The Nations. Here. Now.

Last Saturday, John and I were invited to attend a fundraising dinner for Campus Crusade for Christ.  The focus of the dinner was to raise support for the Bridges International team who serves at the University of Houston and Rice University campuses.  Our good friends, Nader and Traci Wadie, are a part of this team who loves, ministers, shares the Gospel, and reaches out to international students who are here to study and go to school. 

The guest speaker that night was Semse Aydin.  She shared the story of how her beloved husband - her coworker in missions and the father of her children - was put to death in 2007 by radical Muslims in the Middle East.  She now serves with Bridges in America. 

Her story was truly inspiring.  How incredible that the Lord has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us, but He never said it would be easy living in this world.  It doesn't matter what trials we are going through, we can cling to Him and know that He is holding us.

We loved getting to see Nader and had such a great evening.  The dinner was held at the Van Dyke home in River Oaks.  By the way, this home is known for having the largest private pool in North America!  I tried to get a picture of the whole pool, but just got a corner of it!  It was a beautiful home.

Perfect Sunday

Mother's Day couldn't have turned out to be a better day.  In fact, it turned out the be the most perfect Sunday!

We started the day off with a 15 mile bike ride. 

I recently got a new road bike to try to have some shoulder-to-shoulder time with my hubby.  He LOVES road biking and has several other hobbies such as mountain biking, scuba diving, golfing, hunting, rock climbing, etc...you get the picture!  John loves to try new things and once he tries something and likes it then we have to get all the gear!  So out of all his hobbies I chose road biking to do with him.  I was very nervous about being on the open road with cars who don't want you there, but to my surprise, I absolutely LOVED it too!  I can't wait to get on my bike again!  It was such a great work out too!  I'm pretty sure the plan is to go every Sunday morning now.

After the bike ride we relaxed at our community pool which is now open for the summer!  Then we headed off to the store to get ready for Mother's Day dinner with my family. 

I loved getting to spend Mother's Day with my mom. 

Evan and John being silly!

Can you see the resemblance?

We had to set the timer for this pic!

Can't forget Sally and Beau.

Cinco De Mayo

Last Thursday we had our neighbors over for dinner.  They are such a sweet couple and we are really enjoying getting to know them. 

Wish I had a picture of my own to show you what we had for dinner...but we ate them before I remembered the picture! 

Thanks to my friend, Whitney, I got the idea to make this.

So easy and super delicious!  It turned out to be a great Cinco De Mayo meal!  John and I will be making this meal again sometime soon.

Gator Chase!

This morning John and I ran in our first 5K together.  My school put on this event as a fundraiser to build a new track for our school.  The event turned out to be a huge success and John and I had so much fun.  Even though it was only a 5K, it was really hard for me!  John was so sweet to run with me the whole time and encouraged me when I wanted to walk.  I am proud to say that I didn't walk at all and we ran with a great time for our first 5K!  We are definitely planning to do more runs in the future...

Here I am with my teammates Jessica and Kristin.  I am so thankful for my job at Greentree and have great friends to work with!

MS 150 Houston to Austin

Wow, it sure has been a while since I've blogged.  We have been very busy!

About 3 weeks ago John took part in riding in the BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin.  He rode over 150 miles in two days!!  I was so proud of him and am still in awe of the way he decides and commits to do things that would be so hard for me to step out and do.  His main reason for riding was because his cousin, Susie, was diagnosed with MS.  So he rode for her and the fact that he loves to road bike!  We recently purchased a road bike for me...and I plan on riding in the MS 150 next year!  Maybe writing it down in this blog will actually help me commit to it! 

I dropped John off very early the morning of the ride and then set off to Austin with my mom.  We had a great time with my aunts and cousins.  Then on Sunday we went to the finish line to meet John.  A lot of his family from Dallas came out to Austin to cheer him on and they were so proud and thankful that he rode for Susie. 

Off he goes!  See you in Austin baby!!

Once we got to Austin we met my aunts, uncle, and cousin for dinner before we went to see my other cousin perform at her end of year Zenith dance recital.  Here I am with my cousin, Genny.  She is currently attending UT and is about to turn 21!  I can't believe how fast both of my cousins have grown up!

The girls...Genny, Aunt Bonnie, Mom, Emily, Cindy...

Emily did such a great job at her performance!  We are so proud of her too!

The next day we headed to the finish line.  It was incredible to cheer riders on as they crossed the finish line. 

I was so proud of John!

John's aunt and cousins even made a sign to cheer him on.

There's my man with his arm raised in triumph as he is about to cross the finish line!

Here is Susie and John after the race.  John loves her so much and will continue to ride for a cure and for Susie.  I especially loved the t-shirts that his mom and family made and wore to welcome John to Austin.