Happy 50th...

To the best mother-in-law in the world. Happy birthday Julie!!



We threw a surprise birthday party for Julie on Thursday night. It was so much fun...and I think we actually pulled of the "surprise!" I have to share a picture of the cake....it was SO cute. Dallas Affaires Cake Company did an amazing job...and it tasted just as good as it looked! They're the best....definitely my top pick for cake bakeries in Dallas...they can do it all!

Disgustingly funny....

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous...sort of.

So, yesterday afternoon I surprised Josh and told him to pack his bags because we were going on an overnight date to celebrate our anniversary. Our anniversary is not until June 17th (year #3), but I had this weekend off from work, so it worked out perfectly to celebrate a little early since June is so crazy for me with weddings and such. I had arranged for dinner at Nove Italiano and a night at the Crescent. Even thought we've heard mixed reviews about Nove, we really wanted to try it out. We thought the food and service was excellent...and the atmosphere was really nice too...overall, we enjoyed it and would definitely go back. After dinner we headed to the Crescent...we had a wonderful stay and we were even greeted with a happy anniversary dessert in our room...a very nice touch. And this morning, we treated ourselves to room service for breakfast....a perfect end to our anniversary date!

And you know the best part about our little date....it was all FREE! That's right....FREE! Last summer a client of mine gave me a gift card to Nove...and I attended an industry party at the Crescent this month and received a free night stay (with bfast included)! Ahhh...the perks of being a wedding planner....it can be glamorous sometimes! :)

April showers bring May flowers...

Josh and I were out watering our plants this morning and I was so excited to see some of our flowers blooming. I love Spring! Here is a picture of our hydrangeas in the front yard and our gardenias in the back yard...aren't they pretty!



We had impatiens planted in the front beds last week...they do really well there because of the shade. Last year they grew to be about 3 feet tall...it was amazing! I'm hoping they'll do just as well this year. I'll keep you posted....

Also, on a random note....I was informed yesterday that Josh's grandad thinks that I need to update my blog more and that he's "tired of reading about those TV shows." Thanks for your opinion grandad. I'll try to meet your expectations a little more... :)

A fresh new look for PB&PT...

Ahhhh....I just love my new blog design! Thanks to my amazing friend, Marina, for coming up with another winner! Thank you M...you're the best!!! For all of you who may be a little behind, Marina does blog designing and all kinds of other creative things...so check her little blog out here...and be on the look out for her new website coming soon...

Other happy things that happened today...

1) David Cook won American Idol!! I'm pretty pumped about that.

2) My dad's wife, Corinne, is cancer free!!!! Praise Jesus! He is good...

I'll conclude with a tribute to my old blog design....you will be missed....thank you for starting me out right in this crazy little blog world... :)



Sweet dreams everyone!

XOXO,
Mindy

American Idol according to a 4 & 5 year old

My niece and nephew give their thoughts on American Idol...it's hard to beat these 2 critics...

An Update...

Life is really busy right now, so I apologize that I haven't been updating my blog like I normally do. I've just been lacking those 5-10 extra minutes in my day to sit down and write a new post. Well, It's Sunday afternoon...I'm watching Father of the Bride for the 900th time...and I finally have some down time to do those things that I like doing...like laundry and blogging! :) So, here's an update on the happenings in my life....well, I need to switch the clothes to the dryer first, so hang on...

OK, I'm back...so, away we go....

Work...
Wedding season is in full swing! Last night was my 3rd wedding in 4 weeks...and there are many more to come in the new few months. I love this time of year...but it does mean that work is really busy for me. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful job though...I never get tired of sending my brides down the aisle...it's the most amazing feeling....truly, I love it! We're also in the midst of moving offices, which has been very exciting, but lots of work. Our new office is about 3 blocks from our old one...we're now located in an adorable house off of McKinney on Boll Street in Uptown. It's going to be a great change for our company...we're all really excited about it. I'll post some pictures soon once everything is done. So, stay tuned...

Chloe...
Miss Chloe's foot is doing much better. She has to wear a cone at night and when we're not home during the day so she won't lick her stitches. She gets her stitches out on Wednesday. She's been a great patient...we love our little cone head!

