

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

I have no idea. Since it falls on a week day, we probably won't do anything on the day of. I don't know if we'll go out this weekend to celebrate or not.

 {My birthday, 2010}

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's Day?

Yes, an iPhone 4s! :)

 {Silver Dollar City}

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Respect each other and learn to pick your battles! Most things aren't really worth fighting over.

 {Us with the boys before Colt's junior prom!}

**Sidenote: Gene was married once before and they had two boys. Therefore, I have two stepsons, Colt (oldest) and Corey! They were 11 and 12 when Gene and I got together and are now 17 and 18. I love them just like my own though and I don't really know what I would do without them in my life!

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

My family of 5! And what's horrible, is this is one of the very few pictures of all of us together. And it's 2 years old. :(

So, that's our love story! Be sure to check out From Mrs. to Mama and read others!

SUYL - My bestie, Stephanie!!

I am sooo excited that Kelly is doing her Show Us Your Singles link up again, because my very best friend in the whole wide world is looking for a wonderful man!!

Steph will be 27 next month and has been my best friend since we were 13! She's a down to earth Christian girl who loves the Lord and is looking for a God fearing man to share her life (and future babies!) with!!

We've been to concerts together.

Celebrated every birthday together.

Cooked together! She is an AH-MAZING cook and especially in the baking department!! She's known as the "Cupcake Queen"!



 She is currently taking classes at a Christian University towards a degree in Business and has worked in the banking industry for 6 years. She currently works in a Treasury Management department, but will soon start a new role as a Loan Assistant at a bank branch. She LOVES people and is very outgoing. She was looking for a change in jobs because she misses the interaction with people and customer service that comes with a branch job.

Seriously, you've gotta try her cupcakes.

 The crazy girl is also an adrenaline junky. She's been skydiving once and wants to do it again. And again and again. She loves roller coasters and does not have a single fear of heights. She wants to go bungee jumping also, and I'm telling you right now, I will certainly not be the one she does that with!

She is such a beautiful person, inside and out. I couldn't have asked for a better friend to go through my teen years and young adult life with. She has been there through everything, literally, everything with me and loves unconditionally!

My brother is blessed with not one, but two sisters, because she's just a part of our family. She no longer has any living grandparents and mine (on both sides) have adopted her as their own. As well as my parents! However, she has some pretty spectacular parents herself! She's an only child, but probably the least selfish one I know!



Steph & my our Mama!

She's my daughters Aunt Stephie and anytime she's around no one else matters to Grace! She's like a big kid at heart and loves playing with Grace, regardless of what it is. She is soooo sooo soooooo great with kids and is really looking forward to having some of her own someday.

Steph is fun, smart, funny, outgoing, patient, crazy, lively, honest and humble. I know she will make some lucky man an incredible wife someday, so I would love for you to e-mail me or comment on this post if you know of someone that may be interested!! Thanks!!

And Steph, I love you like a fat kid loves cake!!! :)

Grab a Kleenex

If you don't read BooMama's blog, then you must. And if you do, then you've probably already seen this. It's too good not to share again though.

Now, grab some tissues and push play.

Ft. Worth Family Fun

Ft. Worth, Texas is one of my happy places. For many reasons. One of which being all of my family that lives here. Another being horses. And cows. And Will Rogers Coliseum. Oh, and Joe T Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. Just to name a few!

 Dad had been planning on driving down sometime during January because the Stock Show Rodeo/Exhibits are going on every weekend, and luckily this weekend Grace and I were able to join them! We didn't get in until a little after midnight last night, and then we were up fairly early this morning to make it to the 10 am rodeo performance.

 Steph has been my best friend for 14 years now and this was the first time she's been to Ft. Worth. I'm not real sure why it took so long, but anyways, she made it this time!

 To say that Grace is crazy about her Uncle T would be a gross understatement. I love that he's such a good uncle to her!

 The rodeo was great and we saw lots of pretty horses!

 They had a big carnival set up with tons of rides for kids and adults. I'm so glad Steph was here because she is a big kid herself, and she rode with Grace on all of them. I am not a fan of carnival rides. And even if I was, Grace would still rather Steph rode with her, so whatever!

 I strongly dislike having my picture taken, however, there are so few pictures of me with Grace because I'm normally the one taking the picture and one of my goals for 2012 was to be more intentional about taking pictures. Even with me in them.

