To the Chapel

Hi everyone! I couldn't decide what I wanted to do this morning...  Today is one of those awesome kind of Saturdays where we were able to sleep in and catch up on much needed rest from the work week.  Not quite ready to start our day, I decided to tap out a post to share some pictures from last weekend!

Last Friday, was our 5th wedding anniversary and a rather busy weekend since we had some friends getting married in Lubbock, TX.  Though Lubbock is a flat dusty place in the middle of nowhere, it's a special place to Jordan and I.  We both graduated from Texas Tech so it was nice to revisit our Raiderland and see all the changes to the campus.  After a 6 hour drive through some much needed, but scary rain, we arrived in Lubbock!  We decided to drive through campus quickly before checking into our hotel, but I didn't realize that Jordan had a sneaky plan up his sleeve.

To fully explain my story, I have to take you back to May 9th, 2009, the day Jordan proposed!  I'd flown from Dallas to see him on his graduation weekend and Jordan had planned a short walk through campus since it would be his "last time to see the university" for a long while.  Jordan was/is a part of a men's organization at Texas Tech called, Saddle Tramps, who are responsible for ringing the victory bells (among other responsibilities) in our bell tower after we win games, or on special occasions.  Using his handy Tramp connections, Jordan wanted to go up into the tower for the last time as an active Saddle Tramp.  This all made sense to me and I remember feeling excited since the the historical tower is not open to students.  We were getting a rare look at the school from a very special perch!  After climbing the 107 steps, Jordan got down on one knee and proposed!  I remember feeling so surprised that I was in a goofy state of clumsy excitement.  I barely connected the dots that Jordan had arranged for a professional photographer and violinist to capture the moment.  Of course, I said "yes" and ever since that special day, the tower and the sound of those bells have been very joyful memories to us.  Marrying Jordan was one of the best decisions I ever made!  Life is not perfect, we are just like most couples, but I can't imagine this journey without my best friend at my side.

These are some old pictures from that awesome day.

Last weekend, Jordan did it again!  He managed to surprise me by arranging another trip to the top of the tower on our 5th anniversary.  It was so cool to visit that place.  I feel like so much has changed in 5 years and yet nothing has changed.  

Here are a few pictures from last weekend.

We both look a little weary from the long drive but I LOVED it!

Bottom Right: Shout out to our friend, Ben, who helped Jordan arrange the surprise.  Thank you!

Friday evening we got to see Steven and Heather at their rehearsal dinner!  Jordan and Steven went to high school together and so we were excited to be there on his special day!

Above: Various pictures of Steven, Jordan and I.

Saturday morning we met up with our friends Sherrelle and David to eat lunch and leisurely walk through the campus.  Sheesh, SO much has changed since we graduated.  There are new buildings, trees are huge, new sidewalks, and all kinds of details have changed.  

We all ate at Spanky's, one of my favorite burger places in college.  They have the best fried cheese!  

Above: Various pictures of Sherrelle, David, their munchkin Grayson, Jordan, and I.  We took a few pictures at the seal.  

We also took a moment to take a few pictures next to Will Rogers and Soap Suds (the horse).  That is the bell tower behind us.

Thank you to Sherrelle for taking these pictures for us!

Bottom Right: We found a new outdoor art sculpture and stopped to snag a pic.  The four of us decided that it must represent Texas oil spewing from the ground since this art was right next to the petroleum engineering building.

Later that evening we went to Steven and Heather's beautiful wedding!  Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the night.

Her colors were mint and grey and went very well with the season!

This is just just before the reception!  It was actually kind of chilly in Lubbock that weekend!

Sunday came much too quickly and we had to head back home.  

Even though it is a LONG drive from Lubbock back to Dallas (6 hours) I actually enjoyed myself.  It was great to visit with Jordan, jam to some Taylor Swift, and see the vast expanse of Texas windmills.  The plains of Texas are flat and go on for-ev-er!  We raced against the cargo train and I snagged these travel pictures. 

When I began college, there were maybe just a few fields of windmills, now there are miles and miles of them.  Sorry, no cotton pictures, it's out of season.

This last week we've kept busy.  Jordan and I are trying to re-engage in the couch to 5k program.  I started this jogging system more than a year ago but it really got messed up when the temperatures spiked over 100 degrees and then later, I sprained my ankle.  Here's to another try at the program.

Top Left: We are exhausted girls.  Abby zonked out after a tiring day of sleeping and I was tired from week 2, day 2 of running.  Ugh.

Right: The venue owner at Heather and Steven's wedding graciously gave us some beautiful hydrangeas!  I just love these flowers!!!  They've lasted all week long and I've toted them with me from room to room.

And that brings you to today!  As I mentioned, I couldn't figure out how to get the day started and Jordan had some work to do.  As a result, I caught this picture of Abby.  I think this pic is rather funny with Abby sleeping peacefully between our dueling computers.  Puppy verses electronics:

Ya'll have a great weekend!