And on top of Chloe's $200+ vet bill last week...I also had to shell out $500 at the dentist. One of my fillings cracked and caused another cavity under the old filling...so now I have to get an overlay done. Just lovely...

When it rains, it pours...


Zambia...
All of our money is raised ($7600)...thanks to our family and friends and the Lord's provisions! We are so thankful!! The first week of Camp Life starts in a couple of weeks which is very exciting...Josh and I will be at week 8, which is the last week of camp. We leave for Zambia July 20th and return August 3rd. We're counting down the days! It makes my heart leap just thinking about it. We attended our last team meeting a couple of weeks ago...we received all of the last minute details and information....along with a 4 page packing list! We have to go get all of our shots soon...yikes, I'm dreading that.

Church...
We're official members at Irving Bible Church as of last weekend! We're really excited about our new church home! Prior to attending IBC we went to The Village Church...which we absolutely loved...but Josh and I started feeling convicted that we needed to join a church that was in our community. The Village is a good 20-25 minute drive from our house...which was making it difficult to get plugged in like we wanted to be. There are so many great churches in our area, so we started visiting IBC a couple of weeks before Easter. From the start we felt like it was going to be a great fit for us. We've been visiting a young marrieds small group on Thursday nights that we're really enjoying so far...and we're both looking forward to getting involved in the women's and men's ministries.

Random...I'm not biting or picking at my nails anymore....a huge accomplishment for me.

I've decided to start tanning...I haven't tanned in a tanning bed since my wedding 3 years ago. To be quite honest, I don't like the idea of it...but, I'm just so tired of being pale! And I don't want to have to live through the embarrassment again of my niece, Kalie, asking her mom why her MiMi is so white!

We've booked a vacation to Colorado for the week of July 4th with my family!! We're spending the first half in Aspen and the second half at our cabin in Buena Vista. While in Buena Vista, we're going to climb Mt. Princeton and go white water rafting! We're looking so forward to a little get-a-way in the mountains! We can't wait!!

Well, that's all I can think of for now. No promises when my next post will be...but, hopefully sooner than later!

Have a great week everyone! :)

Mom's the word...

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there....especially to two mom's who we think are just grand....


Julie Rives on the left...Raedean Popelka on the right

We love y'all!

Chloe's first injury...

On Saturday afternoon Chloe was running along the fence chasing our neighbor's dog....all of the sudden Josh heard her squeal. She ran over to him and her front right paw was bleeding pretty badly. We couldn't see anything in her paw, but obviously she cut it on something. We're not sure what it was, but we're guessing it was a large splinter or possibly a nail. Part of our neighbors fence fell during the bad storms a couple of weeks ago, so it's very possibly that Chloe might have stepped on a leftover nail. We could tell that she was in a lot of pain Saturday night and all day Sunday...she was limping and kept licking it constantly. So, I took her to the vet first thing this morning to get it checked out. Sure enough, she needed stitches!! They had to put her under to clean the wound well and stitch it up. So, $230 later, Chloe's paw is back in one piece! She has to take 5 days worth of pain medicine, 7 days worth of antibiotics to fight infection...and I have to take her for a check-up on Wednesday and to get her stitches out in 10 days. Gees....I've got a high maintenance patient to take care of! She's worth it though!!


Right after she got home from the vet...she was pretty pitiful.


My patient after some rest, pain medicine, antibiotics and dinner...she has a little bit more pep in her step! She even considered chasing a squirrel, but she quickly remembered that she is down one leg.

Another one bites the dust...

Here is a fun pic from Liz and Lance's wedding last night. Liz was an absolutely stunning bride!!!


A few of my high school girlfriends...Nicole, Michelle, Leah, me,
Jamie, Liz and Lauren...love these girls! :)

P.S...so the rumors don't start flying...I'm not pregnant. I might look like I am in this picture...but I promise you...baby Rives is not on the way.......yet. :) The dress I wore kind-of has a bubble shape to it...so in turn...my belly looks a little bubbly since I'm leaning over for the pic.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

XOXO,
Mindy