Grace loves her Nana! Maybe because she bought her this adorable outfit! This picture does not do it justice and you can't really see her cowgirl boots. All this girl needs a horse!

We were so glad Aunt Weezer (my dad's sister, Brenda!) was able to join us! She has all of the great grands call her Weezer, because she's like a fun version of Weezer from Steel Magnolias! Except she really is not cranky. At all. I loooooove my Aunt Brenda and wish I got to see her more. And she is absolutely crazy about my daughter, which is incredibly special to me!

 I can't remember the last time a picture was taken of the Nabors family. Which means it's been too long!

 Tanner and our mama. He's quite the mama's boy.

 Pardon the squint. The sun wasn't very forgiving and my eyes were literally watering by the time we got all of the pictures we wanted! Attractive, really.

 And cue serious watering.

 Mom and Dad bought Tanner a new cowboy hat and he was quite proud of it.

 Oh, my Mema. One of the most special women in my life. I am so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents, on both sides. They love us so unconditionally and do anything and everything to make us kiddos happy. I love watching Grace with Mema and Papa, they get such a kick out of her and she loves entertaining them!

And my Papa, God love him, he can't hardly hear anything, but he loves his grandkids and great grandkids so so sooo much. He would do anything for any of us. And he does! We are all spoiled rotten!

I love being in Ft. Worth and spending time with my family. There's nothing else like it.

Girlfriends, Books & Coffee

I just made a command decision to take a 15 minute break at work and blog about a fun weekend (of a few firsts!) I had!

Front: Lindsey, Katie, Jill, me, Lauren

Back: Lindsey (private blog), Brittany, Whitney, Rachel, Kim & Tara

 So, the internet is a funny thing. I have had this blog for a couple of years now, and while I don't do as much as I would like with it, it's still a great outlet and a great way to meet new people. I also tweet, because I love Twitter. Way more than Facebook. And while blogs are fun, Twitter is even better. I have "met" so many wonderful new friends over the last 7 months or so, and I've also learned so much! If I ever have a question about, well anything really, I go to Twitter. If I need someone to make me laugh, I go to Twitter (or my husband!). If I just need a little break from staring at my computer at work, I go to Twitter. See the trend?! Anywho, last Friday night I had to opportunity to meet some really great girls that I had met via Twitter! Jillian has a friend that lives in Arkansas and was coming into town for her friend's birthday party and decided that she wanted to meet some of us other fun Arkansas girls! :) Brittany lives in the same area as Jill, so they decided to road trip it together, and I'm so glad they did! Whitney took charge of organizing a dinner for us, and we all met up to eat and visit. I was hesitant to go at first, because I didn't know any of these girls in real life. However, one of my very good friends, Katie, also follows some of the same girls and said she would go with me. I am sooooo very glad we went, because it was such a fun night out and we all just laughed and talked and got to know one another! You can't have to many friends and I'm so glad I added a few this weekend! I hope that we can all do it again sometime soon.

 Then on Saturday morning, this sweet little dumpling got to come stay with Auntie Tay all day!! Hank and Katie spent spent the day four wheeling with some friends and I got to love on Miss Audrey! She was sooo good all day and just kept smiling and cooing at me. It's hard to believe she is already 6 months old!

Oh, James Patterson, you sure do know how to write a good book. I have been a HUGE fan of JP for a long time, but I have random reading spurts. I'll go a few months without reading a single book and then I'll pick up a book and read 5 more after it! I'm back in a reading phase right now. I'm now on my 4th Patterson book in the last month and a half. I have ready every single one of his, with the exception of his newest which is what I'm working on now. I'll have to take a picture of my shelf with the hardbacks on it. I am a sucker for a good murder mystery and James Patterson never ever disappoints.

This little pretty has made this work week so much better! When I moved to my current position, to an office in a hallway with four other offices, we all decided that we needed our own coffee pot. There are a few dispersed throughout the building, but there is rarely ever any made in them throughout the day. So, we all pitched in and purchased the Keurig Office Pro coffee maker! Oh my gosh, it has been wonderful. For one thing, it is in my office, therefore, it always smells like a coffee shop in here! And it is so quick and easy. I'll have to buy some new flavors this weekend while I'm grocery shopping!

I'm taking Friday off this week because Grace and I are driving down to Ft. Worth with my parents, brother and best friend to spend the weekend with my family! I'm sooo excited to see everyone and we have some fun activities planned while we are there. So, tomorrow will be my last work day and I am more than ok with that!